Zen Investing
I discovered Zen Buddhist Koans while I was studying the spread of Buddhism in college, and since then, have had a particular fascination with them. An extremely brief Kafkaesque story with depth and symbolic meaning that can be confusing, humorous, tragic, entertaining, and enlightening? Sign me up!
What was easily one of my favorites was the cup of tea, which I am pasting as I read it on Ashida Kim’s website:
“Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. ‘It is overfull. No more will go in!’
‘Like this cup,’ Nan-in said, ‘you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?’”
The lesson here is pretty evident. We oftentimes approach a subject, sometimes a subject we even think we know a great deal amount and seek to interpret the subject through own lens rather than an objective, or even someone else’s.
What we end up doing is missing something vital about that subject and losing out on the ability to learn and grow, allowing our beliefs and thoughts to be challenged and strengthened rather than simply peeling away what we think will support our beliefs and leaving the rest.
I read so many economists and investors whose single-track mind leads them to make claims and then try to twist current circumstances to their predictions rather than asking the question of why they were wrong and how they can repair their thoughts for the future.
Some say “it’ll be different this time” every time there is a bull market. Some say “these are the way things are” when there is a bear market. The fact of the matter is that markets tend to go up and down and in between there are numerous challenges and ways of understanding the investments we can make.
It’s better to be the empty cup so that we can constantly learn, rather than the full cup.
I’m Nickolas Urpí
From Emergent Financial Services
Catch us on Today y Mañana on the iLove Cville Network every Thursday at 10:15 and contact Emergent Financial services for all your financial planning needs
From 401(k)s to rollover IRAs to Roth IRAs to Retirement planning.
You can read more Zen Koans here
