Vishen Lakhiani introduces his forthcoming book The Buddha and the Badass and argues the world urgently needs leaders who combine deep spirituality (the "Buddha") with proactive, change-making action (the "Badass"). He cites a recent drop in global happiness (Hedonometer) and current crises (pandemic, economic downturn, political strife) to motivate the book's premise. He frames the book as merging spiritual practices with hardcore business principles (subtitle: The Secret Spiritual Art of Succeeding at Work) to rewire how people view and carry out work for a better human future.
Chapters
I don't know if you guys know this, but just a few days ago, human happiness across the planet hit a new low. In short, never before since scientists started tracking human happiness using this particular methodology has human happiness ever been that low. Check out this website, Hedonometer. Look at that line. That's a massive freaking drop. So a lot of people are aching right now. There's a lot of turmoil in the world. We are hit with a pandemic. We are hit with job losses. We're hit with a looming global recession. And all while all of this is happening, we have a total, utter lack of leadership. There is no one telling you or me or giving any form of guidance, and that's causing even more chaos. It seems that the leaders we selected today don't seem to know how to do their job. In a few days, my new book, the Buddha and the Badass, comes out. And I had no freaking idea. I could not have predicted that this book would be launching into the world at such a sad time in human history. But I'm glad it's happening because I want to tell you why I wrote that book. And to understand, I want to read you a quote by Martin Luther King, which I put at the top of chapter six of this book. This book is dedicated to many revolutionaries, King being one of them. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. The problem with the personal growth movement, the problem with people who claim that I'm spiritual, I'm at peace, I love everyone, is that, as Luther said, love without power is sentimental and anemic. It becomes useless when the world is aching for change. The Buddha and the Badass simply means this. It means that you worship the Buddha nature of yourself. You go into deep introspection. You take care of your mind, your health, your spirituality. You go into all the elements of spirit and soul that you desire to explore. But you do not do that without leaving out the badass of your nature. Now, what is the badass? The badass is that part of your nature that wants to go forth and change the world. It wants to build, it wants to create. It wants to change things. It wants to start a revolution. It wants to create new ways of life for future generations. And when you merge both together, you have a human being that can live up to the ideals of great men like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, the great revolutionaries, the great teachers of the world who sought change. Even Jesus brought a bullwhip into a temple. Do not think for a moment that being spiritual means being passive and simply sitting back. Because as you can see right now, the world is aching and crying for change, and the world needs Buddha badasses who can go forth and build this change. Now, in this book, what I seek to do is to bring to all of the most powerful spiritual tools and techniques I found, which is why the subtitle is called the Secret Spiritual Art of Succeeding at Work. So this is one of the first books that brings in hardcore business principles, that merges it with hardcore spirituality, and when it comes together, you become the Buddha badass. So, yes, people are going to get this book because it's going to help them improve what they do at work. It's going to help them do so much more in less time. It's going to help them grow in their careers and grow their business. But the secret ingredient in this book, the thing I embedded in there, is a rewiring of how people look at work. Because I don't believe that work simply to get a product or service out cuts it anymore. I believe that no matter what job you're in, you have to be contributing to a better human future. Because I think we're all questioning that right now. We're all questioning if life for our children is going to be better than the life we had. I look at my daughter Eve, she's only six years old, and I wonder what planet Earth is going to look like when Eve is in her mid-30s. Look at the increase in global warming, look at political strife, look at the rise of nationalism. We are living in the midst of a pandemic. And I want to ensure that the businesses of the future, the entrepreneurs who are getting their start right now, understand that business as usual doesn't cut it. The rules of how we operate as a species, the rules of how we run a business, the rules of how we work, the rules of who we elect have to change. This book is designed to tear up the old way of living. It's designed to give human beings a new map, a new guideline, a new compass. Who to be and how to show up in the world so we can build a better world for my children, your children, and everyone who follows. Echoing the words of Martin Luther King, remember, take your Buddha, take your badass, bring them together. If you're just a badass and lacking your Buddha, you may be pursuing goals that are counterproductive to human potential. If you're just Buddha without your badass. You're wasting so much potential that could be used to better life for everyone. When you bring them both together, that's the recipe for changing the world. So thank you. I dedicate this book to the human species, and I cannot wait to get this in your hands.
