A Modern Alchemy

An old zen monk was suffering from an illness. He announced to his disciples that he will be going to die by the end of the evening. The news spread like a fire in the entire town. He was very loving towards everyone so people from his village wanted to meet with him. One of his disciples ran towards the market to bring the cake for his master. It seemed that the master was waiting for something. His disciple came with the cake and gave a piece of it to his master. The master started munching it. One of the visitors interrupted the master and said, "Master! what is your last message for us?". The master replied, "This cake is luscious" and the master left his body.

The gist of the entire story is that the master was living in the now. He was deeply immersed at the moment. He was neither thinking about the past nor of the future because the past has already happened and the future has yet to come. He lived so totally that he is not even afraid of his death. He knows the art of how to live in the moment.

Are you really living in the moment? What happens if you live from moment to moment?

Relax! sit silently and observe your mind.

What have you observed?

You are either thinking about the past or about the future.

Now concentrate on this moment. What have you observed?

Thinking has stopped. You can't think when you are in the moment. Thinking is the barrier that prevents you from seeing the reality right in front of you. When you are in the moment then you must have experienced the silence, bliss, subtle joy, and peace within you. It happens because of your contact with your inner self. Time is not moving rather you are moving from moment to moment. No two moments are different. The moment which you are experiencing right now is the same that has happened before and will be the same that comes after it.

Life is a continuous series of these infinite moments. By knowing the secret of the given moment will fill your life with bliss, silence, peace, and happiness.

Love and meditation are the two ways to experience the divine nature within you.

Darkness is simply an absence of light. Darkness can be expelled only through light. Likewise, fear is an absence of love. Fear can be removed only through love. There exists a xor operation between fear and love. In the depth of meditation, you will experience timelessness and egolessness. You move beyond time and become nobody. The same phenomenon can also be experienced through love.

When you are with your beloved ones then you are completely immersed in a moment. Love and thinking can't be present at the same time. The absence of thinking means living in the now. You have moved beyond time and experienced timelessness. That is why you become blissful, silent, and peaceful among your beloved ones.

You love your mother unconditionally. You are even ready to die for her. You love someone more than yourself and become nobody in the process. An experience of egolessness. In ordinary death, only the body dies but in love, the ego dies. That is why the presence of a mother gives so much warmth and enrichment to your being. The fire of love gives you ripeness.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tsu

Love is not an act but is a state of being. Love is not a relationship rather it is a state of mind. If you love your beloved one at one moment and hate her at another moment then your love is an act. It is an effort. You become tired and relaxation is needed which converts into hatred. When love is focused on a single person then it is called love. When it spreads over an entire existence then it is called devotion.

There are basically two types of love:

1. Ordinary love

2. Buddha love

Ordinary Love: Let's assume you are not in a relationship with someone. Suddenly you become aware of your death. You thought when you die, the world will keep on moving as it is moving today. In fact, no one is shedding tears for you. It gives a huge blow to your ego. To overcome this feeling, you enter into a relationship with someone. Now at least someone will cry when you die. It gives gratification to your ego and you feel good.

In such kind of love, you will be entangled in the web of cause and effect. I will give you X and you will give me Y.

Is it really love?

No, of course not. It's a bargain. A pseudo-love and transactional relation. It is not a state of mind. It is an act and you will love her at one time and hate her at another time. The foundation of this love is based upon fear. You are in constant fear of losing her. Now you start possessing, dominating her. You reduce a living being into an object. You destroyed her freedom which is the biggest sin. When fear is entered then love is blocked which becomes jealousy and hatred.

Buddha's Love: He was aware of something that is deathless which is present in everyone. He knew that a person can never die. He only leaves his body. The deathless is present in everybody. Therefore, a feeling of oneness and he was part of the entire existence. Everybody was an extension of him. This is also the law of ecology, "Everything is connected to everything else." Buddha can't harm anybody because in harming others he is harming himself. By loving others he is loving himself. There is a truth in Jesus's statement, "Love your enemy".

Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it. Nicholas Sparks

Buddha's love is like breathing. It happens without any effort. His anger is forced. Even if he got angry with someone, his disciples knew that it was a wave of pseudo anger. You can't force yourself to breathe because then an effort is needed. You are bound to become tired. During relaxation, breathing stops and you will die. Buddha loved unconditionally, therefore his love is beyond cause and effect.

Fearlessness is the foundation of Buddha's love. How can you lose her when she is also part of you. His love became a devotion because it was spreading over everyone. Buddha lived from moment to moment. Therefore, his love was beyond time.

How to be more loving?

Purify yourself through good deeds. Whenever you look at someone, it should be a pure glance without any wrong intentions. Divine is reflected in your eyes and the others can see it. Act as if you don't want anything in return. Speak as if you are speaking the divine words, your sweet voice will mesmerize their being. You become more beautiful. The definition of beauty is when the divine is expressing himself in you. A fragrance of love is emanating from you. Whosoever comes in contact with you will feel bliss, silence, and peace. When everybody becomes like this, our galaxy becomes more beautiful and explodes with love.

You can love a stranger on the road. You can feel love for her and move in your own way. There is even no need to talk. You can feel love for trees, sky, father, mother, brother, etc. You can love one and a million ways. The body can't survive without breathing. Similarly, love gives nourishment to your soul. Love expands you and gives you flowering. Love is when you have known your inner sky. Infinite space within you will enrich your beloved ones. Poverty is nothing but the heart that can't love.

Open your heart to the vast cosmos. God is very loving. He loves you a lot. He resides in you. Thinking is the wall preventing you from meeting with him. Be in the moment and let his love flow within you. You will attain the ultimate bliss and overflowing with joy. Divine resides at your inner center and you are living on the circumference. This is the root cause of dissatisfaction in your life. Approach your inner center and you will become silent, peaceful, and blissful. This kind of bliss doesn't depend on any external factor. Therefore, it is beyond cause and effect. Your happiness doesn't depend on others.

There are mainly four stages of love.

Stage 1: Evolutionary love is the lowest level of love. It is completely based on instincts. Humans are replicating machines. The intention is to preserve their genes and pass on it to their offspring. It is the meeting of the bodies at the surface level.

Stage 2: Unconditional love is the by-product of spirituality. You love others without setting any conditions. Fear drops from the mind because you don't want anything in return.

Stage 3: Your love is not confined to one person. In fact, it is spreading over the entire humanity. You are in love with the whole existence. Your love becomes a prayer.

Stage 4: In the end, the ego drops. You become nobody and move beyond time and space. You are left with pure innocence. You become one with your soul. This is the final stage of evolution. You become a living God.

Make your life a garland of flowers and string all the experiences of your life with the thread of attaining the divinity hidden within you.

On Avoiding Non-Genius Zones

Victor lived in a beautiful village for the last twenty years. He was informed about each and every event happening in his village. He developed a huge repertoire of knowledge using his keen observation. John lived in the city and was a businessman by profession. He wanted to open a retail store in the village. He met with all the elite people to gather information about the village. By spending a few days, he assumed he knew almost everything about the village. Coincidently, Victor also wanted to open a retail store in his village. The circle of competence of Victor was larger than John's circle of competence.

Both of them had to take high stake decisions but the quality of their decisions varied significantly. Victor had in-depth knowledge whereas John had shallow knowledge. When both of them encountered any problem then Victor had more than one solution due to his vast array of skills while John was relying on his superficial knowledge. Without even knowing the history of the village, how does John know that he negotiated the best price for the land? All these small mistakes compounded over the years that destroyed John's business. On the other hand, the intelligent decisions made by Victor made him the most successful businessman of his era.

The core idea is to know your circle of competence. The size of the circle doesn't matter but one must know where does the perimeter lies. Operating within your circle of competence will help you in making efficient and productive decisions. Victor was operating within his circle of competence whereas John strayed outside his genius zone and the rest is history.

The fundamental questions arising in your mind are:

1. What is the Circle of Competence?

2. How do you know when you have one?

3. How do you build and maintain one?

4. How do you operate outside of one?

Learning comes when experience meets reflection. Circle of competence is an ability to know what you know along with that to know what you don't know. In simple words, it's an ability to know what you don't know. When you truly understand something, you have the foundational skills at your disposal to encounter any challenge to make optimal decisions. Optimal decisions give you more time which can be utilized in expanding your skills even more. You have increased the surface area of your luck by expanding your skills. When you don't know what you are doing, it is riskier than when you do know what you are doing.

Charlie Munger on the circle of competence:

We'd rather deal with what we understand. Why should we want to play a competitive game in a field where we have no advantages may be a disadvantage instead of playing in a field where we have a clear advantage? Each of you will have to figure out where your talent lies and use them appropriately. But if you are trying to succeed in what you were worst at, you were going to have a very lousy career. I can almost guarantee it. To do otherwise, you would have to buy a lottery ticket or get very lucky somewhere else.

Your life in this beautiful galaxy is very limited. You can't learn everything on your own. The best way to improve is to learn from the experience of others. Enter into the minds of the genius people by reading their books. Never reinvent the wheel. In fact, stand on the shoulder of giants. Rome was not built in one day. Likewise, building expertise in any area requires rigorous training. Nothing comes so easily in your life. You have to go through the pain to internalize the key concepts.

I'm no genius. I am smart in spots but I stay around those spots. Thomas Watson

Just taking a few courses and having an overview of things doesn't mean that you are competent. A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep from the ocean of knowledge. Shallow learning intoxicates the brain whereas deep learning sobers you. When you don't know what are the right questions to ask or what are the fundamental skills in a particular field then take it as a signal that you have moved out of your genius zone.

The Circle of competence is not a static thing. The world is highly dynamic. Having expertise doesn't mean that circle of competence is achieved. Don't stagnate yourself even when your dreams come true. Keep learning! keep improving! Leaning makes you feel alive.

The key practices to build a circle of competence:

1. Curiosity and desire to learn.

2. Monitoring

3. Feedback

Curiosity and desire to learn: Too many desires will make your life miserable. Having a single desire will give some purpose to your life. Develop sensitivity and curiosity to penetrate deeper into the nature of things to demystify their hidden meanings. The path to mastery is very long and arduous. The journey is full of disappointments, failures, and setbacks. Failures are the beauty of life. It's an opportunity to learn something new. In the end, disappointments will be offset by learning new things.

Ignorance more often begets confidence than knowledge. Charles Darwin

Monitoring: Never shy away from your weakness. No one wants to admit their weakness because it gives a heavy blow to their ego. It's okay to make mistakes. It's only through acceptance you overcome your weakness. You can't improve when you think you are already good at it. Chronicle your progress every day. It will help you to stay on track of mastery. Most of the time you are psychologically biased. It might hamper your progress because the outside view is missing. Hire a coach to prevent that from happening. He is more likely to identify your gaps, techniques that are suboptimal. Honest feedback will accelerate your learning.

Feedback: Take feedback from your colleagues who really want to see you improve. Sometimes they are better equipped than you to provide essential information. Take their criticisms constructively.

Charlie Munger on building the circle of competence:

In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time - zero. You would be amazed to know how much Warren and I read. My children laugh at me. They think I am a book with a couple of legs sticking out.

You can't always remain within your circle of competence. You might have to take HR decisions without having a detailed knowledge of psychology, taking a new project without having a complete understanding, going to a car mechanic without having knowing the inside out of the car. The necessary steps to keep in mind while operating outside of the circle of competence are:

1. Know the basics of each domain

2. Talk to experts who are working on it for at least a decade.

3. Use the foundational principles to navigate unknown territory.

Understanding the atomic principles paves the way in comprehending the complex phenomenon. When you are new to a particular domain, you don't have the mental prowess to discern what is relevant or irrelevant. Experts will help you in filtering out the signal from the noise. Incentives play an important role here. Imagine you went to a shop to buy a new dress. Seeking advice from a shopkeeper is disastrous for you. He wanted to maximize his profit still retaining you as a customer. His profit depends on the kind of advice he gives to you. Never seek advice from people when incentives are misaligned.

Warren Buffet on the Circle of Competence

I couldn't have given Rose Blumkin(CEO of Nebraska Furniture Mart) $200 million of Berkshire Hathway stock when I bought the business because she doesn't understand stock. She understands cash, furniture, and real estate. She doesn't understand stocks, so she doesn't have anything to do with them. If you deal with Mrs. B in what would I call her circle of competence... She is going to buy 5000 end tables this afternoon (if the price is right). She is going to buy 20 different carpets in odd lots, and everything else like that because she understands carpets. She wouldn't buy 100 shares of General Motors if it was 50 cents a share.

Her iron focus on the things she knew best was largely responsible for her massive success in spite of the obstacles she had faced.

The idea of falsification can be used to validate any theory. Falsification means if you can't disprove a statement using an experiment then you can't prove it either. To prove any theory, search for shreds of evidence that will disprove it, and if you won't be able to disprove it then it strengthens its validity. Natural Selection uses the idea of falsification. When mutations occur, natural selection eliminates what doesn't work thereby increasing the fitness of an individual. It is known as proof by contradiction in the world of mathematics.

According to historicism, history follows fixed laws and trends that inevitably lead to certain outcomes. In simple words, things that happened in the past will continue to happen in the future. It is not always the case because the world is changing continuously. Techniques that worked in the past might not work today. Test the idea rigorously before adopting it.

Empty your cup

Once there was a man who was very disappointed with his life. He visited the house of a wise man to attain wisdom on how to live a happy life. He knocked at his door, the wise man greeted him with a smile. The man was very tired as he came from a very far-off village. The wise man told him to take some rest. He started preparing the tea for the tired man. The wise man gave him a cup and started pouring the tea into it. He kept on pouring the tea into the cup. Now tea was overflowing from the cup. The man thought that the wise man had gone mad but the wise man kept on pouring the tea into his cup. Now the man broke his silence and told him, What are you doing? Are you insane? Don't you see the cup is already filled with tea?

The wise man replied with a smile, this cup is your brain which has filled with stale ideas. Please empty your cup to see the things as they are rather than as you want them to be which is the cause of the unhappiness in your life.

You perceive the world through your senses and forms a map of it. The map is highly subjective. It varies from person to person. In your entire life what you encounter is your own nervous system. The map is not a territory. It might be possible that some useful information is missing from the map. As you use the map over and over, it gets hardwired in your brain. The map is not the reality. It is just a belief or a perception of reality.

The map appears to us more real than the land. D.H Lawerence

In 1931, the mathematician Alfred Korzybski presented a paper on mathematical semantics in New Orleans, Lousiana popularised the idea of Map is not a territory. A description of a thing is not the thing itself.

In his paper, he wrote

1. A map may have a structure similar or dissimilar to the structure of the territory. A map is created with a specific purpose.

2. Two similar structures have similar logical characteristics. If a map shows some city Y between X and Z then in reality also, Y lies between X and Z.

3. A map is not a territory. It is just an abstraction.

4. An ideal map would contain the map of the map, the map of the map of the map, and so on describing the self-reflexivity of it. If a map gives a detailed description of a city then it is not a map but a book. To understand it you need to consult some other simple book referred to as the map of the map which leads to infinite recursion.

The map is static but the world is dynamic. The advancement of science changes the world. The new structures are formed when the old structure breaks. The problem arises when the old map is applied to the new structure. It paves the way to catastrophe. Reality is too complex. Some heuristics are needed to parse complex information. Maps serve as a guide to navigate unknown territory. The fundamental flaw is when the map is taken as a reality.

As time progresses, you have to play different roles like getting married, raising a kid, taking a new project. Maps are needed to accomplish these tasks. Maps are a bundle of ideas to get you started. Update the maps as you receive feedback during your new venture. You are using those maps to find the truth hidden in plain sight. Fit the reality into the map, not the other way round.

Every map has its own limitations. Cartographers constructed the map with a specific purpose. The map can be applied to different situations if and only if the two situations share the same logical characteristics. Using the map of America in India won't be of much help. Always know the use cases as well as the limitations of the map which helps you to decide when to use it appropriately.

Let's understand the whole idea using a real-world example. Assume you invented the time machine and move backward in time (15th century). There exists a common grazing Greenland in your village. You were the head of a village and implemented the policies necessary for its development. One policy was that all herdsmen were allowed to graze their cattle on Greenland. Herdsmen earn their livelihood from the cattle. An idea came to the mind of one of the herdmen to maximize the profit. What happens if I add extra cattle to my herd?

Cattles were the only source of their income. Adding extra cattle increased the utility by +1. He would take all the profit by himself. The negative consequence was overgrazing on the common land. Since the land was shared by many herdsmen, the negative utility is only in fraction. He kept on adding the cattle into his herd. Science had not yet reached its mature state and most people and cattle died due to diseases and wars. So common grazing land won't be an issue.

Now assume you moved forward in time and reached the 20th century. Social stability was attained due to the advancement in science. You used the same map of common Greenland. Now the structure had changed. An extra cattle meant more grazing on the common land. The other herdsmen also started increasing their cattle by seeing his fellow man making a profit by his idea. Now overgrazing increased even more which in turn destroyed Greenland and made it barren. In economics, it is known as the tragedy of the common. Using the same map in two different situations that don't share a common logical structure paves the way for destruction.

What is common to many is taken least care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own than for what they possess in common with others. Aristotle

Some decisions are first-order positive and second-order negative. Keep an eye over the whole picture. Think long term over the short term. Be humble, keep your mind open for new ideas. As Charlie Munger said human mind is like a human egg, it has a shutoff device. When sperm enters into it, it closes its door so that the next one doesn't get in.