Vishen Lakhiani interviews MBA professor Srikumar Rao for episode 9 of the Mindvalley Show. Rao distils three of the ideas his Personal Mastery course is built on, including the proposition that one is living inside an illusion and may die inside it without ever having seen it.
Transcript
you have been living under an illusion your entire life and you're living in that illusion now and quite possibly you'll die never knowing that you were in an illusion I'm here today on the set of the Mind Valley show right here in New York with a man who my team jokingly calls auditions personal Yoda in fact these people I work with created this meme to joke about how much I quote SRI Kumar Rao and what he means to me he is one of the foremost MBA professors in America he has lectured at Columbia Kellogg London Business School and a variety of other incredible institutions but what makes Rao so brilliant What made people line up to get into his classes on Personal Mastery is that he doesn't teach regular business he brings in wisdom from the ages from spiritual teachers from 2000 years old and integrates this wisdom into modern business curriculums now you don't have to be an MBA student you don't have to be an entrepreneur to gain from this wisdom because Rao doesn't believe in just teaching business he teaches life happiness thriving how to get Mastery over how you show up in the world and today with my yoda SRI kumarau Rao is going to share three new ideas what I mean by new he's never shared these ideas online value before but three new ideas that will change the way you view the world and the way you see yourself so get ready to go on a wild philosophical ride with Professor SRI Kumar Rao welcome Hello Vision always glad to be on a mind rally production of any kind so wow I I know you are about to to Dazzle us with these counter-intuitive ways of thinking first how are you I haven't seen you in a while how have things been going things have been going swimmingly well for me Vision every day is a blast each day is better than the day before and you know I'm just content to lie back and be and see the days go by so before we go in Rao tell us about your latest book my latest book is modern wisdom ancient roots and I've taken the teachings of some of the world's greatest Masters adapted them into Concepts and exercises which are relevant to Modern people in the post-industrial society and I encourage my clients to read them most of my clients are entrepreneurs some are senior Executives all of them want to leave an outsized impact on the world but at the same time they also have an explicit spiritual path a drive they know that life isn't all about Gathering the biggest choice and the most toys so how do those two fit together that's a particular sandbox in which I play but why ancient wisdom why is ancient wisdom important to us today ancient wisdom is timeless wisdom and I say ancient because some of the people who enunciated it were best known lived in centuries or even Millennia ago but there are people even today who are every bit as wise they just aren't as widely known right well what we try to do at Mindvalley is to make these people who are alive today get us widely known as possible including you so let's get started with with our conversation today three powerful ideas to shift your perception of the world and reality let me tell you vision and I'm going to pick on you if I may you can pick on me all you want okay you have been living under an illusion your entire life and you're living in that illusion now and quite possibly you'll die never knowing that you were an illusion go back to the very first time we met do you remember what you told me you wanted to touch a billion people right right I remember that yes and many of my clients were entrepreneurs and they want to have companies which are 10 million in Revenue 100 million a billion dollars yes I want to run a billion dollar company you want to reach a billion people wrong you don't want to reach a billion people you don't want to run a billion dollar company you want to have the feeling you will have if you touched a billion people or run a billion dollar company and even that is not really true you want to have the feeling you think you will have if you touched a billion people or if you ran a billion dollar company now in your head is a notion which is false but the falsity of this notion we'll talk about later and the false notion is the only way I am going to get the feeling that I'm running a billion dollar company is to actually run a billion dollar company so you strive with bite and Main to grow your company to a billion dollars the only way I will get the feeling that I've touched a billion people is to actually touch a billion people so let me go ahead and see how I can get mind Valley material more broadly distributed more people to tune in uh what kind of programs can I have for a customer get a customer or whatever how can I go viral and you expend all your efforts there but that is not what you are really seeking what you're really seeking as I said is the feeling you think you will have and it is possible to get that feeling by other means getting that feeling by other means is by no means easy and you might well decide it's a shorter easier path for me to actually run a billion dollar company and that's fine but run a billion dollar company knowing fully well that that is not what you were really seeking what you're really seeking is elsewhere and you have that thought in your head even as you strive your level best to run a billion dollar company and as you do that you will find you get a wonderful sense of non-attachment not Detachment but non-attachment where you're doing what you need to do to build and grow a billion dollar company to reach a billion people but at the same time you're not doing it because of a desperate wanting when I get this you know I'll have this euphoric feeling and I will have arrived but simply because that is your path in life so what you're saying is that the goal that we think we are chasing and for me it is to get our valuation to unicorn status that is true for me right now and for many other people it might be to get their first million in Revenue million in revenue or to even strike it out on their own and no longer be a salaried employee but to be earning passive income so no matter where you where you are what you're saying is the goal that you're chasing is an illusion yes there's a goal behind the goal yes and the goal is what will I experience what will I feel when I get to that goal and even then that is the illusion because what you think you will experience and what you will what you will feel is not very different two very very very different things and let me point something out to you something that everybody can relate to how often have you seen a highly attractive person of this same-sex or opposite sex depending on your prediction and you thought gee I'd really like to be married to that person and then look at the statistics of let's say top fashion models and their marriages and how long they last right we're all living under the illusion I want to be married to this person because when I'm married to this person I got an expectation of what will happen and then you think your reactions will be somewhat and they never play out we are all living under the Illusion in all things and it's a double it's a double illusion I can relate when I was working here in New York um maybe 17 18 years ago I wanted to quit my job and have my own company and so I did quit my job I started my own company and I thought life is going to be good but I didn't realize that my Illusions were nothing more than Illusions when I quit my job and started my own company all of a sudden I lost my Visa and I had to leave New York City because I couldn't stay in the U.S I stupidly because I was a kid I didn't realize that all of a sudden I went through periods where I was broke broke and I was wondering how I could pay rent the next month all of a sudden I was lonely because I no longer had the benefit of working from an office with friends around me I was living at home in a crappy apartment working from home I never expected any of that and it took me years to figure all of that stuff out so I appreciate what you're saying and I've been there and I think this is a really good good insight for many people listening but the question is if we understand this idea well what then how does this help us this just makes life seem a little bit more miserable doesn't it no no I contest that very strongly that is a misunderstanding when you understand that what you're seeking is not what you were really seeking I have a story which I have narrated before mind Valley audience so it's a beautiful story so I'm going to tell it to you again there was a man and faultless evening clothes searching under a Street Lamp but a jogger ran past and then he circled back and said you seem trouble with something the matter and the man in evening clothes said I dropped my car keys so the joggers is no problem I'll help you find it and he bends downs and scours the ground and feels around and after a few minutes it says I've searched this area pretty thoroughly there are no car keys here where did you drop them other man and fault this evening closes I dropped them over there and the joggers understandably annoyed and he says well why are you searching for it here if you dropped it there and the man says well it's dark there and it's light here so I thought I'd search here and everybody laughs and you recognize that it's a joke that's what we're all doing in real life what we're searching is is sense of fullness that's what we're searching for the sense that we are complete that there is incandescent joy in our life we think I'm going to get there if I get a better job get a bigger house bury a more beautiful partner have more brilliant kids it's no different from dropping your car keys here and searching for it there because here is a fundamental truth Mission you cannot solve an internal problem with external action and that's for every one of us doing let me get a good degree because then I can get a good job and progress and make more money let me quit my job so I can become an entrepreneur In My Own Boss everything that is driving us is our attempt to reshape the universe into what we would like it to be and you can never beat the universe because even if you do shape it to the way you would like to be like it to be that's not what you were really looking for and you discover that afterwards but it's like one of those never-ending treadmills you're always on that never recognizing that your original mistake was in thinking you want this whether you really wanted something else altogether and many people live and die their entire life is in this illusion that is what Toro meant when he said the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation that is so true and so even chasing these ideas of what we think success means is a desperate act yes what should we be doing then what we should be doing is recognizing that this is the Dilemma that we're stuck in and then act but act knowing that we are acting because you know that's where life the universe has placed us and not out of the thought that out of this action will come something which will fulfill me so if we know that the goal that we think we want is really a feeling that we are chasing I'm guessing that's it right sure it's not having a million dollar business it's the feeling of having a million dollar business but even then we are guessing what the feelings are yes and they're thinking that the feeling will be there and there's unexpected feelings but here here is the even deeper point we're not really looking for a feeling we think we're looking for a feeling but we're not looking for a feeling let me tell you why because the moment you say this is the feeling I want to have you're introducing Duality there is me and there is something else which will make me feel a particular manner and in reality there is only one there is no me to experience something else we are all one that is what all the wisdom Traditions teach us that is the Kingdom of Heaven that is nirvana that is praman that is the knowledge not the knowledge the the being because this is where words start to break down because when I say knowledge that automatically implies Duality there is me and I have to know something but you know what I have to know is not me when you get to that stage you can only be you cannot know you cannot experience you can only be that is where words break down that is why in the ultimate analysis all the great Masters taught by silence so so help me out here so I understand the idea that I'm chasing a feeling right I'm chasing a feeling so when I set a goal to have a massive company what I'm really seeking is the feeling of Freedom correct the feeling of freedom to be able to live anywhere in the world I want the freedom to be able to afford my ideal home to never have to worry about money but but also I'm seeking the feeling of fulfillment fulfillment that I've made my parents proud that I've that I'm proud of the life I've created that I've been a good role model for my son so those are the feelings but now what you're saying is those feelings themselves are an illusion correct because what is the feeling that your parents are going to be proud of you or the feeling you think you will have when you say oh my parents are proud of you so what you should be doing instead is recognizing you have these feelings there's nothing you can do about that even if you try to say I don't want to have it you won't succeed but you can be aware of the fact that you have these feelings and you can also be intellectually aware that this is an illusion that it is not going to get you what you're really seeking you can hold that thought in your head even as you do what you're now doing striving desperately not desperately but striving hard working in order to accomplish all of that but as you continue to work as you continue to try to accomplish all of these visions that you have these goals that you have said you know that that is not what you really see just holding that thought in yourself so what you're saying is detached from the goal yes do not do not be focused on the goal because you're not chasing the goal firstly you're chasing the feeling yes and even then you're chasing the feelings that you think you're going against your point of it it's a pointless game yes but if you understand that it's a pointless game then what you can do is you can start working towards those feelings immediately you don't have to build a business to feel that you're successful you can feel that right now yes and then what you're also saying is understand it's a game and don't get too attached to the goal because if you're attached to the goal if you fail that will really hit you hit you big fat but if you enjoy the journey you cannot give it up you can't say I'm not going to be attached to it right so what do you do the more you keep this thought in your head that this is an illusion I'm chasing gradually Detachment will come by itself I say non-attachment rather than Detachment will come by itself you cannot will it you cannot Chase non-attachment any more than you can chase detachment just let it come into your life and the way it'll come into your life is if you have this thought in your mind but then you outwardly continue doing what you've always been doing but internally there is a shift and that shift will become more pronounced with time right right and I see that because if we don't understand this we will constantly be chasing bigger and bigger goals correct the person who's watching this is not going to be satisfied when they hit their first hundred thousand in sales they'll then set a goal for a million then they'll set a goal for 10 million then 100 million it doesn't end a billion 10 billion 100 billion it doesn't end it doesn't and they'll constantly be chasing the Horizon never catching up to it but if you can understand that it's all a game and that yes half those goals grow your company but understand it's the feeling and know that you can Embrace those feelings right now you can have a feeling of Freedom right now the feeling of fulfillment right now you're right now you've mastered the game yes absolutely yes I like that thank you for shedding light on the double illusion of the game now let's go we're all stuck in the west west overwhelming majority of us are stuck in that yeah the double illusion of the game are you stuck in the double illusion of the game now let's go on to the second idea Rob the second idea has to do with happiness Vision are you happy I think I am I'm glad you prefaced it by saying You Think You Are many people because I know if I said I'm happy I'm gonna poke holes in that many people if you ask them are you happy you'll say oh me yeah of course I'm happy but we set a very low bar vision when we say we're happy what we're really saying is nothing immediately bothering me all my needs are taken care of I have a bed to sleep in a roof over my head food to eat my company is doing well I'm going to take it public good things are happening in my personal life and yeah life is fine so yes I'm happy that's a very very very low bar go back to the very very first time that you fell in love remember how your world was then everything outside had this brilliant rainbow Hue the sun was radiant Heavenly music seemed to waft from the air there was a spring in your step there was such overwhelming Joy which came out of you and wrapped itself around everything in your life the telephone ringing was like Beethoven that is a feigned whiff of what true Joy is in India we have a term for it we call it Ananda Ananda is mistranslated as happiness contentment Joy No Ananda is something very much deeper it's such a massive feeling of well-being that you can't describe it it's as if you were floating through the air touching down gently to make contact with the Earth and then floating up again there is a a heavenly sent a marvelous fragrance great music around you everywhere you're joyously floating hardly touching ground at all that is happiness is there a word for Ananda in the English language that's the closest word the word simply doesn't exist exactly is beyond happiness it's almost ecstasy yes that is what is meant by Divine ecstasy give me an example of Ananda is Ananda something that you live in or is Ananda versus of absolute happiness this is the mind-blowing idea you are Ananda in India we say that everybody is sachidananda existence Consciousness Bliss the Ananda is translated as Bliss whichever guess better than joy that is your real nature that is who you really are and the reason that you're not experiencing it is because you've been very busy bottling it up in other words as I have explained in other talks some of which I've given at mind Valley you have spent your entire life learning to be unhappy and the way you learn to be unhappy is there is a particular model that you believe very strongly and that portal is flat out false that model is if this happens then I will be happy if I get a great deal of money I can go to exotic places on vacation and I can be happy if I'm in a relationship if I find a partner I can have great sex and then I can be happy always if this happens I will be happy if my company had 10 million dollars in Revenue I'll be happy no no I made a mistake if it had 100 million dollars I'll be happy no I was still an error I got a good to a billion before I'll be happy we're always modifying our situation saying if this happens then I will be happy and no matter how many times in your own life you've seen that something you desperately want it comes to you and you're thrilled for a day a week and then it simply becomes part of the background of your life and you move on and now you need something else but the model is there if this happens I will be happy if I get married I will be happy I now recognize I married the wrong person so I have to extricate myself from it with as little damage as possible marry the right person and then I'll be happy we always think we put the wrong thing on the if side of the equation we never examine the equation itself because it is the equation that is faulting when we recognize that it is the equation that is faulty not the mistake of putting the wrong thing on one side of the equation but the equation itself is faulty once we clearly recognize that then we can start dropping it and as we start dropping it the happiness joy Ananda that is bottled up inside us will come out because we don't need things to be in a particular manner in order for us to be happy and let me give you an example of that one of the people who's had a profound influence on my life is Father Anthony Demello he was a Jesuit priest he passed away you know a couple of decades ago but uh I really believe he was an enlightened being and he really understood life and our journey in life and he said one of the happiest persons I knew was a pedicap driver in Calcutta now there are pedicabs in calcuttan pedicaps are a little bit like Rick Ross except there is no mechanism you there's a human being who pulls and people sit in the pedicab and the pedicab driver takes them to their destination very very wondrous work particularly if you have to take a fat tourist up a steep hill and barely made any money to survive and he had tuberculosis so he was dying and he was so poor he had actually sold his body there were people who go around and pay you money so when you die they take your body and then they sell it to hospitals and medical schools for dissection purposes wow so he had actually sold his body so that was the state he was in that father Dave Ellis said and he was one of the happiest most fulfilled individuals I have ever ran across so the illusion we have how was this petticap driver living in Ananda uh despite not having anything and Ananda was an internal state that you occupy and I'm going to tell you another story which will bring this down uh there is a wonderful book it's a spiritual classic called the way of a pilgrim nobody knows who the pilgrim was he was Russian he roamed around Siberia in the late 19th century the only thing he had was a strong Woolen coat so if you're and a copy of the Bible so if you're roaming around Siberia in a tournament Court you're not in a particularly uh good place he had a dislocated shoulder and nobody do no doctor to heal him so he lived with the pain but despite all of that he was in a state of such exaltation that you can only Marvel his manuscript was discovered in the early 20th century translated and instantly became a classic and he talks about how there was such joy in his life that nothing but nothing mattered he said he walked 40 50 miles a day and he said if there was pain in my foot I prayed harder and soon the pain disappeared if I was hungry I redoubled my effort and soon the hunger vanished and there was such unutterable joy in my life that I could not imagine how anyone could be happier I was not even walking I was floating and that description is so vivid that just reading that takes the reader to a different level that is Ananda that is divine forever what can we do to tap into Ananda the first thing you can do is recognize that what we see is happiness it's a fade fade faint reflection of what true list is and what is possible and the second thing is recognize that all of our endeavors which we think will bring us happiness will not we continue doing it I'm not saying that you're going to stop doing it but you continue doing it knowing that that is not the solution and the more you continue doing things the more you continue working but you do it because that is your path in life that is where the universe has placed you but that is not what you're really seeking the more you'll find that it slow slow slow Sports Ananda starts to appear in your life you wake up in the morning and you're happy you're not happy because something has happened you're not happy because something is gonna happen you're not happy because you're going to do something you're just happy when such moments come into your life recognize them acknowledge them salute them and be grateful to them and the more you do that consistently as a practice the more such occasions will come into your life and very soon you will be well on your journey to being encased in this deep-rooted feeling I am okay I will always be okay I cannot not be okay that is where you should live period isn't Ananda more than just being okay though isn't Ananda ecstasy this is where words start breaking down because when you're in true Ananda there is no you when all the mystics like mirabai is a perfect example of a woman who lived completely in Ananda she had merged into Krishna there was no mirabai this completely relinquished all identification with the body mind intellect complex that others said this is mirabai when Ramana Maharishi the famous Indian Sage who's had a tremendous influence in me in fact he's had more impact on me than any other uh being he had a realization experience when he was 16 and at that time he completely disidentified with the body-minded intellect complex later on he'd simply say they called this Ramana pointing at his body because he had no identification with it then you are Ananda but as I said that is where words start breaking down beautiful thank you srika so that idea is is really intriguing what you're saying is we can go beyond happiness and Ananda is irrespective of our circumstance we could be the poor Rickshaw driver who had to sell your body to survive we could be the pilgrim the Russian Pilgrim with the dislocated shoulder but you could still be in Ananda absolutely yes happiness is something that is irrespective of our circumstance and you said the way to get there is to truly reflect on and be grateful and and celebrate those Sparks of happiness those Sparks of Joy or ecstasy that we feel and the more we celebrate those the more this becomes our default State and the more this tends to happen in our life exactly right thank you I appreciate that idea let's go on to the third lesson the third and final lesson for today the third lesson seems contradictory these days gratitude is in everybody talks about you should feel grateful there are Consultants who tell you you have to be grateful each one has his own techniques what are three things that happened today or yesterday for you know which you look in your life and feel grateful the vast overwhelming majority of persons will not admit it because you know you can't attack motherhood and apple pie and gratitude is getting into that same category but the same do anything for me you know I have my gratitude practice but uh that's it's a practice and I feel a little bit better but it certainly doesn't uh unleash any great Joy or well-being or uh mental stability in me an appreciation gratitude by the way is a big part of my course creativity in Personal Mastery it's there in the Quest for mind Valley and people say hey it's really a wonderful Quest you know it's the highest rated question mind Valley and they say it's transformed my life but some of them say appreciation to gratitude am I doing something wrong because it's not getting you're not doing something wrong but you're not getting the full benefit out of it that you should and here is why Vision the vast overwhelming majority of us certainly including myself and definitely including you we are Taipei individuals who live in our heads let me repeat that because it's very important you are a type a individual who lives in your head you have a powerful intellect which is why you've become as successful as you have so you try to make sense of the World by thinking about it by analyzing it by coming up with reasons why So when you say I should be grateful yeah okay I should be grateful what do I have to be grateful for well I've got good health I've got a successful company I've got a bet to sleep in I've got a roof over my head I don't have to worry about whether I'll have anything to eat so lots of things to be grateful for yes yes that is wrong you are thinking gratitude gratitude is not a thinking thing it is a feeling you can't go good health check food to eat check roof overhead check it doesn't work that way you can't think gratitude you actually have to feel gratitude earlier I told you about honored that the feeling that the pilgrim had you can't get it by thinking so how do you get it well once again we run into Paradox and the Paradox is you can't chase a Feeling you have to let the feeling find you and emerge but what you can do is create conditions which are receptive to this happening in your life and the way you do that is not just by thinking when you're doing your gratitude practice but thinking about it all the time and more important weaving those different strands of why you feel grateful into a coherent story that you are constantly reinforcing let me give you an example you have food to eat you have a bed to sleep in so you're grateful for that but because you have food to eat you're not hungry when you go to bed and tossing about because you want to eat because you have a bed to sleep in you have a good night's sleep and you wake up refreshed because you wake up refreshed and because you aren't constantly thinking about where your next meal is going to come from when a client or customer calls you with a problem you can devote your full resources to solving that issue you have energy to spare to think about where you're going to focus on in mind Valley you know which particular directions are you going to go what strategies are you could you really have been doing all of that if you were thinking oh my God you know what am I going to eat I've got to have lunch I haven't had breakfast obviously notice because you have all of that that you can it's because you've built up mind Valley to a certain point and let's face it you've had a lot of luck in building up mind well you came across incredible people who gave things to you generously and some of those things were invaluable and so many people contributed to that when you start thinking about that and thinking about how the universe worked in a fabulous fashion to orchestrate all the many things that had to happen here and you reflect on that if you do that constantly you will find that very very very gradually the thinking of gratitude will morph into an actual feeling that is what Einstein meant when he said the most important question you'll ever ask yourself is is the universe friendly most of us believe that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly it's indifferent here I am going around doing my thing there's the universe going around doing its thing sometimes it seems to be working with me sometimes it seems to be working ahead against me but essentially it's a random process not true what if the universe was friendly now the universe gives you many things you don't want gives you business reverses gives you an underwriter who promises to do something and then he drops out gives you employees who embezzle funds say why does the universe give me all of those things well the universe gave you all of those things because that's what you needed for your learning and growth and if you can understand that the universe is friendly it's looking out for you and sometimes it gives you things that you don't want but you can look back in retrospect and say boy did I grow from that experience though it was unpleasant while I was in it so if you start seeing that the universe is friendly then you will find automatically that your experience of life changes so you're saying go beyond the pure feeling of gratitude go beyond the thinking of gratitude because even though you say I am grateful yes go from thinking to feeling and you can't do that by an effort of will but what you can do is when you're constantly thinking about it gradually it the thinking will more physical from the thinking to the feeling correct right so you're you're it's not it's not gratitude for the partner in your life but the feeling yes of having that partner in your life but you're saying go beyond that to understand that you are living in a universe that permanently has your back yes that permanently has your back and that is a different level of thinking what do you call that if not gratitude that's a good one let's come up with the term for that the word you've used before is the idea of the benevolent Universe the benevolent universe is what I do sink into the bosom of the benevolent Universe sink into the bosom of the benevolence Universe let it envelope you let it carry you does that also mean living with a certain form of trust yes absolutely yes you're always living you trust the universe and whatever happens is the right thing for you if you get mugged and beaten on the head because the you're a bugger takes takes your wallet right wonderful you always have good feelings towards everybody in the universe you know people often ask me you know so and so did this and I got angry and that's tell me again why you got angry because so-and-so did this wrong you got angry because there was anger inside you you know there is an Indian Suite called a rasgulla I'm sure you've had it in Calcutta right rascala is a very famous bengali's feet now of course everybody in India likes it now but if you take a rasgullah and you hit it against the wall comes up what comes out of it sugary syrup drop it on the floor and stamp on it and what comes out sugary syrup put it under a suitcase what comes out sugary syrup no matter what you do to rasgulla what comes out is sugary syrup why is that because that's what's inside it why does anger and jealousy and envy come out of you when the right triggers are applied because it's inside you that's what's inside that that's an interesting way of looking at that it is not the thing that made you angry anger was inside you and it came out so your job is to recognize this you can't get rid of it by wishing it to go away but the more you think about it the more you think about all of the concepts I've shared with you today the more that anger will gradually transmute what you're saying is that if we come to understand that everything that happens to us is done in favor of us if we can live with that level of trust we go to a level that is completely Beyond pure gratitude this is the next level yes driver in Kolkata right dying of tuberculosis having already sold his body and still be in unutterable unimaginable Bliss beautiful now why does it sometimes see seem that the universe is punishing us and there's a story you've told me before about eating your vegetables I'd love for you to share that is the universe friendly well if the universe was friendly why does the universe give you stuff you don't want if the universe was benevolent why does it give you things you do not want you want to travel on vacation and the universe gives you kovid and pandemics and lockdown why does the universe do that well what are the universe gives you not what you wanted but exactly what you needed you want to have a tub of ice cream with the universe in the shape of your parents gives you vegetables and it isn't until you have a much higher level of understanding that you can say thank God I got vegetables what if the universe was exactly like that right it doesn't give you what you want but it gives you precisely what you need for your learning and growth we are a child sometimes we are always yes and the universe is our parents saying nope you're not going to have ice cream right now you got to eat your vegetables yes and when we perceive things that happen to us that we don't necessarily want the universe is feeding us vegetables that we are still living within the benevolent universe that's watching out for us that has our back exactly correct I love that idea and here's the point Vision regardless of whether or not the universe was friendly if you believe the universe was friendly your experience of life would become immeasurably better and what if the universe actually was friendly your entire life will be completely transformed nothing will ever face you again nothing will ever depress you you'll be constantly floating and when you believe in a friendly Universe it's much easier for Ananda to start coming out of your core where it's always been Ananda meaning absolute Bliss absolute Joy ecstatic and so this is a powerful idea to remember every time we go through a failure yeah every time we we go through a health issue every time we go through a breakup there's always a lesson there there's something there that that experience could be doing for us and once we learn it that experience will dissolve anytime you have an experience that you find distasteful and it persists every time not some of the time not most of the time every time you file an experience in your life that you find distasteful and it persists you're using one or more models that are not serving you well thank you srikamar and with that we wrap up this episode so thank you for that that dose of wisdom so there were three ideas here that we spoke about the first idea was the idea that the goal that you think you're chasing is an illusion yes you're chasing the feeling behind it but even then the feeling is an illusion you're chasing the feelings you think you will get when you exist that goal yes and so the key there is to recognize the illusion and be detached from the goal do it because of the journey yes the second idea is that we can go beyond happiness to a level called Ananda which is absolute Bliss yes and Ananda is a restrainable skill the third idea is to go beyond pure gratitude to the feeling that these actions that these things and one way to get there is the idea that we are living in a benevolent universe and if you enjoyed these ideas check out SRI Kumar Rao's book modern wisdom ancient words thank you all for joining us in the mind Valley show and thank you that worked out huh yeah [Music]