How to build a successful spiritual startup. The essential skills are with us.
Life is essentially a startup. We were once an idea in the minds of our parents. When we came to be and took our first breath of air, we began as a small working human prototype. After the first year of life, there came a new and improved iteration, with added skillsets such as the ability to speak and walk.
The growth of the body is rapid for the next few years but highly orderly and controlled. Once the body reaches the state of physical maturity, leaving behind growing pains, a new set of challenges come up. Physical limitations are no longer at the forefront. The age of the mind has already begun by then.
Life is essentially a startup.
We learn that it is possible to generate happiness through the interaction of the mind and the world. Overall, when we compare the net gain of pleasure from this interaction of the mind and the world with the amount of time and effort we expend, it may not always be a profitable use of our inner resources.
The mind begins to proliferate, to accommodate the ever-increasing mind-world enterprise. Unlike the body, which has a blueprint that is followed to the minutest detail, the mind has no fixed plan or template. Various influences on the mind, like the living environment, education, the people we associate with, and so on, determine to a significant extent the growth trajectory of the mind.
The mind maintains autonomy in its growth. Some aspects outgrow others, depending on our desires, inclinations, aspirations, and natural talents. The mind never stops growing. The mind which appears mature and fully grown is likely highly conditioned. Maturity and the mind do not go hand in hand. The mind is very pliable by nature and is as active as a little child.
The mind maintains autonomy in its growth.
The mind is our personal space of creativity. Like a startup incubator where numerous ideas are tested and worked on, the mind continually creates fresh ideas. A startup incubator cannot be closed to fresh ideas. Being open and adventurous in exploring ideas is the premise of such incubators for new ideas.
Like a startup incubator where numerous ideas are tested and worked on, the mind continually creates fresh ideas.
Even when we remain closed to new ideas, in its place, the mind uses entrenched concepts and conditionings. It creates the inner world of experiences within the boundaries of our habits. The mind expresses its creativity through what is contained in our thoughts, which underlie our actions.
The mind then becomes like a grocery store. A grocery store has a predictable list of essentials that cater to the needs of the average customer. There is nothing new or unusual about a grocery store. It is essential, and it makes life easier when we can find many items we use and consume daily in one place. Like we frequent the neighborhood grocery store, we frequent our habit patterns, and life becomes very predictable.
Similarly, a mind used to habits and conditionings makes readily available all the elements to negotiate day to day existence. But there is nothing special about such a mind. It becomes a convenience, and nothing transformational happens.
Habits can play an essential role in negotiating our way through day to day existence. Without them, we would have to relearn many skills each day. We control the energy outflow into our habitual patterns of living. By keeping that outflow to a minimum, it frees up a large chunk of the mind’s available energy at any given moment.
The conscious component of the mind is like the RAM or the Random Access Memory of a computer. RAM is a computer’s short-term memory, and it can help carry out various concurrent tasks. If it is used by many functions at the same time, exceeding its capacity, the whole system slows. Likewise, the conscious mind can multitask, the energies of habits and new creativity work their way through the mind simultaneously.
The art of proper mind management starts with limiting the energy expenditure of the mind on routine habits. Although the mind is potentially unlimited in its scope and energy, we cannot readily access those areas of the mind. We limit ourselves to what we know, and within those limitations, the available power of the mind needs to be used judiciously between habits and new ideas.
The art of proper mind management starts with limiting the energy expenditure of the mind on routine habits.
Let’s say we have a habit of stopping at a drive-through cafe on the way to work. We may spend a few minutes there getting our morning coffee and breakfast. Once that is consumed, we proceed to work, and there are many things we may accomplish during that workday.
That habit of getting coffee and a bite to eat on the way to work does not consume our day. Although we don’t waste a lot of time in this routine activity, it enhances the day in a way. We fuel our body, which becomes ready for work.
Once we wake up in the morning, our morning routines and habits can be seen as a drive-through. We pick up what we need to from our habits. Instead of using some of our habits to our advantage and dropping them, we carry some habit patterns everywhere we go. The ones we take are more often than not the undesirable kind, such as anger, greed, jealousy, vindictiveness. These are all very toxic habits that burn our creativity.
If we can leave such habits where we found them in the mind, or put them aside, a significant space of energy becomes available within us. Every time a habit pattern pops up in the mind, we have a choice whether or not to step into that groove and be carried by that energy. Those grooves of habit are very limiting. The space in which those grooves travel is the space that is full of potential, where new ideas and fresh insights float.
If we can leave habits where we found them in the mind, or put them aside, a significant space of energy becomes available within us.
In this space, our inner journey also begins. It begins with the idea of peace and happiness. This is not a new idea. Everyone is in the same pursuit of peace and happiness. Only a few can turn that idea into lasting reality. Often the most straightforward ideas are the best ones. Peace and joy are simple concepts to grasp intellectually. Everyone can relate to it, including those with minimal knowledge.
The inner journey is our spiritual startup. In any startup, a great idea is less important that efficient and timely implementation. Just as laptops and smartphones are integral to any new startup, a small amount of peace and happiness are essential to becoming curious about the inner journey. If life is in constant turmoil, it makes little sense to look inward. It may become an escape. Unless we approach the inner journey as if we are following our nature to go inward, it won’t bring about a lasting transformation.
The inner journey is our spiritual startup.
The mind is like the internet. These days, with an idea, a laptop, and the internet, new startups can come into existence, and they can build their products using just these two elements. Co-working spaces lower the bar even more for founders of startups.
Success may not be guaranteed, but many startup founders do it for the pure joy of pursuing a great idea and bringing it to fruition. Those who focus solely on success lose the thrill that comes with the journey. What may start as a limited and straightforward idea may then turn into something massive.
There are many such examples. Airbnb started as a way to rent out an air mattress is now an online platform for accommodations all over the world. It eases travel for people and allows individuals to make money, a win-win situation.
Three main elements come together in a successful startup. One is the founder/CEO, who has the overall vision and drive to implement a successful idea. The second is the technical brain, the Chief Technical Officer. The third is the venture capitalist or angel investors who bring forth the seed money. Of course, an element of luck also plays its part. It is a variable that is not under our control, and we cannot depend on chance alone.
The body is like a venture capital group that funds a startup. It is our foundation, a base without which we cannot explore our interiority. In our case, nature is the venture capitalist. It provides the seed for our success, the human body.
The mind is like the Chief Technical Officer. The mind has to be shaped into a seamless interface between freedom and creativity inside and the orderly and limited world outside. Freedom, limitations, creativity, and a defined order are all essential components of life.
To balance the metaphorical east, which is our inner world and the metaphorical west, the world, the mind plays a big part. There is a world-facing side of the mind and an inner-facing side. Both have to work seamlessly with each other in order to turn the mind into a useful interface. The power of awareness is like the CEO or the overall operations head. Unless one person is looking at the whole picture, it is easy to get lost in unnecessary details that may derail or delay a project.
To balance the metaphorical east, which is our inner world and the metaphorical west, the outer reality, the mind plays a big part.
The project of life is our most important undertaking. We have all three elements for success, the body, mind, and power of awareness. The core idea is happiness, but from that core idea, there can be many other spinoffs that may benefit the world in different ways.
Many have succeeded in their spiritual startups, by turning small, unpredictable waves of happiness into giant oceans full of them. When each individual’s spiritual startup succeeds, the benefits spread to the world.
