Two days ago, Feb. 26, Mind Petals NYC met for our seventh month here in the city. It was a rainy, rainy, day but a few brave souls still made it out. Seven of us gathered and had a great time. Without a doubt, it was one of the most powerful, thought-provoking, and inspiring Mind Petals gatherings I’ve ever attended.
We all sat in a circle and really opened up our hearts and minds. I kicked off the night with a discussion on society and my thoughts about how I feel that society has immense control over the minds of so many people, to the point that most people don’t even know it. Going through life, following orders, and living through other people’s plans.
I spoke about how people should realize that they are the center of the universe and how they are not marginalized in any way, but extremely powerful. This, of course, sparked all sorts of feedback and questions that flowed into topics such as:
Spirituality
Buddhism
Zen
Quantum Physics
Film
Religion
Jesus
Buddha
The Games of Society
Drugs
Business
et al.
For the first time, a few High Schoolers actually attended — that was awesome. They asked more questions than I’ve ever seen at any Mind Petals. And for that, I was totally happy. I love talking with people who aren’t afraid to ask questions, no matter how unsure they are about something.
Great night, no doubt! Thank you all for coming and for your contributions!
Stay tuned for the video.
One of the most profound realizations that one can attain is that “you are going to die one day.” Shocked? Don’t be. This isn’t something to be depressed about or to let control your life. Embrace death. Knowing this makes life lively and you are able to see the spice in everything that you do, touch, see, and feel. You are not marginalized in any way, shape, or form. You are powerful and mighty. Right now is the best time of your life. Now. You are the center of the universe. You are everything. Randy Pausch inspires us to remember this. Enjoy.
To me, the answer to that is simple. The highest point of human evolution is when one totally frees or is on the journey of freeing their mind from the grips of the society. When they, metaphorically, are able to climb to the peak of the hill and see beyond, far beyond, the illusory clouds manifested by the storms of a society that is only interested in controlling, conquering, and prescribing their imperatives of order in a world that is naturally in total disorder.
The man on top of that hill, I speak literally now, is perhaps that man who is at the highest point of human evolution. The man (or woman, of course) who saw beyond maya (illusion) and checked out the game to go deeper into himself. And who went deeper not only for himself, but for the society that so aggressively dismissed him.
Those who truly see their potential now, not later, soon, or in a few decades. Those who can see that they are not marginalized in any way, as society would like you to think that you are. Those who realize that exploring the consciousness, perhaps through art or anything that you truly dig, is what this is all really about. Those who have no problem stepping out of the line — the herd pack, and pecking order — in order to free yourself from the prescriptivism that is used to universalize moral judgment and fear into the minds of all.
I believe, the highest point of human evolution is not reached through our mere physiological advances, but through the ability to heat our minds to a point where our energy is capable of passing the societal thresholds, transitioning to the next dimension of consciousness.
A few nights ago while flowing into the psychophysical practice of yoga my teacher told the class to “fold into yourself.” And those words have lead to some deep contemplation over the past few days, some of which I’d like to share with you very succinctly here.
“Folding into yourself.” Wow. I’m totally digging that in a very profound way. To me, folding into yourself means initiating a collapsing of your mind, your ego, all of your thoughts and perceptions, and going inward into a state of contemplative silence where you are able to see with your eyes closed, hear without your ears, and sense without using your five sense (actually 6, but that’s another discussion).
A place where you surrender to yourself and you see that you were never in total control whatsoever. A place where endless possibilities cross your mental landscape as clouds gently coaxed across the sky — clinging to nothing, just observing.
Folding into yourself is shutting the door of the car before you drive off. But instead of the atomic heap of metal, the car, your mode of transportation is yourself — your spirit. Setting off on a journey that will seemingly feel like you’re traveling great distances and traversing vast plains, but none of that is so. For you are only traveling deeper and deeper into your Self — to the point where you are folding yourself inside out. And once you’re out — once you’ve inverted your consciousness from the hypnotized state that has been imposed upon you, separating yourself from the world, to a state of oneness where your barriers have been dissolved, you are there. You’re there, but the journey isn’t over — it continues folding and collapsing into the infinite abyss of the conscious.
I often speak of mind evolution and expanding one’s consciousness — both of which are of paramount importance in my life and perhaps in yours. However, I’d like to note that one needn’t bombard their mind, or overwhelm it, with any particular tool or method for such an expansion or evolution to manifest. It’s often very easy to fall into a state of mental bombardment when one adheres to the philosophy of “more is better.”
Tools such as meditation, the use of psychedelic plants, yoga, mantras, dancing, tantra, singing, et al. are all fine lubricants that will aid you on your journey, no doubt. For thousands of years such practices have been used to extricate the mind from itself and, more contemporary, checkout from the suffocating societal imperatives that are so aggressively forced down our throats.
But don’t be too quick to pack your bag with all of these tools at once. Surely, these tools will help, but if your bag is too heavy you won’t be going anywhere. Think of it like this: in a factory where shoes are being made there may be an infinite amount of tools, methods, tweaks, and adjustments that can be implemented to increase the efficiency and output of the shoes being produced; however, if the factory was to experiment with ALL of these ideas simultaneously, it would lead not only to a decrease in output, but to its utter demise.
And in the same way, don’t shoot for a quantum leap of the mind, but, instead, for cosmic steps toward the dissolution between YOU and everything else. Travel light and take only what you need at the particular moment in time.
My brother was telling me about this girl that he knows. Every time he walks into her house, there are mirrors everywhere. Mirrors in the bedrooms. The bathrooms. The living rooms. Every corner of the house. He asked her why she had so many, and her response was to the effect that she liked looking at herself. As my brother told me this experience, we began to talk about mirrors and how someone can really see themselves. Below are thoughts from our brainstorm — from what we like to call our “build.” Since we are building our minds when talking on this sort of frequency.
How Can You See Yourself?
Who do you see when you look in the mirror? Is it skin and bones? Is it everything that’s going on in your head? Is it your smeared lipstick? Is it your unbrushed hair? Is it your pretty face? Is it someone that completely disgusts you? Is it someone you no longer know? What is it that you see? Is it YOU?
Where is Your Reflection?
I don’t think that any of the above reflections are really YOU. I think what you are seeing is an illusion. What you see in the mirror doesn’t represent what you are / who you are. What you see, perhaps, is your ego. What you see is merely skimming the surface of the deep ocean of what’s really going on. You don’t see your mind in the mirror. You don’t see your energy in the mirror. You don’t see your potential in the mirror. In fact, you see nothing. You see your bio-suit of skin and bones that hold you together.
Okay, Do You Really Want to See Yourself? — You Ready?
Go look at the image on the wall that you painted. Take out the photos that you snapped of your family, you girlfriend, the birds in the trees. Open up some old notebooks and read some of your essays / notes. Observe the smile on your younger brother’s face when he opens to present you just gave him. Think about the warmth of your lover’s hand when walking alongside the shore on the sunny morning. Listen to the bird signing you awake outside your window. Play with the wind that’s gently swaying you side-to-side as you stroll through the park — lean into that wind and play back. Feel the rain roll down your face and trickle off your eyelids back onto your cheek. Say no to someone who tries to put you on the wrong path in life. Wake up and do something totally unexpected. Pay attention to these things. Notice them. Play with them.
This is the Reflection
All of these things. They are your reflection. This is where you can see yourself. Though they still aren’t YOU, this is where to go to see your reflection. Save your fair, because you won’t need to travel anywhere. All you need to do is go inside of yourself and you’ll soon see the pristine, brilliantly clear, sharp reflection of your being. Understand that you are no different from what’s outside of you than what’s inside of you. What you saw in the mirror, that bio-suit of skin — that was only a necessary boundary — nothing more. An outline in the fabric of the cosmos.
Little things make a large difference. I often think that so much has to be done for change to happen, but change happens with the little things: with a simple change in a lifestyle habit or thinking a little more about others or any other seemingly small step towards positive change. Our gathering started off with discussing a separate issue, Death, and how too many people are so paralyzed by the fear of it that they seek to latch on to anything that gives them a sense of being a part of something bigger. Leading me to mention: as human beings and living organisms, we automatically co-exist within this ‘something bigger’ just by being alive. But apparently not everyone thinks in such a way and thus seeks comfort through religion, material goods and/or social relations to give their life meaning. This is a superficial way of dealing with life and although it helps to be socially accepted, it cannot truly satisfy our deepest needs of being part of the greater scheme of things.
As the night progressed, we discussed the issue of helping people and how change happens gradually, even if we would like good things to happen almost immediately, they won’t. Along those lines we discussed the spreading out of ones efforts to create change and how helping people can possibly hinder one’s original efforts. Spreading oneself too thin will possibly diminish the desired results, and lack the necessary energy to truly implement change. Some attending friends who were pre-med majors discussed how concentrating their efforts on a few people will enhance the people’s lives and show an example for others to follow. Additionally, I mentioned “if everyone would concentrate on helping themselves first, then there would be less people in need of assistance in general.” But I feel the current idea of being a helpful and concerned individual is undermining individuals’ ability to ensure their own well-being before providing assistance to others.
This was most of what we discussed at the first gathering, along with random things about recent life events, parties, and new people we meet. Any ideas for topics of discussion are always welcome.
I shared this small story as well: A schoolteacher tells her young students to be good citizens. They are unsure what she means and ask her for clarification. So she gives the example of helping a blind women across the street as being a good citizen. Later on she asks if anyone was a good citizen and two young boys raise their hands. The first one says he helped a blind woman cross the street. The teacher says that that was very nice of him. The second boy says the same thing. The teacher gets suspicious and asks where they found this blind women. They say they were leading her from one end of the road to another and they were a little scared because a crowd of people were yelling at them to stop, and the women herself was uncooperative because she did not wish to go anywhere in the first place.
This is interesting to me because many times we are told to preform behaviors that we have no experience with and don’t consider ourselves ready for, but are still pushed to preform.
** Stay up-to-date with the Mind Petal Boston Garden on our page
A friend recently confided in me and asked for some guidance on running his business and how the decisions / choices he’s making affect the lives of the people working within his organization. Below, I answer these questions with my own insights and thoughts.
I don’t seem to get that time is money. I usually think that is the same if my website is finished tomorrow, next week or next month. I’m too relaxed sometimes and the problem is that the people I work with get very frustrated because they can see how the time passes by and little or no progress is made. They don’t see results and the motivation in them just goes away little by little. I always wait until it is the right time to do something (until all the planets are aligned) and that rarely happens, so I procrastinate all the time as opposed to get started and figure out how to overcome the obstacles along the way.
Time is not money. Time is time. And you have all the time in the world. It boils down the expectations that you establish within your organization. If you are the sort to set specific dates and schedules, then think wisely about how you’ll meet those deadlines “before” you set them. Or, if you run an organization that goes with the ebb and flow and ups and downs of life, then maybe setting set schedules is more of a hindrance than benefit. For instance, someone such as myself hates to set fixed deadlines for anything, and I find that I get a lot more done when I have more freedom to flow with a project, as opposed to trying to control it.
I often don’t want to see the reality. I know that sooner or later something bad is going to happen (e.g. we will running out of money, a key employee will quit, our vendors won’t deliver on time) and I pretend that the problem isn’t there and will take care of itself. More often than not, this doesn’t happen and I end up with a much bigger problem. I just pretend that the problem doesn’t exist because it feels better to think that everything is all right, even when it isn’t, but then it hits harder.
Think about this — you are going to DIE one day. Now that’ll put things into perspective for you real quick. And, to many, that’s not even really a “bad” thing. While running a business, or “just living,” bad things are going to happen — there’s NO way around that. Embrace that. Accept that. We need the bad things to happen to truly appreciate the good things. Alan Watts describes life as a wave. The wave in comprised of the low point (the trough) and the high point (the crest). We need both the trough and the crest in order to wave in life. Just don’t get fixed on the trough; realize and accept it. And know that a crest is always ahead of you.
I usually do things the easy way, not the best way. For example, I know a vendor will not be very reliable, but he already sent the samples, price sheets, photos, etc. I would go with him even though I know I will have problems in the future because selecting another vendor, getting new samples, price sheets and photos is just “too much work”. I take the easy road and I end up being screwed by the unreliable vendor. The main reason I do this is because I don’t delegate much stuff and I am so overloaded with work that the least I want is more stuff on my plate.
Think of this in an analogy of the chess game. Sometimes you need to move your knight about 3 ranks back just to go 1 rank forward. In life, like chess, you have to sometimes go through a necessary hell and necessary bullshit to get to a point that you want to be at. And sometimes not. Think about the here and now — today. What will make your “todays” much easier and better for your business? Don’t think about a week from now or even a year, think about how to best improve your present situation. Thinking this way will shape your tomorrows and the actions you take “today” will reverberate into the future.
I don’t trust other people as much as I should. For this reason, I don’t delegate much, and I try to do everything myself. I believe that if I do it, then I can be sure it will get done right. The problem with this is that A) I can’t do everything, I just don’t have enough time and B) By doing the little stuff I lose focus about the big picture, and that leads my company in the wrong direction. The main reason I don’t trust people as much as I should is because most of the times I tried to delegate something, the job wasn’t done right or at least not the way I wanted it.
Okay, here are two good options: 1.) If you see the potential in the people you are working with and you “feel” that their heart is truly aligned with your organization, then spend as much time as it takes for them to understand how things should be / get done. 2.) If they are just going through the motions for a paycheck and really have no desire to carry out objectives and further, intuitively grasp what needs to be done / improve on what needs to be done (in the absence of you looking over them), then you have to release them from your organization — they are dead weight sinking your ship.
I am really bad with the finances. I’ve had 3 companies so far and with the 3 of them I ran out of money along the way and that either killed the company or at least caused catastrophic disasters. I also used to make huge mess mixing my personal finances and company finances (e.g. taking money from the company to go out with friends or paying company expenses with my own personal money), but I got much better at this.
You need to sit down and meditate about money. Seriously. You need to think about what you really want to do with your life and how money will play a role in that (your) life. If you just want to spend money for partying purposes and having fun, then maybe you should get a 9 to 5 job to finance that. But, if you want to use money to further your cause, grow your company, and help others make a living, then step up and take responsibility over your finances. Learn to control yourself. See money as not only a tool to having fun, but also as a way to grow something great. When you have something great on your hands, nourish it. Don’t take in for granted and misappropriate funds to best suite “your” desires.
I build a company around what I would like to do or what I am good doing, not around a good business opportunity. This is for sure the worst mistake I’ve ever made as an entrepreneur. I usually ask myself “What would I like to do?”, “What would I be good at?”, as opposed to “What does the market want?”, “What will people be willing to pay for?”. For example, my current company, X, sells designer leather goods online, and our sales are pretty low. I know people who sell stuff very similar to our products, by visiting stores and boutiques and talking to the owners, showing them samples, and they sell so much! I wouldn’t like to do that myself, so I decided we should be an Internet business, because I love computers and Internet Marketing, not because that would be the best business model we could choose, or the best way we could market our products. I believe that the solution is obvious (find out the best business model and find the right people to do what I am not good at), but I’ve been doing it wrong so far.
All entrepreneurs / businessmen need to ask themselves these questions:
Am I doing this just to make money?
Am I doing this because it’s what I love?
Would I still do this even if I wasn’t making a cent off of it?
If you do things solely for “money,” then under my definition of who an “entrepreneur” is… I wouldn’t believe that you are one. And that’s okay. Maybe you just like “business” and seeing how you can come up with ways to make money. And you can do both, of course. Just make sure that you don’t blend the two, or you’ll tangle yourself up. Set aside some “money making” projects just to keep the funds rolling in. That can be in the form of a “business.” Then do things that you seriously LOVE — with the total understanding that if it never generates money, then that’s okay.
I am often not willing to do what it takes to succeed. There are things I just don’t like doing. For example, making cold calls. Ideally, I should delegate these things to someone who is really good at it. But the thing is that to hire that person, I would need money, and I won’t get money until I don’t make the cold calls myself and get some sales. It would be great to hire people willing to work just for a commission (a good one), because that would mean no risk for me and no money up-front, but the truth is that most good salespeople want to make sure they will get a paycheck even if the sales are not that great, specially at a company they don’t even know it exists. This is the only issue I don’t seem to find a solution for, except for making the cold calls myself, which I would hate doing in the first place. Do you think is part of being an entrepreneur doing things you don’t like doing?
Don’t force yourself to do ANYTHING in life. If you don’t like making cold calls, then don’t do them — ever. People have this backwater notion of life that disgustingly bleeds into entrepreneurship, stating that “you have to do whatever it takes, no matter what.” I say no way to that. When you force yourself into doing things that you really don’t want to be doing, you totally pollute your mind and body with stress, drama, problems, etc.. which leads to regressions, never advancement. Do what you can do within your own capacity of passion and likes. That sort of momentum of you continuing to do what you can do, at all times, will lead to all the solutions you are seeking, i.e., finding someone to do the cold-calling. It all comes down to your energy and what you are projecting. And trust me, for anything you can think of in life… cold-calling, business plans, programming, whatever it may be… there’s someone out there that will be willing to lend a hand for free, for an equity stake, for an exchange of services, or for what I would call a “ridiculously” low price (such a price that would be commensurate to that person’s particular situation in life).
I wish you the best my friend and I thank you for asking me these important questions. Because through these questions / answers, I believe people will find the answers and inspiration that they need. Anyone that may have alternative answers, please feel free to comment and voice your ideas. We can all benefit from this discussion.
Avi Flombaum [co-founder of Designer Pages] is definitely one cool dude. I always laugh when I talk to people about Avi, because there’s always one common demoninator when someone speaks about him — how smart and chill he is. And that’s exactly what makes Avi such a down-to-earth and enlightening entrepreneur. So glad to have him a part of Mind Petals Organization. In this discussion of “Naked Functionality,” Avi breaks down and juxtaposes two schools of thought when it comes to web applications — the bare and “naked” applications and the applications with “purpose and context” that separate themselves from the pack because they provide unique, niche, value. If you’re at all involved with web development, online applications, and/or simply have a love for the Internet, then sit back, relax, light up, drink up, whatever, and listen to Avi flow… Ha, I should start calling him “Avi Flow..” I like the ring of that.
How many activities involve balls? We play various games such as: volleyball, soccer, tennis, bowling, lacrosse, marbles, dodge-ball, hand-ball, etc.. And we have fun with these spherical objects, right? At a club, there’s a disco-ball that lights up the room and projects fun and random shapes of light across the floor. When someone goes out, we tell them to “have a ball.” Meaning, to have a good time and enjoy yourself. Rappers say: “I’m balling yo!” and “that’s dude is balling!” Meaning, “I’m awesome” and “that person is very wealthy and is having a great time.” We say “let’s roll.” Meaning, let’s go! The earth is a ball. Our eyes see little balls called photons which our brains interpret as images — what we see. We are made up of balls, molecules. Maybe everything is a ball. Balls are fun because they are round and they roll, they move. They are smooth and flow. Squares, on the other hand, don’t roll around. They like to stay fixed and motionless. Maybe we can think in balls and squares as well. If we think in terms of spheres, maybe our thoughts will have curves and they can roll and flow just as the basketball does — not attached to anything in particular and always moving. Maybe we can think in squares as well — cementing our thoughts and placing them into little storage boxes in our minds — never freeing them to move and grow and mostly importantly, to have fun. Or perhaps neither balls or squares really exist and instead, everything is a wave. And when you think, you’re waving at me. When you act, you’re waving at the universe. And everything is waving right back at you. Maybe that’s all anyone or anything is ever, fundamentally, doing — waving.
Samadhi is a non-dualistic consciousness where the experiencing subject becomes one with the experiencing object. Meaning, you become ONE with anything that you are doing, i.e., riding a bike, playing a game, playing an instrument, whatever it may be. You fall into a trance where you are totally aware, yet not thinking of anything. Totally concentrated, but not trying to control the situation at all. In this discussion, I relate samadhi to personal experiences and observations that I have made. Please enjoy and may you be inspired.
"Young and Hungry: The New Entrepreneur" will take you on a journey of two young entrepreneurs who share their thoughts, experiences, and lessoned learned while in the process to finding success. Everything from discussing entrepreneurship with your parents to building a business team -- it's covered in this book. Read now »
We all sat in a circle and really opened up our hearts and minds. I kicked off the night with a discussion on society and my thoughts about how I feel that society has immense control over the minds of so many people, to the point that most people don’t even know it. Going through life, following orders, and living through other people’s plans. 
A few nights ago while flowing into the psychophysical practice of yoga my teacher told the class to “fold into yourself.” And those words have lead to some deep contemplation over the past few days, some of which I’d like to share with you very succinctly here. 
I often speak of mind evolution and expanding one’s consciousness — both of which are of paramount importance in my life and perhaps in yours. However, I’d like to note that one needn’t bombard their mind, or overwhelm it, with any particular tool or method for such an expansion or evolution to manifest. It’s often very easy to fall into a state of mental bombardment when one adheres to the philosophy of “more is better.” 
Avi Flombaum [co-founder of 
How many activities involve balls? We play various games such as: volleyball, soccer, tennis, bowling, lacrosse, marbles, dodge-ball, hand-ball, etc.. And we have fun with these spherical objects, right? At a club, there’s a disco-ball that lights up the room and projects fun and random shapes of light across the floor. When someone goes out, we tell them to “have a ball.” Meaning, to have a good time and enjoy yourself. Rappers say: “I’m balling yo!” and “that’s dude is balling!” Meaning, “I’m awesome” and “that person is very wealthy and is having a great time.” We say “let’s roll.” Meaning, let’s go! The earth is a ball. Our eyes see little balls called photons which our brains interpret as images — what we see. We are made up of balls, molecules. Maybe everything is a ball. Balls are fun because they are round and they roll, they move. They are smooth and flow. Squares, on the other hand, don’t roll around. They like to stay fixed and motionless. Maybe we can think in balls and squares as well. If we think in terms of spheres, maybe our thoughts will have curves and they can roll and flow just as the basketball does — not attached to anything in particular and always moving. Maybe we can think in squares as well — cementing our thoughts and placing them into little storage boxes in our minds — never freeing them to move and grow and mostly importantly, to have fun. Or perhaps neither balls or squares really exist and instead, everything is a wave. And when you think, you’re waving at me. When you act, you’re waving at the universe. And everything is waving right back at you. Maybe that’s all anyone or anything is ever, fundamentally, doing — waving. 
