EcoTrain Question Of The Week

I'm not an official passenger on the EcoTrain but their question of the week caught my attention - "Who are the best people to lead or guide our world ...Politicians, Parents, Academics, Philosophers, High Tech.. Or someone else?

I am a Canadian and in our constitution it says we have the right to good government but the fact is we have not had strong leaders for a long time and it seems that when politicians get pulled into the system they fall into the corruption. I have lost faith in the government and choose to put my resources and energy elsewhere. so this rules out politicians.

I lean more towards philosophers, the thought leaders. Those who are seeking truth and such things as what it is to live life fully, have a meaningful life. I would choose people who have been down the path and have made it to their destination. Those would be the ones that I would follow and take guidance from.

I'm gaining a lot from the modern day arenas of podcasts and debates where you can find long deep conversations on such things as "what is the meaning of life?"

Someone who I have been following on his Youtube channel and on different podcasts is Jordan B. Peterson. I have gained a lot of insight from him.

Listen to Jordan Peterson on Life purpose, direction, and meaning

Another really powerful interview with Jordan Peterson you can hear - Jordan Peterson on Responsibility and Meaning with Lewis Howes

Here is a man who has done the work and continues to do the work, looking deep into the recesses of the mind. He has done the research and works on himself to live to his greatest potential plus shares his findings in lectures, discussions and in the two books he has written. I bought his latest book "12 Rules for Life. An Antidote To Chaos"

Look at the Table of Content from Jordan Peterson's book "12 Rules for Life" which gives the 12 rules -

There is things like "Stand up straight with your shoulders back" which brings up the point that to get your place in life, your piece of the pie, there is a necessity to pull yourself up and be ready to face things full on.

Listen to Jordan Peterson on his rule #1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back

Another rule I admire, having been a parent plus I work with young children, is: "Do not let children do anything that makes you dislike them." Think of this, how do you want your children to behave? Do you want them to be that obnoxious kid who every one dreads coming in contact with? I think not. So would it not be wise to curb that behavior early on - nip it in the bud?

Listen to Jordan Peterson on Rule #5: Don't Let Your Children Do Anything That Makes You Dislike Them

Listen to Jordan Peterson on Rule 7: Pursue What is Meaningful

One last one that should be fairly obvious is rule #8: "Tell the truth - or, at least, don't lie." How many of us know we should not lie but we often fail to tell the truth because it isn't always easy to be truthful.

Listen to Jordan Peterson on this Rule # 8

On that last point I want to move onto another great leader, a spiritual leader - Gautama Buddha.

Born as a prince with the name Siddhārtha Gautama, first lived surrounded by the luxuries of life. Then, in his youth, when on the rare occasion of an outing to the city, he happened to see an old person, and ailing person and a dead body. He pondered over this suffering he had seen of human life. One other sighting he had was of an ascetic. This gave him a glimpse of some serenity that could be attained, some freedom from this suffering.

The allurements of the palace, no longer had any hold on Siddhārtha and he left it all behind in search of truth and a way out of this suffering.

Once he gained true insights and saw the cause of suffering and the way of eradication of suffering, he went on to show others this path.

In what is known as the Dhammacakkappavattana-Sutta, the translation has the Buddha's explanation as,

"What is that Middle Path, O Bhikkhu-s, that the Tathāgata has realised? It gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path, namely: Right View, Right Resolution, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. This is the Noble Path realized by the Tathāgata, which gives vision, which gives knowledge, and which leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment and to Nibbāna."

For more on Buddhist philosophy, I had found an excellent glossary with the introduction being at: http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-AN/102946-introduction.htm

These are the leaders I follow who have enriched my life.

Images are my photos of my book and picture I own.