To better understand everything that is to follow, make sure you have already covered my previous post Principles of Reality so you can follow along. If you wish to start from the original article, check out my post The Roadmap to Overman.
In this article you will learn the following:
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- The grand theory
- Three levels of impact
- What is unconventional knowledge
- Why you should live in accordance with nature
- What is non-duality and the path to awakening
- How do stoics deal with emotion
- What is the mindset for success
In this chapter, I will be connecting the ideas from multiple schools of thought like Stoicism, Buddhism, and Taoism. I will also implement some ideas from David Goggins’s books “Can’t Hurt Me” and “Never Finished”, and Allan Watt’s book “The Way of Zen“. The goal is to give you a complete mindset that you can adopt as is and immediately start implementing in your life.
History is very important when it comes to shaping your beliefs. For that reason, you should dedicate some time to learning and reading about it. There are two books I will recommend and depending on your preferred way of learning, you can go for a more visual option in “History of the World Map by Map” or the standard format in “Sapiens“.
And finally, for all those of you who wish to go a step further, you should read “Maps of Meaning” by Jordan B. Peterson. It is very dense with facts, knowledge, symbols, archetypes and so much more, and it would greatly help you in building the right kind of mindset for life. Alternatively, there is a playlist consisting of his video lectures on this book so make sure to check it out.
The grand theory
Three levels of impact
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- Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
- Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.
- Teach a man to teach others how to fish and you will solve world hunger.
There are three levels of impact, and unless with get to the third level, we won’t solve any problems long-term. That is exactly why history always repeats itself because humanity hasn’t yet learned how to teach.
Keep in mind this simple framework and remember that the only lasting impact you can ever make requires you to get to the last step.
A journey beyond conventional knowledge
Most of the knowledge today is categorized as conventional knowledge because we do not feel that we really know something unless we can represent it in words or some other system of signs like mathematics per se. But to be able to understand Buddhism or Taoism, we must accept the possibility of some other type of knowledge that is independent of human sign languages. An example of this would be to accept that we “know” how to move our hands, how to make a decision, or how to breathe, even though we can hardly begin to explain how we do it in words.
The problem is that the power of thought enables us to construct symbols out of anything. For example, this includes the ability to make a symbol/idea of ourselves apart from ourselves. Because the idea is so much more comprehensible than the reality, the symbol so much more stable than the fact, we learn to identify ourselves with our idea of ourselves. This is the origin of the subjective feeling of “self” which we previously defined as an illusion. Once we break the illusion, the entire relationship between subject and object changes and becomes its true form, where the subject creates the object as much as the object creates the subject. The individual, on the one hand, and the world, on the other, are simply the abstract limits or terms of a concrete reality that is “between” them for which we have no words.
The illusion arises from the mind’s attempt to be both itself and the idea of itself. But once you eliminate definitions, all that is left is the experience that you previously were unable to fully embrace because of your attempt at grasping them by defining them.
Natures flow
If you work on your mind with your mind, how could you avoid an immense confusion? Only by having no thing (thought) in your mind and no mind (definition) in things, can you achieve awakening. This is why Far Eastern cultures gave so much enfaces to spontaneity and naturalness. Because the essential quality of naturalness is the sincerity of the undivided mind, free from symbols and thought.
Once you realize the impossibility of grasping the mind with the mind, you will understand the meaning of wu-wei or non-action. It is a Taoist term for saying that things happen naturally without effort. Think of it as flow state, where the person performing the action is effortlessly and without the involvement of the mind, performing the action. An artist fully immersed in the present, thereby the brush is freely flowing and drawing by itself.
Stoics define the purpose of life as “living in agreement with nature”. This way of life should be interpreted as being in harmony with nature on two levels. On the one hand, Stoics try to live according to their own human nature, and on the other hand, they follow Nature in the means of accepting their place as part of a whole, the nature of the universe. They were of the opinion that mankind is a part of the whole of Nature, the same way we defined the Oneness of the universe. Testament to this is the fact that Socrates and many others identified as cosmopolitans, or citizens of the cosmos and I truly believe that this is the only way anyone should identify, as it promotes love towards all beings without exceptions.
Path to Awakening and Non-Duality
The practical method by which to achieve liberation or awakening is to progressively remove any definition, to get to the realization that the basic reality of your life is not defined by any conceivable object. But this attainment of awakening must be looked at through the lens of non-action. This state of Nirvana (as it is called in Buddhism) can only arise unintentionally, spontaneously, naturally.
In attaining Nirvana, it will certainly help to understand the none dual nature of the universe. All things exist only in relation to other things. Things only exist in their relationship to the opposite; pleasure is defined by pain, life by death, and so on. They are relative to each other and they cannot exist without one another because they are identical in nature like two sides of a coin. I will give you a usual Taoist example of this. Think of the moon’s reflection in the water. When the moon rises the water does not wait to receive its image, and when even the tiniest drop of water is poured out the moon does not wait to cast its reflection. For the moon does not intend to cast its reflection, and the water does not receive its image on purpose. The event is caused as much by the water as by the moon, and as the water manifests the brightness of the moon, the moon manifests the clarity of the water. There is no effort used, it is as natural as it can be, this is the essence of none action.
Now let’s keep this way of thinking and consider another example, but this time of human experience. Our reality, actions, and life are determined as much by the nature of our mind as by the deterministic nature of the universe. You are equally the cause and the effect of your life, just as are the outside circumstances. So there is no need to talk about determinism or free will separately since they are inseparable from one another. This idea is easily felt when watching your breath, for by a slight change of viewpoint it is easy to feel that “I breathe” is the same as “It breathes me”.
Stoic take on emotions
It is a common misconception that Stoics were into repressing emotions, but in reality, they had natural emotions and desires. The only difference is that they used reason as a guide in order not to get overwhelmed by emotions. Although our initial emotional reactions may be automatic, we can choose whether to continue going along with them or not. Happiness comes from within, and with a perfect understanding of the world around you, you won’t be needing to repress any emotions. You will simply accept the natural way of being and realize that you are not disturbed by the event, but rather by your opinions of it.
External things are completely indifferent with regard to living a good life or being happy and fulfilled. But remember one thing, the goal isn’t to be an emotionless statue. Once you fully understand the knowledge from this whole roadmap, you will naturally become “stoic” in the midst of challenge but don’t force it. If you feel strong emotions, let those emotions flow out, don’t repress but rather do what feels natural to you, and go with it.
Uncommon Standards: A Mindset for Success
Before continuing to read, check out my summaries of the two books shown bellow.
In order to get what you want out of life you must program certain ideas and beliefs into your mind. The following are exactly those kinds of beliefs and ideas.
Do something that sucks every day and understand that task isn’t completed until you have done it to the best of your ability. When life throws challenges your way, you don’t rise to the level of your expectations, you fall to the level of your training. This is exactly why you must accommodate yourself with excellence and discomfort. The real work is unseen, and your performance matters most when nobody is watching. You must have your own uncommon standards to live up to, no matter if there is someone to see your effort or not.
When you set unreasonable goals and fall short, don’t look at it as failure, but simply as your first, second, or tenth attempt. You cannot fail unless you quit, and remember that all anxiety and self-doubt are just confirmations that you are doing something difficult, so you know you are on the right path.
There are certain things in life that warrant an “even if I die” mindset and accept the very real possibility that you might die because from now on, there is no quitting. If you truly must quit, make sure that you do it when it’s easy, not when you are in the midst of struggle and it’s hard.
And finally, I want you to write an oath to yourself, a paragraph of text that you will follow no matter what. For the time being, I will give you the one that I use, but you should take the time to come up with your own. Feel free to copy anything from the following one that you find useful.
Oath to self
“In a world where mediocrity is often the standard, my life’s mission is to become uncommon amongst uncommon. This mission is rooted in love, accountability, and discipline. A true leader, I, stay exhausted, show no weakness, take no shortcuts, don’t quit, and lead through action. My work is unseen, you are either getting better or worse so I stay fully committed, stare through fear and I don’t stop when I am tired, I stop when I am done.”
Solution to Nihilism
I watched many videos on the topic of nihilism but the conversation shown below is the one that has given me the strongest tools to fight against it.
It is a one-and-a-half-hour-long conversation, but if you don’t have the interest to watch the whole thing, at the very least watch the last 10 minutes of the video. I am certain it will change your life.
Conclusion
If you are to follow all of the previous advice, you will build a mindset designed for success, a mindset designed for greatness. But this is not the end of your journey. What you believe in defines both who you are and who you will become. That is why you should constantly be building out the right kind of mindset for life and as you grow so should your system of beliefs.
Actionable step:
- Read the books “Man’s Search for Meaning” and “Sapiens“.
- Read my summary of the book “Man’s Search for Meaning” and “Sapiens summary by Tyler DeVries“.
Once you have done all of the actionable steps, move on to the article Productivity.