Andrew Scheffer, The Wharton Monk
Andrew Scheffer, "the Wharton Monk," shares his journey from a partying college freshman to a Buddhist monk and Wharton MBA. He discusses how meditation transformed his mind, helped him navigate corporate life, and now informs his corporate mindfulness training.
Deep Dive Analysis
11 Topic Outline
Andrew Scheffer's Early Introduction to Meditation
First Intensive Meditation Retreat and Parental Concerns
Ordaining as a Monk with Sayadaw U Pandita
Post-Monastic Life: England and Return to the U.S.
Applying to Business School and Balancing Worlds
Career in Wealth Management and Continued Practice
Relationship with Sayadaw U Pandita and His Influence
Founding Mindfulness Matters: Corporate Training
Mindfulness for Entrepreneurs and Business Challenges
The Core Practice: Noting or Labeling
Guided Meditation: Body Scan and Abdominal Noticing
2 Key Concepts
Noting or Labeling
This practice involves using everyday language to label present experiences, such as 'rising, rising' for the abdomen's movement or 'thinking, thinking' for thoughts. It helps develop a dispassionate perspective on phenomena, leading to a deeper understanding of their nature and eventually to the diminishment or permanent uprooting of negative mental states.
Monastic Lifestyle as Training
The monastic lifestyle, even temporarily, is viewed as a wholesome endeavor and a form of letting go. It's a structured training path, not necessarily a permanent commitment, allowing individuals to deeply immerse themselves in practices like mindfulness and virtue.
6 Questions Answered
After his freshman year of college, feeling his mind was scattered, he sought something to refocus it. His brother gave him books on meditation, and he began practicing, noticing a significant positive shift in his mental state.
Initially, they were slightly alarmed, especially when his brother started, fearing it might be a cult. Later, as Andrew pursued it more intensely, they became concerned he was doing irreparable harm to his career and future happiness, as meditating for extended periods was not on their radar.
He uses practices of loving kindness and mindfulness, which he has found to soften or strengthen his mind and provide peace during difficult emotional states. He recognizes the variable emotions of depression and has developed practices that serve as an antidote, diminishing the intensity and stickiness of these states.
His teaching emphasizes the 'noting' or 'labeling' practice as a continuous, 24/7 path, not just one of many methods. He teaches it with full confidence in its profound benefit to transform the mind, aiming for a permanent uprooting of negative states rather than just temporary relief.
Yes, Andrew Scheffer states that his teachings are irrelevant to religious beliefs in a corporate context. The practice of paying attention and recognizing what's going on through noting is not religious and produces results for people of all walks of life and faiths, without requiring belief in Buddhist metaphysics.
He viewed his 'off-retreat' life as an opportunity to apply the practice, making everything an opportunity to practice rather than just intensive retreat. Periods of financial crises also provided unexpected opportunities for extended retreats, and his background in Asian culture from his monastic training became a worldly benefit in Singapore's wealth management industry.
16 Actionable Insights
1. Practice Mindful Noting Constantly
Consistently apply the ’noting’ or ’labeling’ practice 24/7, using everyday language to identify experiences like ‘rising, rising’ for the abdomen, ’thinking, thinking’ for thoughts, or ‘worrying, worrying’ for feelings, as this is ’the path’ to becoming skilled and adept at mindfulness.
2. Overcome Negative Mental States
Utilize mindfulness and loving kindness practices to address physical, mental, or emotional pain, including depression, as these methods can soften, strengthen, or provide peace, offering an antidote rather than just waiting for difficult states to pass.
3. Integrate Mindfulness Daily
Apply mindfulness to all daily activities, viewing ‘off retreat’ time as an opportunity to practice, rather than just reserving intensive meditation for specific sessions, to make your practice more robust and continuous.
4. Cultivate Confidence in Practice
Approach meditation with full confidence in its profound benefits, quickly dismissing any doubt that arises by noting it as ‘doubt, doubt,’ which prevents it from gaining traction and allows you to continue the practice with full force.
5. Recognize & Recover from Stress
Quickly recognize when you are stressed, as stress diminishes IQ, and take immediate recovery measures such as sitting quietly, closing your eyes, and rebalancing your attention and focus to regain clarity and resilience.
6. Improve Listening Skills
When engaging in conversations, especially in professional contexts like sales, actively listen without simultaneously formulating your response, as this allows you to fully absorb what the other person is saying and identify missed opportunities.
7. Address Insecurity with Mindfulness
Use mindfulness as a tool to turn inward and understand the roots of insecurity, recognizing that unaddressed insecurities can persist indefinitely and hinder personal and professional growth.
8. Align Actions with Core Values
Reflect on and align your current pursuits, such as training in generosity, moral discipline, or developing your mind, with the fundamental values instilled in you, like the importance of education, to find deeper meaning and confidence in your path.
9. Use Wealth Ethically
Consider using financial resources to support causes that profoundly benefit others, such as monasteries or the preservation of teachings, rather than solely for personal acquisition, recognizing the positive impact wealth can have when used for beneficial purposes.
10. Seek Complementary Mentorship
Identify mentors or teachers who can provide what you need for personal growth, for example, someone who can teach gentleness and self-love if you are already tough and driven, rather than seeking external reinforcement of existing traits.
11. Begin Meditation with Body Scan
Start your meditation by closing your eyes, bringing attention inward, and performing a quick body scan from head to toe, noticing sensations and allowing yourself to recognize and release any tension or pressure.
12. Focus on Abdominal Breath
Direct your attention to the natural rising and falling movement of your abdomen as you breathe, gently labeling each phase as ‘rising, rising’ or ‘falling, falling,’ and you may lightly place your hands on your abdomen to enhance focus.
13. Handle Mind Wandering Effectively
When your mind inevitably wanders to thoughts, sounds, or other sensations during meditation, recognize where your attention has gone, give it an appropriate label (e.g., ’thinking, thinking’), and then gently redirect your focus back to the next rising or falling of the abdomen.
14. Maintain Focus on Primary Object
Continuously return your attention to the labeling of ‘rising’ or ‘falling’ of the abdomen, even if you notice other characteristics of the breath, as this practice helps to refocus and deepen your concentration.
15. Avoid Regret by Avoiding Circumstances
To prevent future regret, proactively avoid circumstances that could lead you to break your personal rules or virtues, as your conscience will later signal when a rule has been broken.
16. Teach Mindfulness Secularly
When teaching mindfulness in diverse contexts, focus solely on the practical application of attention and recognition, omitting any religious or metaphysical aspects, as the practice is universally useful regardless of belief.
5 Key Quotes
When I look for teachings to understand my place in this world and how the world works, I do look to the Buddhist teachings.
Andrew Scheffer
If I don't address my insecurity now, then, you know, it'll be something that plagues me forever. And so she saw mindfulness as a tool to start turning inward and really figuring out what's going on.
Andrew Scheffer
If I wanted to be continuous in the practice, my off retreat had to be applying the practice as well. And so that's when my practice really became a lot more robust.
Andrew Scheffer
I had never been taught a method to recover from that. And so all of a sudden I started seeing there were things that I could do with my mind that would help me avoid those traumas.
Andrew Scheffer
I knew I wasn't so happy with things prior. So it was like try it. And as I tried it, you know, extraordinary results happened.
Andrew Scheffer
1 Protocols
Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Noting/Labeling)
Andrew Scheffer- Close eyes and bring attention inward.
- Perform a quick body scan, starting from the head and moving down, noticing sensations like pressure, tension, or throbbing, and allowing for relaxation.
- Direct attention to the natural movement of the abdomen, the rising and falling with each breath.
- Gently label the rising movement as 'rising, rising' and the falling movement as 'falling, falling'. (Optional: place hands lightly on the abdomen to aid focus).
- If other sensations (thoughts, feelings, sounds, planning, imagining) arise, recognize them, give them an appropriate label (e.g., 'thinking, thinking', 'planning, planning', 'hearing, hearing').
- After a few notes or labels of distractions, gently redirect attention back to the next natural rising or falling of the abdomen and resume labeling.
- Continue to notice characteristics of the breath (pressure, movement, deep/shallow) but always return to the core labeling of 'rising' or 'falling'.
- Bring attention back to the sitting posture and awareness of the full body.
- After the next rising, open your eyes.