Thursday, July 11, 2013

Slumming with Buddha in Silicon Valley

From Rough Type:

zen
Meditation and mindfulness are all the rage in Silicon Valley. Which is a good thing, I guess. Wired‘s Noah Shactman reports on how the tech elite are, during breaks in the work day, unfolding their yoga pads and, in emulation of Steve Jobs, pursuing the Eastern path to nirvana, often with instruction from Buddhist monks. It’s an odd sort of enlightenment they’re after, though. Explains Google mindfulness coach Chade-Meng Tan, who helps the techies gain “emotional intelligence” through meditation, “Everybody knows this EI thing is good for their career. And every company knows that if their people have EI, they’re gonna make a shitload of money.”

That’s so Zen.
See also:
Monks on Planes: Buddhist Bling
Real Estate: Jewish Buddhist Invokes Catholic Saint to Move Property