日本武士一脸困惑。他刚刚向中国对手敬茶，并询问客人是否充分品鉴了茶的品质，却被对方回答说：“自然界对茶不加区分，人为区分。我并不在意你敬茶的细微差别，因为我已经决定要好好享用它了。” 日本武士缓缓问道：“照此逻辑，我理解你认为武术没有优劣之分？” 中国武士点头答道：“是的。武艺的精髓在于习练者的技艺，而技艺的精湛程度自然有所不同。” 日本武士反问道：“如果真是如此，为何中国还有那么多武术比赛？” 中国武士回答说：“这是为了让习练者发现自身的优势，不断提升。” 日本武士深受感动，说道：“所以，我们并非要战胜他人，真正的敌人就在我们自身。”他向对手鞠躬，李连杰武侠电影《霍元甲》中最精彩的对话之一（意译）就此结束。
竞争是当下的热门话题。在即将到来的美国大选中，许多政客的重要政纲之一是帮助美国在全球经济中提升竞争力。在现任政府中，奥巴马总统也推出了一项名为“力争上游”（Race to the Top）的计划，旨在改革教育体系，提高美国学生的学业成绩。其理念是，这最终将有助于学生在全球职场中更具竞争力。但如果我们本末倒置了呢？更多的资源真的是帮助人们提升自我的关键所在吗？
我在印度长大，大部分科目都学得很吃力，尤其是数学。有一天，父亲看了我的成绩单后，和我进行了一次促膝长谈。他说：“学好科目的秘诀就是爱上它们。当你开始热爱你所学的东西时，它就不再像是在学习了。之后一切都会迎刃而解。只要爱上它就好。” 那时我大概六年级，我决定认真听取父亲的建议，真的对我的数学课本说了声“我爱你”。
然后，一件奇怪的事情发生了。我竟然爱上了数学。我开始享受每一道几何题背后的奥秘，沉浸其中，并在解题时体验到喜悦。几年下来，我甚至一天就能做完课本上的所有习题，而且第二天、第三天还会重复一遍。遇到不会的题目我会格外兴奋，因为我可以好好琢磨，享受其中的奥秘。伴随着这份如痴如醉的热爱，我的成绩也开始突飞猛进。十年级毕业时，我的数学考了99分——那时候，电脑系统只显示两位数的分数，这已经是最高分了。但最奇怪的是，我完全不在乎成绩了。我真心喜欢这门学科。
我天生好奇，想看看这种方法究竟能走多远。我记得我曾尝试用“我爱你”原则去学习其他一些我原本觉得很枯燥的科目，比如历史。突然间，历史在我眼中变得生动起来，我也开始非常喜欢它。更进一步，我之前一直认为一个人不可能喜欢英语语法。但尝试之后，我却爱上了写作，这份热爱一直延续至今。这种理念彻底改变了我的生活，提高了我的成绩，更重要的是，它让我不再在意分数，而是真正享受学习的过程。
与他人交流后，我意识到我的经历并非个例——任何真正取得卓越成就的人都曾坠入爱河。所以，或许我们应该更多地讨论“爱的预算”而非“教育预算”。当然，“爱的预算”这个词本身就自相矛盾，因为爱无法用金钱买到，它也不是会因付出而减少的有限资源。我们要想提高孩子的成绩，只需要爱他们，并鼓励他们去热爱自己所学的知识。
这种视角并不仅限于我们的孩子。正如霍华德·瑟曼的名言：“不要问世界需要什么，问问自己什么能让你充满活力。因为世界需要的是充满活力的人。”如果我们能够选择充满活力，热爱眼前的一切，无论我们做什么，那会怎样？我们的生活会是什么样子？我们的工作又会是什么样子？或许，选择去爱就能让我们“真正地爱上”——这是一个值得尝试的突破性想法。
更广泛地说，鉴于有证据表明，恋爱中的人很难与之竞争，任何国家或公司要想参与竞争，其国家战略都应该是“爱”。而检验爱情是否真挚的标准是：恋爱中的人心中是否没有任何追求卓越成就的欲望。如果我们觉得这种说法过于超前，那么我们可以看看史蒂夫·乔布斯的传记。尽管他有诸多缺点和令人难以捉摸的特质，但最让我印象深刻的是他对工作中“爱”的重视，以及他始终坚持聘用热爱自己工作的人。正是这种理念成就了苹果公司的巨大成功，使其成为全球市值最高的公司。
人们或许会问，如果爱才是我们真正需要的，那么竞争还有意义吗？毕竟，竞争常常误导我们，让我们执着于摧毁他人，而不是提升自我。但竞争不过是我们创造的一种体系。我们创造体系是为了将自己与行动联系起来，并将我们的价值观融入生活。例如，我们可能认为刷牙对我们来说具有实际价值，但除非我们建立一个能让我们规律刷牙（例如每天早晚各刷一次）的体系，否则我们无法获得这种价值。刷牙的次数可以作为衡量我们是否坚持每天刷牙的一个有用指标，但它并不能代表口腔卫生不可估量的价值。
同样，竞争体系的价值不在于它能提供胜负的衡量标准，而在于它能让我们看清自身的不足之处。仅仅口头上说我们热爱自己的工作是一回事，但竞争才是我们检验自身真实性的情境。我们是否会被外部对手的恐惧所干扰？或者我们能否信赖更根本的东西——我们对工作的无限热爱？从这个角度来看，竞争是一种宝贵的反馈机制，它帮助我们更加忠于自我。我们不应回避竞争，而应满怀信心地拥抱它，并坚信我们内心深处的价值观。
在我从事战略咨询的职业生涯中，我惊喜地发现，市场挫败能让人谦逊，促使他们正视自身不足，乐于学习，并致力于自我提升。而这一切，都无需他们参与关于爱或完美的哲学探讨。 竞争性战略制定的过程，让人们在追求市场成功的幌子下，将自我完善视为一个公认的最终目标。
我是否只是在粉饰大多数人只想赚钱而不在乎爱情或完美这一事实？越来越多的证据表明并非如此。研究表明，职场薪酬固然重要，但前提是生存受到威胁。一旦超过这个门槛，薪酬就不再是最重要的因素，取而代之的是丹·平克所说的自主性、精通和目标感——这些都是内在驱动力。
印度古代圣贤领悟到另一种激励因素，一个更为深刻的真理：如果根本不存在“他者”，如果我们实际上是同一个有机体的一部分呢？正如诗人帕维特拉·梅塔所说，“ 所有界限都是想象中划定的（就像赤道一样）”？ 那么，我们在竞争中划定的界限，会不会是我们对自我认知短浅的结果呢？
为了更好地理解这种观点，不妨举个看似荒谬却又贴切的例子：想象一下，你的脚趾向你抱怨你的拇指占用了太多资源，并要求得到更多关注。这似乎有些荒唐，因为我们的意识是一个整体，而非局限于脚趾或拇指。从整体的角度来看，我们在对各个部分做出决定时，会以整体为参照。
这种进化后的看待事物的方式，在我们与内心深处的驱动力——对所做之事的热爱、对完美的内在追求以及一种根本整合的视角——建立联系时，便会自然而然地产生。那时，我们便能清晰地思考自身的价值观，尽情畅想如何将这些价值观融入美好的项目和服务中，巧妙地规划如何在资源有限的情况下实现目标，并享受过程中的每一步。
真正的竞争是神圣的。它不会带来分裂和苦涩，反而会带来完整和爱的感觉。这种爱所激发的强烈渴望，会烧尽所有阻碍我们接近真理本质的障碍，包括我们一路走来所依赖的所有概念，因为它们才是体验的最终障碍。正如一位著名的苏菲派诗人所说：“将‘水’的概念误认为水本身的人是天真的——这样的人注定会渴死。” 这正是我们超越概念、真正享受手中这杯茶的绝佳理由。
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like another reviewer, this appears to be headed in the right direction but as i understand Life, it is only a partial truth. e.g., what do you love if you are offered a choice from ten teas ? you can say that you love the choice but then is the choice not important? what if your family business is being an executioner and you don't love it, do you remain in it? or a meat slaughterer and you are a vegetarian ? don't we want to inspire our selves by positive attributes including "the desire to be better, be more creative, more connected thereby experiencing a more complete and less limited you rather than blinding always focusing on what is in front of you only? is free will important?
I love this article! Just watched Tom Shadyac's documentary I AM last night and this feels intertwined with his premise...it all comes down to love. Thank you. I've bookmarked it and will pass it on.
WONDERFUL AND ENLIGHTENENIG
My gut instinct is that the writer is moving toward a truth, but not embracing Truth in its totality. It's not math, or any particular activity (or lack thereof), that needs to "be fallen in love with." This just creates potholes of "not love" or "less love" in other areas. I believe Love, in its essence, is choice-less presence — being fully, and fully being, in any given moment. And the only way to increase one's Here and Nowness is to practice over and over, gently and gently.When Somik writes that he "enjoyed soaking in [math]" he is really just reporting that he allowed himself to really be doing math and naught else. He is dipping his toes in Presence, but not surrendering completely to its effortless flow which knows no subjective boundaries (i.e. math, English grammar, surfing, eating, sleeping, pooping). When we find what we are passionate about, it is the same as describing that which we are able to do with attention. But until All commands that kind of attention from us, we will find ourselves wistful, worried and longing when separated from our so-called passion.I hate waiting in lines or multiple iterations of being put on hold for 30 minutes at a time trying to find out who has applied a spurious charge to my credit card. But when I remember to go back to following my breath, the experience begins to transform almost immediately. This is the same breath that I watch whilst sitting in the grass on a perfect Spring day, or the same breath that breathes life into my most ardent passions. You may be on the ocean with ideal wave after ideal wave availing itself to your surfboard, but if part of you is looking for a new job in a prosecutor's office in some unknown city, then you haven't surfed — you have only made the appearance of surfing.Some aids I have found useful for finding Love or consciousness in any situation, are 1) finding and following the aforementioned breath, 2) standing or sitting with back straight, shoulders back, head erect and chin level, and 3) smiling.
[Hide Full Comment]Lovely, lovely article.
This is absolutely true! I have first hand experience of this: Last year I decided to take up Physics as a subject at school, and I hated it. I just couldn't understand the concepts, I hated every bit of it. I then got a tutor and I began to understand everything, I began to fall in love. I didn't care about competition, I felt it was a chance to prove my love for the subect. So I guess what they're saying is that love and understanding are closely linked. In my case, I loved after I understood. However, it can also work the other way around.
Love what you do. That is how you can master something am really that way.
And this about competition is the main motivation that motivated people like me.
When someone challenges me may be helped them by luck. I really stayed on and worked 18 hours everyday excluded weekends. It is that competition that I couldn't even feel tired as it is an evil thing to achieve such thing that takes decades to be done.
If it wasn't competition that made me restless I can't know what it was. Even money motivated people just trying what they can spend for a month or a year but when you want to have some ranks with a billionaire you really run so mad.
There a saying that says don't hunt what you can't kill.
So if I knew that only luck helped such a millionaire I wouldn't have been doing what I did.
So it was God who didn't exercise the fairness to his people.
Children need education not only what they write on books but also some things about luck and tradition and witches. So that they know that those things are there.
A man with just same grade and same knowledge without any illegal work with same reputation just got 9m$. and another man working for ministry of agriculture got less than half m$.
9m$ is respected and lives dubai's best residence.
Such these, we have to treat them as just luck and it shouldn't make greedy I understood this after I got tired one billion times.
[Hide Full Comment]Compelling