The Best Investment I Ever Made
The best investment I ever made was in my own spiritual growth and getting to know who I am, and that is priceless.
Dandapani names his spiritual growth and self-knowledge as the biggest investment of his energy, and describes refusing headphones at the gym so he can hear his own thoughts. He says going inward requires empathy and compassion for yourself, and closes with what he left the monastery with and his decision never to borrow money.
What this talk covers
- Since he was a young boy he had a deep yearning to understand what his life is about and who he is, and that pursuit is priceless.
- Most people interact with the world through a screen or a headset all day, which leaves no room to hear their own thoughts.
- People are terrified to discover what is inside, and you cannot begin the journey inward without empathy and compassion for yourself.
- He looks at himself as a building under construction, with good stuff and not so good stuff, which is why he never feels the need to prove himself to anybody.
- Leaving the monastery after ten years with a laptop, some cash and his robes, he decided not to borrow money, because if he borrowed he would always know how to borrow, and if he learned to make money he would always know how to make money.
If I'm listening to someone else, how would I ever hear my own thoughts or what's going on inside of me?Dandapani
Questions
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Because if he is listening to someone else, he cannot hear his own thoughts. He wants to know what is going on in his head and who he is, so he leaves the headphones off.
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A great sense of empathy and compassion for yourself. You will see things that are beautiful and things that are ugly, and he suggests holding yourself as a building still under construction rather than a finished product.
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He asked to be flown to the US mainland rather than back to Australia, landed in Los Angeles at midnight with cash, a MacBook Pro and his robes, stayed in a backpacker motel and bought clothes the next day. His goal was to learn how to make money rather than borrow it.
Transcript
591 words · 3:15
From your perspective, you know, money is energy. What is the biggest cost or the biggest investment you've ever made with your label or your definition of money, which is your energy? Personally or personally?
To my spiritual growth and getting to know who I am, I would say, you know, ever since I was a young boy, I had this deep yearning of really understanding what my life is about, who I am. And that is priceless.
And most people don't spend time thinking, you know, Matt, on an average day, how much people interact with the world through scrolling on their screens, even when they're on the toilet, driving, listening to podcasts, they're at the gym. I go to the gym, almost everybody has a headpiece and listening to music, something.
I don't have anything on because if I'm listening to someone else, how would I ever hear my own thoughts or what's going on inside of me? I want to know what's going on in my head. I want to know who I am.
People are terrified to discover what's inside. And part of that journey of discovering who you are is being able to develop a great sense of empathy and compassion for yourself. Because if you cannot do that, you cannot begin that journey of going inward.
You are going to see things that are beautiful and you're going to see things that are so ugly and you just have to understand that I look at myself as a building under construction. There's rebar, there's glass, concrete lying everywhere. Still a work in progress.
So I look at myself as a product of evolution. There's good stuff and not so good stuff. And I acknowledge it as this is where I am in my growth. And there's still a lot of work to do.
And now I'm okay with who I am. And the beautiful thing that comes out of it is that you never feel the need to prove yourself to anybody, to be something to somebody, and you can be who you are. So you leave the monastery 10 years you were there?
10 years, yep. And what did they give you when you showed up? I heard somewhere that they give you a MacBook. Is that true?
Well, my guru, even though it was a traditional Hindu monastery, he was very different in his thinking. He adopted technology. So all the monks had Macs.
We use Macs to do our work and publish our books and all that kind of stuff. monks that served a long time to help them get started in the well, he would give them a Mac and $1,000 cash. So the monastery was in Hawaii.
They were going to buy me a one-way ticket back to Australia where I grew up. And I said, you know, fly me to the mainland US. So they bought me a ticket. I said, they said, where?
I said, LA. So I landed in Los Angeles at midnight with a $10, $100 bill and a MacBook Pro laptop and my robes. And that was it.
into a backpacker motel and the next day went out and bought some clothes. My goal was not to borrow any money because I felt if I borrowed money now I'd always know how to borrow money. If I learned how to make money, I'd always know how to make money.
I had been given an amazing set of tools in the monastery. Now it's about implementation.