Today is New Year’s Day and we were fortunate enough to meet with the head Buddhist Monk at a Tibetan monastery in Deer Park in Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first teaching. I learned many things about Buddhism that I didn’t know such as the goal is to unleash an unlimited future, which excited me even more since it is similar to the mission of the Wright Leadership Institute. In our meeting, we quickly came to find out that the monk ended a trip he had been on just to meet with us which was a huge gift and honor.  His had an amazing presence about him; he was playful, inviting, and mutual in the ways he shared about his journey. I’m working on all these things in my own life – trying to be a more substantive presence while being genuine and sharing my vulnerability.

Listening to him, I felt encouraged on my growth path to continue being more truthful and genuine. I’m also inspired to include more meditation in my life. Rather than making meditation into a big significant task, he talked about making meditation a very simple straightforward part of any day. He talked about counting 21 breaths while driving home from the office or taking 5 minutes out of the day at any time to meditate. I loved how simple and approachable his lessons were and I look forward to building an even better 2010 by incorporating all of this into my daily life. As if his lessons weren’t enough, he closed our meeting by asking permission to give us a blessing. It was very moving and inspiring and I am excited to go into my new year with a shift in perspective that will serve me every day.