How To Get Ahead At Work, Buddhist-Style | David Nichtern
Meditation teacher David Nichtern discusses integrating creativity, spirituality, and making money, viewing business as an essential spiritual practice. He shares Buddhist-inspired principles for sanely productive and ambitious living.
Deep Dive Analysis
19 Topic Outline
Introduction to David Nichtern's Work-Spirituality Integration
Integrating Creativity, Spirituality, and Making a Buck
Core Principles: 'As It Is' and 'Up To Us'
Understanding Karma and Agency
Meditation: Making Friends with the Mind
Four Skillful Actions as Compassionate Expression
Manifestation and Auspicious Coincidence (Tendril)
Business as an Essential Spiritual Practice
Negotiating Your Worth and Self-Assessment
Cultivating Grounded Self-Assessment and Receptivity
Navigating Fear and Discomfort
Dealing with Difficult People ('Assholes')
Slogans for Work: Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously
Slogans for Work: Don't Bring Things to a Painful Point
Gradual vs. Sudden Paths to Awakening
Absolute and Relative Truths: Inseparability
The Dignity of Outrageous (Garuda)
Knowing When to Stop 'Polishing a Turd'
Dharma Moon and Teacher Training
8 Key Concepts
Creativity, Spirituality, and Making a Buck (CSM)
An integrated approach to living where these three aspects have equal weight, aiming to balance them into one cohesive way of being. It's not just about ethical business or spiritualizing work, but a holistic integration of all three.
As It Is (Dharmata/Suchness) & Up To Us
These are two core principles. 'As It Is' refers to accepting reality as it is, without wishful thinking, acknowledging impermanence and the way things are. 'Up To Us' means that within this given reality, individuals have agency and choices to find their own path, emphasizing personal responsibility.
Karma
Understood as a naturalistic cascade of causes and conditions that results in the present moment being set up exactly as it is. While the initial setup (like a billiards game's lay on the table) is given, one has significant potency in how they choose to act within that moment.
Four Skillful Actions (Four Karmas)
Different forms of expression that compassion can take, used as skillful means. These include pacifying (allowing space), enriching (encouraging), magnetizing (inviting in), and destroying/direct (telling the truth precisely and surgically when needed for constructive provocation).
Auspicious Coincidence (Tendril)
A phenomenon where things happen with a 'sparkle' when one is well-tuned, such as bumping into the right person at the right time. It's a dreamlike quality of experience that cannot be forced but can be opened to by 'listening to the melody of circumstances.'
Shenpa
A Tibetan teaching that uses a trigger, such as fear or a tight habitual pattern, as an alarm clock to remind one to open up and explore what is happening. It encourages using the discomfort of the trigger as an opportunity for increased awareness and friendliness towards the experience.
Absolute and Relative Truths (Inseparability)
Absolute truth is unchangeable and non-negotiable, like impermanence or the absence of a fixed self. Relative truth is our everyday, relational experience, involving navigation and preferences. The sophisticated teaching emphasizes their inseparability, meaning one must hold both truths simultaneously without biasing towards either extreme.
Dignity of Outrageous (Garuda)
A quality cultivated on the warrior's path, symbolized by a celestial hawk that is airborne and doesn't need to land for confirmation. It represents daring, spontaneity, and trusting oneself and the situation without needing external validation or affirmation.
10 Questions Answered
The book's core idea is to integrate creativity, spirituality, and making money into one cohesive way of being, giving equal weight to each aspect rather than viewing them as separate or opposed.
'As it is' means accepting reality as it is, including impermanence and suffering, without wishful thinking. 'Up to us' signifies that within this reality, individuals have agency and choices to find their own way.
No, the initial step in meditation is to make friends with the mind as it is, being gentle and kind towards oneself. While the mind can become more steady and clear over time, thoughts will still come, and the goal is not to eliminate them.
Manifestation, or 'joining heaven and earth,' involves visualizing a vision and then taking concrete actions to bring it into reality. It can also involve 'auspicious coincidence' (tendril) where things align with a sparkle when one is well-tuned to circumstances.
Integrating spiritual principles like the Eightfold Path (which includes right livelihood) into the business world helps heal the schism between work and spiritual life, fostering sane productivity, ethical conduct, and overall well-being in a significant part of one's waking day.
One can avoid negotiating against themselves by having a grounded sense of their own value and worth, allowing the other party to make their offer first, and holding their position with dignity while remaining fluid in the negotiation process.
Developing a grounded sense of self-worth involves softening, exhaling, allowing oneself to feel the body, noticing and releasing tension, and being willing to be soft, wrong, and vulnerable. It's about cultivating receptive energy and a beginner's mind.
Recognize that even difficult people are 'empty' (without fixed essence) and possess 'basic goodness.' The focus should be on skillfully discerning the most effective way to interact with them, which may involve being tough and clear, but not memorializing their perceived negative qualities.
Absolute truth is unchangeable and non-negotiable, like impermanence or the absence of a fixed self. Relative truth is our everyday, relational experience, involving navigation and preferences. The sophisticated teaching is the inseparability of these two, holding both perspectives simultaneously.
The 'dignity of outrageous' is a quality of daring and spontaneity, symbolized by a Garuda (celestial hawk) that doesn't need external confirmation or affirmation. It involves trusting oneself and the situation, taking leaps without needing constant validation.
36 Actionable Insights
1. Integrate Life’s Three Strands
Integrate creativity, spirituality (ethics/Dharma), and financial stability (“making a buck”) into one cohesive way of being. This holistic approach supports overall happiness, ethical conduct, and positive impact on the world.
2. Work as Spiritual Practice
View your professional life as an essential spiritual practice, rather than separating work from your spiritual and ethical principles. This allows you to apply Buddhist teachings and personal values in the significant portion of your day spent working.
3. Accept Reality ‘As It Is’
Embrace the principle of “as it is” (dharmata) by accepting reality, including impermanence, old age, sickness, and death, without wishful thinking. This direct reckoning with life’s conditions helps you deal with them more effectively.
4. Take Personal Agency
Recognize that ultimate responsibility for your path is “up to us,” meaning you have choices and must find your own way. Even when seeking guidance, understand that you are the primary agent in your life.
5. Clean Your Mind for Clarity
Work to “clean your mind” by reducing emotional upheavals and habitual patterns. This develops mental and physical acuity, allowing you to respond to present conditions with clarity and potency.
6. Make Friends with Your Mind
Begin meditation and self-observation by making friends with your mind, treating it with gentleness and kindness rather than as an enemy to conquer. This approach fosters stability and clarity over time.
7. Cultivate Self-Compassion
Give yourself the gift of compassion, especially when struggling with learning or changing habits. Understand that personal growth and deeper understanding naturally take time.
8. Practice Skillful Kindness
Express kindness through various forms, including “direct” communication where truth is delivered precisely and swiftly, even if provocative. Ensure your motivation is pure and aimed at helping the person.
9. Visualize and Manifest
To bring visions to reality, first visualize and dream about their form, then connect them to “earth” by taking practical steps. This involves assembling the right team and securing necessary resources.
10. Listen to Circumstances’ Melody
Cultivate an openness to “auspicious coincidences” (tendril) by being “tuned up well” and listening to the “melody of circumstances.” Notice when things happen with a sparkle, without trying to force them.
11. Do Not Seek Siddhis
Avoid actively seeking “siddhis” (superpowers or magical abilities); instead, focus on attention and compassionate motivation. If such phenomena occur, use them for the benefit of all or simply appreciate them.
12. Be Honest and Open
Be authentic about your experiences and current state, as this honesty resonates with others and provides a genuine starting point for personal growth.
13. Never Negotiate Against Yourself
When negotiating, clearly understand your value and worth, allowing the other party to make their offer first. Hold your dignity and remain fluid to secure a good deal without undercutting yourself.
14. Soften for Self-Assessment
Achieve grounded self-assessment by practicing softening and tenderness, noticing and releasing physical and emotional tension. Be willing to be vulnerable, admit wrongs, and receive.
15. Embrace Discomfort and Not Knowing
Systematically practice getting comfortable with discomfort and uncertainty. This expands your capacity to navigate challenging situations and reduces the need for constant safety.
16. Cultivate Curiosity in Challenges
When facing challenges or discomfort, cultivate curiosity about your experience rather than labeling it as “bad.” Explore what you are feeling to shift your perception and understanding.
17. Explore the Nature of Fear
Explore the nature of your fears rather than letting them tighten you up. Understanding fear is a prerequisite for experiencing fearlessness and using it constructively.
18. Recognize Unpleasantness as Signal
When experiencing unpleasant emotions like fear, dismissiveness, or rushing, recognize them as a signal that you are not fully acknowledging something. This prompts deeper self-inquiry.
19. Use Triggers as Alarm Clocks
Practice “Shenpa” by using strong emotional triggers or habitual patterns as an “alarm clock” to remind you to open up and investigate, rather than getting caught in the reaction.
20. Suffering Signals Lack of Awareness
If you are experiencing suffering, consider it a signal that you are not being fully mindful or aware of something in the present moment. This prompts you to bring more attention to it.
21. Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously
Avoid taking yourself too seriously by cultivating a flexible, “be like water” approach, rather than fixating on winning, losing, or a rigid sense of self. This allows for self-deprecating humor and spontaneous action.
22. Lighten Up, Don’t Cause Harm
Practice the “don’t bring things to a painful point” slogan by lightening up and giving yourself and others a break. Avoid using clarity or aggression to cause unnecessary harm or self-mutilation.
23. Do Your Best, Try Again
Focus on doing your best in any situation, and if you fall short or make a mistake, commit to trying again. Repeated effort is part of a gradual path of learning and transformation.
24. Adjust Communication Patterns
Cultivate self-awareness regarding your habitual communication patterns, such as being too harsh or fast. Use subsequent interactions as opportunities to adjust your approach, delivering messages with more patience and less aggression.
25. Embrace the Gradual Path
Use the repetitive nature of reality as an opportunity to learn and make small shifts each time you encounter similar situations. This is the “gradual path” towards transformation.
26. Progress is None of Your Business
Adopt the perspective that your spiritual or personal progress is “none of your business.” This allows you to focus on the practice itself without getting caught up in tracking or judging your advancement.
27. Hold Absolute and Relative Truths
Cultivate the ability to hold both “absolute truth” (non-negotiable reality) and “relational truth” (everyday experiences) simultaneously. Recognize their inseparability without biasing towards one.
28. Apply Dual Truths to Work
Apply the understanding of absolute and relative truth to your work by acknowledging its practical importance while simultaneously recognizing its deeper insubstantiality. This helps avoid taking work too seriously.
29. Remember ‘Assholes Are Empty’
When encountering difficult people, remember the Buddhist concept of emptiness, recognizing they lack an inherent, unchanging essence. This helps you respond skillfully without memorializing their negative traits.
30. Discern Skillful Interaction
Use “prajna” (acuity/wisdom) to discern the most skillful way to interact with difficult people, which may involve being tough, precise, and clear. Avoid imputing a fixed, unchanging essence to their behavior.
31. Cultivate Basic Goodness View
Cultivate the view of “basic goodness,” recognizing that a wholesome, brilliant quality permeates all reality, including difficult individuals. This fosters a more compassionate and open approach.
32. Embrace Dignity of Outrageous
Cultivate the “dignity of outrageous” by developing self-trust and spontaneity that doesn’t rely on external confirmation. This allows you to take bold leaps and act without needing constant validation.
33. Don’t Polish a Turd
Recognize when a project or effort is fundamentally flawed and be willing to abandon it to start something fresh. Avoid investing excessive time in trying to perfect something that is not working.
34. Mindfulness for Intuition
Engage in a foundational mindfulness practice to cultivate awareness and intuition. This enables you to “figure things out” and navigate decisions effectively.
35. Go Beyond Mindfulness
View mindfulness as a foundational practice, but recognize it is not the entire path. Be open to cultivating additional practices like compassion and skillful means to fully realize opportunities for growth.
36. Relay Foundational Teachings
Focus on sharing and relaying the foundational teachings and experiences that profoundly impacted you. Aim to transmit this wisdom to the next generation while also remembering to have fun.
8 Key Quotes
your progress is none of your business.
Dan Harris (quoting Matthew Brensilver)
listen to the melody of circumstances.
David Nichtern
In the expert's mind, there are few possibilities. In the beginner's mind, there are many.
David Nichtern (quoting Suzuki Roshi)
Don't Polish a Turd.
David Nichtern (quoting Linda Gottlieb)
even assholes are empty.
David Nichtern
Don't bring things to a painful point.
David Nichtern
business can be an essential spiritual practice.
David Nichtern
If I'm suffering, there's something I'm not being mindful of.
Dan Harris