Perhaps I'm not the happiest man in the world, but I am doing OK. I have a job I like, my family is lovely, I have my health, and we have hopes and aspirations. And, next week at Salesforce, I AM bringing The "happiest man in the world" in for a talk!
Through a series of fortuitous events which involve writer David Gelles and visionary and all-around-generous-and-good-guy Rich Fernandez, Matthieu Ricard will be at Salesforce to deliver a one hour plus presentation about meditation, work, and altruism. In case you missed it, Mr. Ricard has been called "the happiest man in the world," based on off-the-chart readings of his pre-frontal cortex during meditation. Mr. Ricard, you see, is one of the world's foremost Tibetan monks, and has devoted his life to helping others achieve an attainable level of happiness, and will be here to discuss the residuals that happiness pays.
Like the difference between "being in love" and "loving," happiness is either something that happens to you and is short lived, or it's something you work at, and has longevity--at the price of doing a lot more work.
(My own cynical note would be that happiness is something quite different from the narcissistic preoccupation with oneself that pervades the 'first world' and believes that happiness is an attainable place, a point of completion, perfection, and attractiveness, when in all truth, it is merely the beginning of "the great work" that emanates from the varied strata of "enlightenment." (Special thanks to Tony Kushner))
Because of my involvement in bringing in guest speakers, and my creation of SitForce–a daily meditation practice among a small group within Salesforce–I am now being called in to consult, advise, or merely opine about the meditation subject at the company. We're soon to announce a sponsored meditation program within the Wellness Center--based on demand--and I hope that it's well-attended, and I am grateful to have been included in the conversation. I learned a few things from Scott Unterberg and his Project Breathe, over at Adobe, and hope to bring a similar phenomenon to Salesforce. Because we're not an exciting company from merely a product and corporate perspective, but from a much deeper origination. Marc Benioff--like him or not, he's a truly existential disruptive force.
Thrilled to be here, on many levels.