fun factor

Life is not a competition, it's a game. It's not about winning or losing, it's about all the fun you can have before it ends.

‒ Simon Sinek

Sometimes, and even often, I need to remind myself that this is meant to be fun, that this works best when it is fun.  Or at least enjoyable.  Well thank goodness for Alan Cohen, one of several people interviewed in the film "Finding Joe".  Alan's explanation of the metaphor of the Golden Buddha story is an excellent reminder of the fun factor to consider in this thing called life.



Below is a homemade transcript of the Alan's explanation of the metaphor.

Each of us is golden by nature.  We were born golden, we were born high, we were born knowing, we were born connected to our bliss, we were born knowing truth, we were born knowing everything that every great spiritual master ever said, we were one with the Christ, the Buddha, everyone.  But then, we went to school and they said you have to dress like this, and this is what boys do, and this is what girls do, this is what black people do, this is what white people do, on and on and on.  And so we developed a casing of stone over the buddha to a point where at a young age, maybe 4 or 5 or 6 or 7, we believed that we were the stone buddha and not the golden one.  And then, something comes along that cracks our casing.  Maybe it's an injury, a divorce, a financial setback, a governmental change, something that really scares us and bugs us and knocks off a piece of our armor and only in that moment of the armor being knocked off do you get to look inside and see the gold.  And let me tell you friend, that the moment you see that gold, the armor and the concrete will never satisfy you again.  At that point, you truly enter the true hero's adventure and all you want to do for the rest of your life is pick away the stone because the gold is so much more fun.