Happy Guru Purnima 2020!

JC Parets
July 5, 2020

I've learned a lot of things and met some amazing people during my trips to India over the years. One of them is the original meaning of the word "Guru".

You see, in America it definitely has a negative connotation. Most people I speak to don't even know what "guru" actually means. For us, it's usually a charlatan-type that no one likes. They usually know less than most and typically do much more harm to their audience than good. You'll often see them buying twitter followers and spamming your LinkedIn messages.

In marketing parlance, they refer to the "Guru" as the guy (usually male) who they spend all their time on marketing and making them look good. The better and smarter the “guru” appears to be, the more money that comes in, and the more profits for the marketing company, regardless of how completely full of it they actually are.

In America, whenever you hear, "Financial Guru", usually you want to run away as fast as possible.

But the truth is, Guru Purnima is one of the most beautiful concepts I've ever learned about. This unique festival on the Hindu calendar is dedicated to your Mentor or Teacher. This year it is being celebrated on July 5th, today.

On Guru Purnima Day, we want to pay obeisance to those we've learned from over the years and thank them for their teachings.

According to my friends in India, it is widely believed that it was on this day that Buddha gave his first sermon.

In order to celebrate, people offer gratitude to their gurus by presenting them with gifts and other things. Phil Pearlman, who many of you know through The Money Game podcast that we do together, has been a lot of help to me over the years. In fact, he's actually the one who built this blog for me in 2010. He's also really helped me improve both physically and mentally, especially over the past 6 months.

This week I sent Phil 3 lbs of bluefin tuna. He's big on protein, so I'm sure he'll enjoy it.

The festival of Guru Purnima is not something I've celebrated in the past. My friends back in India certainly do and they've influenced me to participate. So this year I'm thanking you Phil..... Namaste.

As traders, investors, financial advisors and analysts, I'm sure we all have our "Phil Pearlman". In some cases, it might even be Phil Pearlman. But in general, we want to take today to think about and learn from those who came before us, and made the same mistakes we are doomed to make as well. Let's try and listen. And let's take what we've learned and pass it on to those around us.

From Buddha:

"Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again and you will be filled with joy."

I hope this quick note encourages you to reach out and thank your mentor. Buy him/her a bottle of wine, or send a card, or a even a text message.

This is a beautiful celebration. Don't let the financial marketers let you forget that.

Go thank your Guru!

JC

 

Also See: Ichigo Ichie

 

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