It's refreshing to find this discussion on meditation and awareness among traders. The critics who dismiss it as "new age" etc don't know didley squat. Looking within and working with the mind's thoughts and emotions has been the path of saints and sages for ages. As the Dalai Lama said about buddhism, "it's more a science of mind than a religion," and " if there's ever a discrepancy between scriptures and reasoning, rely on your reasoning." How many religious leaders would say that? " Cool boredom, without reference point," Now that's great trading advice! Free of hope and fear, what a discovery! Ordinary success will come as a by-product, but even if it didn't, you're still a happy camper. May all beings wake up and smell the coffee of enlightenment.
Great thread. Thank you for the links. Meditation is something I am looking into adding to my daily rituals. I do however have a point to make. The question for me is, why ? Why do we need meditation, why do we need religion? I believe that the answer is self-sabotage, which is the subject of a thread I am initiating hoping you guys can contribute, so as not change the topic here. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78981
Why do people find meditation so difficult? Google: Patanjali - The Eight Steps of Yoga. Meditation is the 7th step, meaning you have to traverse 6 steps before you can 'go there.' The first two are moral observances. The 3rd step is engaging in the physical postures that make the body fit, strong, and supple. The yoga postures also improve circulatory and nerve function. Long periods of meditation requires a very healthy and fit body. Meditation = concentration. Discretionary trading requires it.
Thats a very eastern centric view of meditation, a western occultist would disagree with most of that even though the basic goal and path is the same, for instance morals are an illusion from a higher perspective. Much of the eastern tradition has come to the west polluted with exoteric rubbish and is certainly not what the true adepts would be practicing. The entire concept of transcendence smacks of escapism when it is obvious we incarnate for a definite physical purpose Meditation is difficult if you think it is difficult, subconscious (universal intelligence) will act upon any strongly held belief or suggestion and make it your reality
http://www.tommyangelo.com/articles/betcha_cant.htm By way of poker, this article highlights the valuable self-discipline aspects of meditation, which in turn relates to trading. Kind of a tenuous thread, but it's there.
Excellent link archimedes. The "Stop Technique" I believe it made its first appearance in Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. You life comprises of Being and Doing. Being never changes, it is who you are. However, what you are Doing changes every second. Your actions change every second, whether your thinking, breathing, walking, etc - no moment is ever the same. With that in mind, we often time get caught up in the non stop activity of Doing, and become ignorant of Being. That's where the stop technique come in. When you suddenly stop what your Doing and simply observe, you become aware of Being and how you often go about your Doing generally mindlessly. The mystic Gurdjieff used this technique. He had a signal go off and when all his students heard it they immediately froze like statues. In activity the momentum of the mind makes people disorientated. This technique is great for regaining your orientation and balance.
(from the article posted above) "The surest way to get better at poker is to get better at everything and have poker rise with the tide." The above quote applies to trading as well. I try to make no distinction between living and trading. Where does one end and the other start? Non-sense question because there is no distinction between the two. The more awareness you develop about the way you live, the more awareness you have about the way you trade. Awareness is key to mastery.
Yes -- this is the barrier that turns many away. How many have the will to consistently evolve and improve... to face their deepest fears and embrace the hardest truths... to shed ego, cut away all distractions, and deliberately change their lives? Very few.
You mean there is no single reality? That is what Tibetan Buddhist say i guess. Dzogchen "Reality" is a dream