One day this past week, I listened to this podcast interview of Cyan Banister, in Invest like the Best. Due to some reason, I felt I couldn’t listen to anything else that day. I usually listen to politics or product management or economics, but that day anything else would have spoiled the mood I was in. It may be that some days are like that - when the mind is contemplative, no clutter or anxiety, less cynical, the body feels healthy and open to receive. Or it may truly be that there was something in what I had listened to.
Cyan seems to be a successful investor in Uber, SpaceX among others. Of late, I feel all successful people think that they have wisdom to share and everyone is becoming gurus online. Other day I was reading such pearls of wisdom from someone who is good at product management and it was nothing about product management, but about how to live one’s life. It may be that to become truly good at something, one has to become a better person first and in that process arrive at the same universal truths irrespective of what path they are on.
I was thinking she is like the “high priestess” of capitalism, who feels she is being entrusted with money to do good in the world. Her story seems incredible - from being homeless, being self taught, suffering a stroke at a young age to becoming wildly successful. She talked about being an atheist, but discovering spirituality a few years back, where she feels there is something that guides the decisions we make.
“I actually had to figure out how to truly believe that the world is magical. And the moment that I truly believed that the world was magical, then the world became magical. It rocked the foundation of who I am. So I had a spiritual awakening, and that's the only way I can describe it. And I can tell you that each one of us is walking a very thin, razor's edge between sanity and insanity at all times.
Serotonin regulates a lot of how we perceive reality. I had a surge of serotonin in this lightning bolt like no other. It was basically in a surge of energy that went from the base of my spine at the top of my skull and suddenly, everything in the world looked different. Everything. I started viewing signs differently. I started viewing art differently, conversations I was having with people differently. And I realized everything around us is a projection of our perception and minds.
And once you learned how just to be, life gets a lot more simple. All of a sudden, everything you ever wished for in your life just starts coming true, it becomes effortless. It's really weird. It's really super weird. And the only thing that changed in my life was having faith in something higher than myself. That was it. This is why when you ask me what insight or brilliance or whatever led to whatever, it's too easy for our ego mind to take credit for everything.
Something gave me that feeling that said, you ought to go deeper into this, you ought to do this. You've got to take this risk, you've got to jump right now. I guarantee you, if you talk to a lot of different people, they'll say, "I don't know why I did this. I just had a feeling, and I now believe thoroughly in that feeling and I believe that, that feeling is the universe or God, whatever word you want to put into it, and it helps guide me." And now that I don't egotistically attach myself to it, I am just a much happier person and everything is just falling into place.”
I am sceptical when people talk about spiritual awakening, but am fascinated to read or listen to people who say they had such an epiphany. I had read a similar description in vivid terms in “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. I wonder if it really happens or is it a moment of madness? When films or stories talk about someone going through a life changing moment, realizing all of a sudden about the meaning of life or why they are on a wrong path and changing the course altogether, I wonder if it is an instrument or plot twist in story telling to take the story to a conclusion.
She talked about monoculture - when everything in culture is becoming similar, with commercial interests making movies, books, songs and people similar, to be able to sell more of the same. She talked about Gen Alpha, the ones born in the twenty-first century, doubting why to learn anything in the world of AI.
Another surprising one was her saying Bill Murray, the actor, is her spirit animal.
“Bill Murray is my spirit animal. About 20 years ago, I saw a film called Lost in Translation. And I thought this is a person who feels so real. He's not acting. He is but he isn't. I looked at his eyes in that performance and I saw a man who is suffering, who was dealing with some real-life shit that was coming through the film. And not only that, but I felt my own suffering, and I felt a connection to that suffering. It's like when you look at a painting and you see yourself. I saw myself in Bill Murray.”
I had watched Lost in Translation years ago, but had completely forgotten it. Just like the saying that we should re-read some of our favourite books every few years or so, maybe we should re-watch the best movies - we might see something that we were not ready for earlier or was not in the frame of mind or maturity to understand earlier. Luckily the movie was available on one of the OTT platforms. I didn’t remember any of the story, except maybe the only thing that had stuck deeply in my mind was Japan, its buddhist temples and wanting to visit sometime. I could identify with the deep loneliness and weariness of Bill Murray’s character, especially how it crystallises while on travels. Maybe this is what “adulthood” imposes on us, to go through the long slog of life. The easy connection of both of the lead characters and opening up about some of the hard realities of life which is hard to talk about normally. The tenderness, care, trust that one would find a fulfilling path despite the current self doubt, not crossing the line and spoiling a deeper connection are what I could take away now. Maybe I should re-watch in another few years and will see something new.
No comments:
Post a Comment