One Christmas gift I received last month was a small little book titled “A Philosophy of Walking”
It’s been an oddly enjoyable read so far (I never would’ve thought so deeply about a simple topic such as “walking” if not for this book).
Early on in the book it talks about the four stages of life according to Hindu philosophy.
I wouldn’t do it any justice if I were to explain it myself, so I’ll simply share the entire passage from the book.
Check it out (it’s extremely insightful and very much worth reading):
===
Heinrich Zimmer, one of the great writers on Indian civilizations, tells us that Hindu philosophy distinguishes four stages on the journey through life.
The first is that of the pupil, the student, the disciple. Thus in the morning of life, the essential tasks are to obey the master’s injunctions, absorb his lessons, submit to criticism and conform to the principles laid down. It is a time for receiving and accepting.
In the second stage the man, now adult, in the midday of his life, becomes the master of a house, married, responsible for a family: he manages his property as well as he can, contributes to the upkeep of the priests, exercises a trade or skill, submits to social constraints and imposes them on others. He agrees to wear the social masks that define a role for him in society and in the family.
Later, in the afternoon of his life, when the children are ready to take over, the man can abandon all social duties, family expenses and economic concerns, to become a hermit. This is the stage of ‘withdrawal to the forest’, in which through contemplation and mediation he familiarizes himself with what has always lain unchanged within us, waiting for us to awaken it: the eternal Self, transcending masks, functions, identities, histories.
And the pilgrim eventually succeeds the hermit, in what should be the endless, glorious summer evening of our lives: a life henceforth dedicated to travel in which endless walking in one direction and another, illustrates the harmonization of the nameless Self with the omnipresent heart of the World.
The sage has now renounced everything and attained the highest level of freedom: that of perfect detachment. He is no longer involved, either in himself or in the world. Indifferent to past and future alike, he is nothing other than the eternal present of coexistence. And as we know from the pilgrimage diaries of Swami Ramdas, it is when we renounce everything that everything is given to us, in abundance. Everything: meaning the intensity of presence itself.
===
Now that’s a lot.
Both in text and meaning.
But it reminded me of my own transformation as a person, a businessman, and ultimately (and especially) a creator. It’s also a process I see repeatedly in other people who enter (and leave) this market.
Let’s go over the four stages every creator goes through, according to banana philosophy (also referred to as bananaism).
Stage 1:
A new creator will almost always enter the scene by way of discovering it through a guide or a ‘guru’. Creators at this stage lack any and all knowledge about the market and can only rely on the holy words spoken by their guru.
They’ll follow it to the letter, never asking themselves if it makes sense, nor asking if it’s even what they want to do.
They just listen and follow.
Stage 2:
After having gained a basic grasp of what it means to be a creator, the newbie will now take on their own clients, build their following, craft an offer, and get paid in direct proportion to how much noise they’re making and how much time they’re putting in.
However, their entire curriculum will still be based on the teachings of their prior guru and nothing new, unique, nor personal will have been added.
Stage 3:
Now the creator has taught and guided many others under him, based on the teachings of his former guru. New creators who can take his place to continue sharing the holy teachings with every new soul that enters the market.
At this time the creator will almost always, if they even get this far, enter into an identity crisis.
They start to realize that, all this time, they’ve been chasing a goal that wasn’t theirs. Building a dream they never dreamt of. Nothing they have done has been out of their own wants or needs.
They’ve been led astray.
It’s at this point that the creator has to fight an inner battle so fierce most never recover from, never seeing the light of day ever again.
Only when the creator truly get through the battle (never unscathed) will they find out what it is they’ve truly been looking for all along.
At that point, they enter into stage 4:
The creator has now renounced all the teachings of his prior guru that don’t align perfectly with his personal vision.
The creator attained the highest level of freedom.
Everything he’ll do is now based on his experience, his interests, and his own philosophy of life. He wakes up every single day excited to share his vision with the world, to do things his way, and the defy the industry norms as much as possible, for he knows this will bring him fortune, freedom, and everything he could ever wish for (in abundance).
He walks a free life.
No longer restricted by his earthly shackles, no longer getting paid in direct proportion to how much time he’s putting in, but instead by the quality of his thoughts, ideas, and the care he puts into his relationships and his own audience.
This is the way of the enlightened creator.
And that same way is what I’m teaching in my course Email Extraordinaire.
No longer do you have to be reliant on the teachings of some guru who’ll steer you in the direction of his dreams instead of yours. No, I share with you all the tools, all the principles, all the meat and potatoes, the pure evergreen basics you need to know to create your own path and reach stage 4 as a creator.
Click the link here to learn more: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE
PS: I’m closing the cart on Email Extraordinaire this Saturday, January 27th at midnight CET.
It’s currently priced at $97, which is a total steal. I’ll likely increase it to $497 when I decide to reopen the cart again, so if you want to get it, I highly suggest you do it now and save both yourself and me a lot of trouble (and money) later on.