Buddhist Templates

You might know that I'm obsessed with PowerPoint these days. Started my own company, crazy shit happening. It's great. I've been making pitch decks, educational decks, and templates.

Buddha made templates too, but his templates were philosophical. He said that your problems in life can be understood through a simple formula. You get attached to things, meaning that you get desperate to control them, to make sure they happen or don't happen. That makes you obsessed, and that makes you think and detach from your body and from your surroundings, the elusive "present moment." That present moment is where you find joy. So if you want joy, look at your attachments.

The template works for a lot of things. It helps you make sense of your relationships. Your career. Your body. Your future. Because we attach to all these things.

Addressing your attachments is tricky. You don't just mentally say "OKAY, THIS IS WHO I AM, I'M GOING TO BE AN ASSHOLE AND THAT'S THAT." No. And you don't just TRY and do this thing called acceptance so you can be happier, because the reason you're doing all that is because you're still attached to feeling different and to some private, idealized conception of yourself.

Attachments dissolve when you tame your mind and listen. Listen in a very deep and meaningful way.

I'm not perfect. I'm not unattached. I'm not happy all the time. But I have my moments where my attachments dissolve and where I'm quiet inside. In those moments I realize the value of nonattachment and the value of the Buddha's teachings. And I'm compelled, by some unexplainable force, to share that with others.

Want to submit a question or topic? Email askedahn@gmail.com.