The Diamond Cutter Principles
The Diamond Cutter-principles on wealth, love and living a life of generosity with Geshe Michael Roach
The first Westerner to complete the extensive twenty-five-year training in the monastery, Michael Roach was sent to New York to start a diamond business. The goal? Raise one million dollars in a year using the law of get this…karma.
Upset with the idea for months, not enjoying business or New York, Michael gave in and began the journey.
What are these “Diamond Cutter” Principles?
“In the monastery, over many years of study, you learn everything you do or say gets recorded, it makes an imprint on your mind, on your subconscious…that imprint then becomes a seed.”
The seed will later open and have an impact on how you see the world. The theory applies to business in the way you interact with others. When you help someone else in business, be profitable, it creates a seed in your mind. When that seed is nurtured properly, it will open into a successful business.
With all the things in the world, why diamonds?
This ancient book by Buddha named The Diamond Cutter, explains how the golden rule works,
“There’s no mention of diamonds and there’s no mention of diamond cutters. So, in the monastery, I would spend a lot of time asking my teachers what’s so important about the diamond. It’s a very important symbol or metaphor in meditation and Buddhism because the diamond is the hardest thing in the universe. Nothing can scratch a diamond.”
A diamond is the closest thing in the universe to emptiness. A diamond is pure potential.
The Importance of Reflection with Joy Over Pride
Give what you need and then reflect upon the experience of giving.
“Once you do a good deed…then you plant a seed in your mind and that seed will open and it will create something beautiful for you.”
It is a rejoicing, not an act of pride. Enjoy the good things you are doing as you fall asleep. Know that you are planting seeds. The Diamond Cutter Principles are being shared all over the world. The principles are like gravity,
“Gravity works for whoever drops something. If you have a stone in your hand and you drop it, it doesn’t matter what country you come from, or what sex you are, or how old you are, what religion you are.”
In the monastery it is encouraged to go to the difficult places. “The lotus grows best in the worst smelling swamps.”
Imagine what would happen to the idea of competition if the principle of helping others be successful really took off. Competition would become obsolete, and the world would be a better place, don’t you think! If the common view was to get what you want, you must help someone else get what they want, wow how quickly things would change.
What’s the Karma for Creativity? “The way you plant a seed in your mind to have the next big idea, is to congratulate and be happy about someone else having a good idea.”
Even for startups,
“If it’s true that you get what you give, then even in the startup of a business you should try and divert some of the money that you have towards the success of other people’s business.”
The Principle of Karma and Your Money
Does being successful in a material way, mean that you are failing in a spiritual way? At some point, you understand that success in one does not mean ultimate failure in the other. They can coexist beautifully.
“You have to be careful not to overwork and lose your meditation time, but you also have to be careful not to over meditate and lose your touch with reality, with the real world.”
To understand more of the principles behind the remarkable book, The Diamond Cutter, be sure not to tune in to this week’s Change Maker:
The Diamond Cutter- principles on wealth, love and living a life of generosity with Geshe Michael Roach
Play.it: http://cbsloc.al/1IzaGy1
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/change-maker-zhena-muzyka/id951166221?mt=2
