March 21, 2013

  • Prophets

    I once walked into a house of a Chinese prophet out in the outskirts of Mountain View, CA.  It wasn't that amazing of a house, but considering the area it could have easily been a million dollars.

    People know people and a group of us in the business together started to network outwards and made contact with this 40 year old man.  He was a prophet, but apparently also a consultant.  On the day I came over,  there was another much older man there who supposedly owned much of the oil China was trading in the open market.  This man came to seek the counsel of this young, playful 40 year old man.   There were talks of exchanges of hundred of billions of dollars of oil and this consultant/prophet knew the next steps for this man to have his success.

    Until this day, I do not know what I believe out of this scenario and what type of con-artists would set up such an elaborate trap for me to come and be swayed.  I had nothing to offer them.  It was me actually seeking to leverage their skills and expertise into my business pro bono.  My other business partner at the time bought into this man's notions and asked for help or a voodoo of sorts for his autistic older brother.  And in this moment, the prophet gave me a bit of wisdom that I hold onto this day.  He told my partner,

    "There is nothing wrong with your brother.  The world thinks he is crazy, but he is perfectly normal.  He just needs to be in the right place. He needs to be in a Buddhist monastery.  There he will excel and be in perfect peace."

    At first, my body convulsed at the ridiculous of this man's statement.  Obviously, my partner's older brother was autistic and not normal by any means.  

    I thought about it deeper for a moment.  His statement continued to stay with me even after I left the house.  I was reminded of a quote by the Buddha I think it said "Never judge a fish on how well it climbs a tree."

    And it makes sense.  The world is trying to fit us into a mold, and some of us are either too smart to fit into that mold because we want to design our own lives and some of are too eccentric to be so easily placed.

    This whole time I felt like a fish swimming upstream fighting against the tides of life, but maybe I am a bird.

    I need to just chill out, lay in the sun so my wings can dry. And fly away.

    Wise words indeed. But was he really a prophet? Billionaire consultant? Neh.

Comments (11)

  • hah yes. chillax

  • Interesting perspective.

  • Rich Chinese don't have a religion, so they divert it all into superstition.  Billionaires will most likely have success in anything they do since they have so much money and the know-how anyway; the fortune teller just takes credit for it.  If anything, it's just for peace of mind.  I mean, ever wonder why poor people don't use prophets to get rich?  It's only the rich that use prophets to get richer.

  • Thats a really cool experience nonetheless.

  • Hehe dry your wings. Honestly, I slightly agree with that guy. Many things in this world are slotted so that one view is seen as "positive" or "normal" while the other view is seen as "negative" or "abnormal." For example, we were talking about lactose intolerance in one of my classes. It's seen as being negative by Western doctors, but it's simply a result of evolutionary origin and can actually be beneficial by lowering the incidence of coronary artery disease, etc.

  • "Obviously, my partner's older brother was autistic and not normal by any means." 

    I completely disagree with you here.

  • i definitely agree with Buddha's statement! and I can even offer a real life example. I once knew this retarded kid and he was in all sorts of shits and mudholes until he discovered a hidden talent in making blankets. not to say that it gave him economic freedom but in a way, he contributed something to the world because people buy his stuff (of course, it's peddled by his parents but still, right?)

    i hope you will find something that you can be happy with David. it really is an uplifting feeling. 

  • @vysion - I agree with your disagreement.  My statement is very myopic and my view does not take a full look at what it means to be normal and looks towards people with autism in an inappropriate light.  thanks for openly disagreeing with me.

  • He's probably my neighbor. Lol.

  • I don't know about his business vision, but the advice about the autistic brother was actually moving to me with its perspicacity (or some such similsr word). Autistics thrive on quietude and ritual, and Buddhist monestaries thrive on any human consciousness that prays for peace.

  • its awesome that you can take something like that and apply the 'good' stuff =]

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