In today’s episode of “Healing from Within”, your host Sheryl Glick author of Life is No Coincidence is most pleased to welcome Rizwan Virk, author of Zen Entrepreneurship…Walking the Path of the Career Warrior. In this wonderfully creative story- part autobiographical and part mystical, we follow a young MIT businessman as he develops the ideas and skills necessary to grow a multi-million dollar business, and in the process, discovers that real success is completely intertwined with the spiritual realm. Rizwan Virk, an MIT graduate, launched a company from his Boston apartment called “Brainstorm Technologies” which became the first of his many internationally acclaimed enterprise software, video games, and online advertising companies. Most recently, he has become a leading advisor in Silicon Valley with successes as the smash hit iPhone app, “Tap Fish”, which was downloaded more than 30 million times. He has been quoted and chronicled in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, The Boston Globe, etc. He was the executive producer for the international film, THRIVE- What on Earth will it take. This has been seen by more than 10 million people globally!
Riz believes, as does Sheryl , that there is no separation between one’s business life, one’s personal life, and the spiritual realm-that each feeds the other and in fact, your success depends on reconciling these three facets of your life. In becoming aware of the energetic influences in the form of thought processes that manifest results in the physical world, we become aware of the Law of Attraction and begin to realize we are not just physical beings, but energetic beings as well and must feed the needs of both. In the story, Riz has a friend, James, who suggests that meditation could help him grow personally, reduce stress, and help in making important career decisions. Riz gets introduced to James’ friend, Ramaswami, a successful business man, in the hopes of securing enough capital to establish his new company. Ramaswami tells Riz, before anyone is ready to make the proper assessment of the people, place, or product that they wish to provide the public with, they must become aware of their own energetic patterns. Ramaswami is not merely a businessman, but a spiritual teacher, and believes and instructs Riz that bad management is the number one reason why businesses fail in this country. The founders don’t know themselves well enough, causing them to do stupid things…now, since most entrepreneurs aren’t stupid people, then why do they do stupid things? They simply do not realize engaging a business isn’t really only about the business, but is about karmic patterns, your energetic patterns in the hidden worlds, and your hidden beliefs about this world. Beginning a process for achieving your success and your fulfillment include 1. Meditate. 2. Pay attention to yourself and the feelings you have inside. 3. Recognize meditation can be a MIRROR to clear your mind so you can see the clues that are all around you, and more importantly, INSIDE YOU. 4. Keeping a journal is also a way to find and record clues.
As Riz began to meditate and to become aware of dreams, following his own instincts or intuition, he began to understand that he could count on the clues of this inner world to direct him to the proper timing, people, and places where he would eventually be able to create and manifest both success in his business and a happy, healthy environment. Of course, this realization did not come over night, but his friends and teachers all inclined towards this spiritual inner awakening, started to develop a sense of confidence and acceptance of the information being offered from this higher spiritual dimension. Riz mentions in the book, which reminds Sheryl of her book, Life is No Coincidence… there are no coincidences and the future is always calling you. In the physical world we think time flows only in one direction-the past and present create the future and we think time is linear, but quantum physics is more complicated than this…there may be multiple parallel universes operating at the same time. The business world and world of science, art, and literature, are full of people who felt called on to fulfill their destiny and find the future waiting for them…this is a matter of intuition. Riz’s teacher, Ramaswami, was intent on sharing these insights with this young man who had so much potential. Without these insights, he knew one cannot reach their goals. Riz goes on to discover that starting a business is not just about starting a business…it is part of your path in life. Most people begin a start up by; 1. Coming up with an idea and trying to validate it. 2. Trying to convince other people to join you. 3. Finding customers and employees for getting the right factors in place to launch their business when the timing is right. However, Riz’s teacher, Ramaswami, insisted waiting until the point of NO CHOICE, which included the dual principles of no choice and right timing are the two most important factors to consider. In addition to the start up ideas most people work with, the no choice blueprint suggests; 1. Reach the boiling point-internally know you can no longer pursue this idea part time. Think about it night and day. 2. Feel the pressure build and you begin to worry about missing out. 3. When you feel you are ready and able to make a change in your life, and be prepared for the low pay and long hours, that will be the right time.
In discussing different times of meditation and the ultimate purpose of meditation, we discuss chanting, sitting, visualizing, walking, with eyes open, with eyes closed, breath meditation, object meditation, insight mediation…and so on. The purpose of mediation is to lose yourself completely and be in a place without self, ego, you don’t have to think about being in the moment…you become the moment. Mediation or spiritual techniques goals are the same-AWARENESS of a greater part of yourself, the ability to concentrate is the first mental muscle that is strengthened during meditation. Awareness helps to perform self reflection and you become aware of your own patterns and tendencies and see how any pattern or tendency might be an obstacle to either your career success or your spiritual success.
We may all use work as a form of mediation. For example, mindfulness is a spiritual term that means to focus on what you are doing and not to get distracted by other mental thoughts, emotions, or external stimuli. In addition to sitting meditation by yourself or privately, try mindfulness at work to expand your meditation beyond a simple sitting meditation. Although the eventual goal of meditation is AWARENESS, the immediate goal is CONCENTRATION.
CONCENTRATION is according to Yogi Mehar Baba “One pointedness of mind to the exclusion of all other considerations.” Musicians have very good concentration..They are forced to spend hours at a time focused on one thing: playing their music..they become so engrossed and do not worry about other things… this is back to “one pointedness of mind to the exclusion of all other considerations.”
FOCUS is another outcome from meditation allowing one to pay strict attention to the task at hand. For example in making a draft at work Don’t answer the phone—let it go to voicemail, if someone walks by ask them to come back later—if your e-mail beeps, ignore it- bring your mind back to the task at hand. This is the essence of Meditation—a state of Samadhi…a concentration on a single thought or action.
Riz develops an understanding of the hidden keys for success and personal growth. They include; 1. How to use your work for spiritual growth. 2. How to achieve success using the FOUR KEYS TO MANIFESTATION. 3. How to discover and transcend your energetic power rather than let it run you. 4. How to bring the magic and mystery of a treasure hunt into your career 5. How to find the seven clues that are pointing you to the person you are meant to be. 6. How to utilize your dreams and synchronicity to serve as your guide. 7. How to find and walk your own warrior’s path…the unique combination of lesson and contributions for which you are here.
The FOUR KEYS TO MANIFESTATION include 1. Right Intent (Visualizing our goals…The Law of Attraction) 2. Right Patterns (Ride but do not oppose your Energetic Patterns..facing both your strengths and weaknesses are necessary for transition or change when needed) 3. Right Technique (Do the right stuff in the world) 4 Right Timing—Appropriateness (Your task has been given to you and if you cannot find a way…no one can.)
In an e-mail to Riz from Ramaswami, he states “The study of energy is the central issue for the student of the Path of the Career Warrior. If you understand energy you begin to understand the hidden worlds. If you can master the hidden worlds, you can master the visible worlds. And vice versa.” Sheryl agrees wholeheartedly in this assessment for as an energy practitioner it is through the discovery and investigation of your soul essence or energy life force that you become aware of your multi-dimensional status as both a physical and spiritual being and can make use of your abundant resources and talents for facing the challenges of our physical worlds successfully.
Riz discovers that while he often begins the day with lots of energy he sometimes ends up with less energy than others of the same age and this can be seen in his Aura or energy field by some energy healers. In every spiritual practice it becomes necessary to learn methods to hold our energies and not leak them. As life is simply patterns we must find the pattern or lack of balance, focus and situations that drain our dynamic source of energy and health. Therefore, if you find you are often tired or miss events or are sick it is a pattern…A person with a lot of energy is always up and about…If a person has low energy that means she moves slowly, doesn’t talk fast and likes to be sedentary. ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT so by visualizing light coming into you and using Breath and Visualization to infuse the chakra or energy system of the body, put your right hand over the belly and left hand over the heart and breathe deeply, drawing the breath to the solar plexus. Hold for a count of seven and then exhale. REPEAT SEVERAL TIMES.
In the book “Zen Entrepreneurship”, Riz writes that the first verse in the Buddhist book The Dhamappadda says: “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.” It is suggested if you can learn this, you have learned the value and magnificence of meditation and spiritual practice, and will aid in accelerating your success both financially and personally. |
