So what are you trying to sell me today?
C’mon, everybody is selling something!
Do you want your Boss to think well of you, your friends to like you, your partner to be nice to you?
Well, then you are selling yourself to others.
Have you ever wondered if you are selling yourself on ideas or beliefs? Aren’t we all able to talk ourselves into or out of anything if we wish to?
I question if it is even possible for any of us to stop selling all the time. Because I do think we are all doing this in one way or another every single day.
Now I am not saying it’s wrong to sell, but questioning how mindful and beneficial it may be.
Questioning what is reality and what is a story is the benefit of examining this.
I have seen that meditation, over time, removes so much of the sales aspect of life. In that quiet peaceful space, I simply observe the mind without judgement or aspiration. There is nothing to talk myself into or out of during meditation.
And when I am able to carry this off the cushion and into daily life, I find myself observing others with far less judgement and expectation. Accepting myself and others just the way we are. Even when I may sense that someone dislikes me, I try not to judge that or conversely, to sell myself to them.
This sounds like a discussion returning to an often discussed topic of mine, which is living genuinely.
It seems that I have to fully accept others who may make judgements on me. And while it may be incorrect, I can still view them in a loving and kind way.
I am reminded of a story that Bhante Sujatha shared with me recently.
The Buddha, at one point, lived next to a slaughter-house. At night, the Buddha would hear the screams of the animals being brutally killed. The Buddha never complained, nor did he go to speak to the owner, or harbor any ill-will. Buddha knew it was for each person to decide and choose their own path.
Could I do the same? Would I walk over and try to talk to them about compassion and equanimity; trying to explain to them the value of all life.
I can only hope I would be as mindful and accepting as was the Buddha. That I would not go and try to sell these individuals on my beliefs.
So I think the best way to not sell, and live genuinely, is to live as an example. I think that this is perhaps Buddhist activism.
No salesmanship, simply Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. The Noble Eightfold Path.
May you be well, happy and peaceful.
