By Clare Morin
Recently I had the luck of being invited onto France Roy’s new podcast, Buddha Buzz where he talks to Kadampas from all over the world. He asked me what I’d like to discuss, and I suggested meditation at work.
France works as a Chief Technology Officer for Balsam Brands in New York City. He’s also the Administrative Director of Kadampa Meditation Center NYC. I deeply admire the fact that he is able to do both of these things at once. He’s like the perfect Kadampa example, floating around his world with ease and also giving his time now to a podcast.
As we jumped on Zoom, I was keen to know how he approaches Buddha’s teachings, Dharma, in the workplace, particularly from his lens in the C-suite. I also share my stories of being a Kadampa and an arts writer turned content marketer. Here is our three-part conversation, with some highlights from each:
Part 1: What is meditation and why is it so relevant for today’s workplace?
- We start with a definition from How to Transform Your Life: “Meditation is a mind that is focused single pointedly on a virtuous object, and whose function is to make the mind peaceful and calm.” To meditate doesn’t mean to just relax. It means we’re learning how to constantly familiarize our mind with positive ways of thinking.
- Accepting impermanence. When everything is constantly moving, why do we keep stuck in old ways of doing things? The ability to adapt is a particularly important skill in the new, AI-infused world of work where everything, very literally, is changing.
- Agile transformation in the tech world and Buddhism. Agile is an environment where we think that everything is always changing. France shares how as a software engineer he’s been taught to ask: how do you learn from the last two weeks and adapt? That mindset fundamentally gels with impermanence and Buddhist concepts of reality.
Part 2: How to navigate change and uncertainty with meditation
- Our formal practice of meditation reveals the space we have available within our minds, we just need to give ourselves time to meet it and feel it. Simple breathing meditation can bring us tremendous relief and insight.
- “Just as there is room in the sky for a thunderstorm… so there is room in our mind for a few painful feelings” Clare shares an example of a time at work when she went to her car when her mind became turbulent and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s teachings spoke to her in a powerful way.
- How to do this without repressing anger? Geshe Kelsang encourages us to “patiently accept painful feelings and experience them and investigate their nature and where they come from.” The experience element stops us from repressing our feelings and pivoting to fixing them too quickly.
- Identify with the clear blue sky. An essential skill we learn in meditation is how to identify with ourselves correctly. To lift our sense of self off a mistaken appearance of our limited self, and onto our potential. Learning to identify with the vast blue sky, and not identify with the passing storm clouds.
Part 3: Fostering emotional maturity and cherishing others at work
- “Your work is your spiritual path. Your family is your spiritual path. These things are your monastery.” Clare shares how early on in her studies at Kadampa Meditation Center Hong Kong, she was continually encouraged by teachers and sangha to use daily life as her training ground.
- A daily Lamrim practice will help you meditate all day long; you keep coming back to the object. When you’re going throughout the break, you can also ask: How can I get back to my meditation object with a bigger insight next time?
- Cherishing others is a key training, it is the path to enlightenment, and it is a huge training for our world of work. A self-centered mindset makes us so much less happy at work!
- “Always have a smiling face and a loving mind and speak truthfully without malice.” – Atisha. We conclude by discussing this amazing line from the 11th century Buddhist master and his seminal teaching, ‘Advice from Atisha’s Heart’. If we feel others are on our team, there will be no basis for malice.
What do you think? How does your meditation practice help you at work? What parts are tricky to navigate? Leave your comments on both the YouTube videos and on this article. We’d love to hear from you. And if you’re on LinkedIn, find Clare Morin – she’s trying to find all the Kadampas on LinkedIn ☺
2 Comments
wow!! 83A Buddhist perspective on euthanasia and animal care
I haven’t listened to all of this yet, but the bits I have heard are very engaging. I want to listen to it all.
It is so good to see this initiative — most Kadampas spend a large amount of their time at work, and we need all the advice we can get on how to make this meaningful and, let’s face it, enjoyable too. Those two actually go together.
Thank you Clare, France, and Luna, Keep up the good work 😉