On Leave From Google

I'm on unpaid leave from Google until November 16, 2010.  For details, see FAQ below (which is an edited version of the "out of office message" from my google.com account).


Frequently Answered Questions (some occasionally asked) about Meng's leave

Q:  Meng, how do I become as good-looking as you are?
A:  Just attend Engineering school for a few years.  Everybody who goes through Engineering school becomes physically attractive, I don't know why.  But, hey, this FAQ is about my time away, not about my stunning good looks, so stop distracting me.

Q:  Why are you going on leave?
A:  To write my book (actually, the book is going to write itself, but somehow my presence is needed, I'm not sure why).  I'll also take short vacations and speak every now and then.

Q:  When are you coming back to work?
A:  On November 16, 2010.  Unless I die, or get fired, whichever comes first.

Q:  What's your book about?  Why are you writing it?
A:  The book will be about happiness and compassion for fun and profit.  Specifically, I plan to write on the content we cover in Search Inside Yourself (SIY).  The book will explain how to develop Emotional Intelligence using contemplative practices, the science behind it, how to apply it in business settings in ways that help everybody become more successful, and how this helps build world peace.  This book is part of my plan to create the conditions for world peace in my lifetime (details).  I also plan to open-source all SIY teaching materials with the release of the book, so that everybody in the world who wants to develop EI will have an additional resource, hopefully a very useful one that is also fun to read.

Q:  What is the title of the book?
A:  I don't know yet.  The title I really want is, "Buddhas Just Want to Have Fun".  I told that to Mingyur Rinpoche, he did NOT try to hit my head with a heavy object.  I interpret that as an enlightened master's silence implying consent.  (Actually, he laughed).

Q:  Being a first-time author, will you be able to complete a draft of your book by November 15, 2010?
A:  I honestly have no idea, but I know one way to find out.

Q:  Are you trying to take over the world?
A:  No.

Q:  Will we see you during your leave?
A:  I hope so.  I'm not going away, this is a working leave.  Outside of short vacations and a few speaking engagements, I'll most likely be hiding somewhere in or near Google HQ to write.  Maybe Stanford Library, maybe even Building 40.  So, yeah, if you have something fun lined up, I'm likely to be available.

Q:  During your leave, can we have you meet and greet visiting world leaders and megastars?
A:  Yes.  Especially Celine Dion.

Q:  Will you reply to my emails during your leave?
A:  I may.  Especially if you're Celine Dion.

Q:  I noticed you're taking unpaid leave.  Don't you like money?
A:  I like money.  Thank you for asking.

Q:  Wise One, what is the meaning of life?
A:  Simple.  The meaning of life is not.

More Personal Growth Talks at Google

My friend, Sudhakar "Thaths" Chandra, compiled playlists of personal growth-related talks at Google (some of which were hosted by me).

• Emotional Intelligence
• Mindfulness and Meditation
• Neuroscience of Meditation

Happiness is the default state

Life is funny.  The biggest joke in life is that, after all that has been done in the pursuit of happiness, it turns out that sustainable happiness is achievable simply by bringing attention to one’s breath.

Funny Thought: Make me look like Tom Cruise

I get a haircut about 4 times a year.  I try to time my haircuts to roughly coincide with when I need to file estimated taxes.  That way, I only have to remember one of the two.

I often found it too difficult to describe how I want the end result of my haircut to look like.  Then one day, I figured out a visual solution.  I printed out a picture of Tom Cruise in Top Gun (with short hair) and just showed it to the hairdresser and said, "Make me look like this".  It worked like a charm, and the extra opportunities for humor came free.  When the hairdresser was done, she would say, "There, now you look just like Tom Cruise", and I would say, "Good, good, all I need now is a new face".

I did that often enough that the hairdressers started calling me the Tom Cruise guy.  The last time I went for a haircut, Dana, the owner of the place, made this comment. "You know, everytime Tom Cruise comes in here for a haircut, he brings a picture of you".

Three musketeers and one young-ish guy

I really like this photograph, not just because everybody in it is so handsome, but also the story it represents.

Once upon a time, there were three highly talented young men who wanted to serve the world and who became close friends with each other.  Their names were Danny, Richie and Jon.  When they grew up, they each became world-famous in their own unique ways, but the success of each one beautifully complemented the success of the other two and, together, their combined work may change the world.

The school of Buddhism I belong to

People who know about the different schools of Buddhism are often curious which one I belong to, so they'd ask me, "What type of Buddhist are you?"  And I would say, "A lousy one, of course."

In truth, I think I have benefited tremendously from all 3 branches of Buddhism.

I benefited tremendously from the concreteness and clarity of Theravada Buddhism.  Theravada scriptures are the closest thing we have to the original teachings of the Buddha, the greatest hero in my life.  Theravada teachings are systematic, logical, highly accessible, historically authentic, and contains minimal amount of the magic and mystery I found distasteful.  The Vipassana practice (a somewhat relaxed version of which became known as "Mindfulness meditation" in the West), which comes out of the Theravada tradition, is the single most important thing I have learned in my entire life.  Theravada teachings form both the theoretical and practical foundations of my Buddhist practice, from which I became able to understand and appreciate the other schools of Buddhism.  Theravada is my root, my foundation.  This is the body of my practice.  The body of my practice is Virtue, Concentration and Wisdom (Sila, Samadhi and Panna).

I benefited tremendously from the inspiring power of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism.  Vajrayana Buddhism is the result of at least two major rounds of evolution from the original teachings of the Buddha (either evolution or degeneration, I'm happy to argue either or both) and includes many important refinements and additions to more traditional forms of Buddhism.  In many ways, Vajrayana is Buddhism on steroids.  It has awed and inspired me.  It has given me my Compassion practice.  It inspired me to take my Bodhisattva Vows.  Vajrayana is my thunder, my power.  This is the heart of my practice.  The heart of my practice is Emptiness and Compassion (Sunyata and Karuna).

I benefited tremendously from the simple directness of Zen Buddhism, which is, in my opinion, the greatest of all the Mahayana schools.  True wisdom is simple and full of lightness and humor.  Zen embodies it.  Just be.  Enlightenment is the perfection of just being.  Zen is my no-self-ness (无我).  This is the soul of my practice.  The soul of my practice is.  Just is.

Hence, I belong to all 3 major schools of Buddhism.  At the same time, I belong to none of them.  My true Dharma is the Hahayana.  Ha ha.

Have Your Karma and Eat Cake Too

Letting go is one of the most important skills a meditator picks up on her way to enlightenment. Letting go is so important it is one of the essential foundations of meditation practice. As usual, the Zen tradition has the funniest way of articulating this key insight. In the words of the Third Patriarch of Zen, "The Great Way is without difficulty, just cease having preferences". When the mind becomes so free that it is capable of letting go of preferences, the Great Way is no longer difficult.

The central importance of letting go leads to a very important question, "Is it possible to let go and still appreciate and experience life fully?" The way I like to ask the question is, "Can you have your karma and eat cake too?"

Meng at Wisdom 2.0

I gave a talk and participated in a panel at the first Wisdom 2.0 Conference in 2010.  Here are the videos:

Talk: http://vimeo.com/12161470

meng tan from Wisdom 2.0 Conference on Vimeo.

Panel: http://vimeo.com/12155567

conscious business panel from Wisdom 2.0 Conference on Vimeo.

Zen and a Walking Baby

One of the best analogies I have ever come across for meditation practice is a baby learning to walk.

Funny Thought: Humor can help you get lazy

Sometimes, you can get away with being lazy just by being funny.

Example 1:

Boss came into my office looking all flustered.  He looked at me with a face full of tension and said, "Meng, I need you to give me a hand".  I said, "Sure".  Then I stared blankly at him and clapped for a few seconds.  He laughed and left my office.  I didn't even have to do any extra work.


Example 2:

Daughter wanted to race me up the stairs.  I didn't want to.  She got in a "ready" position and asked, "Race?".  I said, "Chinese".  I didn't have to run.

The Daddy Lama

I've been invited to become a senior adviser to a tech company.  They also invited me to choose a title for myself.  I like funny titles (unfortunately, "Jolly Good Fellow" is already taken by one very good-looking guy in Google).  I also like the idea of being regarded as wise and compassionate, but not actually do very much beyond saying wise and funny things and meeting famous people.  Yes, sort of like being the Dalai Lama, except much lazier.

Given that context, I asked my daughter what a good title would be, and she said, "Daddy Lama".

I may actually use that title, His Happiness the Daddy Lama.

Random Thoughts

Couple of random thoughts that came up over the past few weeks.

Quiet Mind
In giving up, I find.
In letting go, I gain.
In just being, I become.
In my silence, hear me roar.
In this void, is Dharma.


The Lazy Bodhisattva
With great compassion, aspire daily to save the world.
But don't actually put in any real effort.
Just do whatever comes most naturally to you.
Because when aspiration and compassion become strong,
Whatever comes most naturally is also the right thing to do.
Thus you, the bodhisattva, saves the world without effort.


Life, Yum
A Bodhisattva's great sorrow is like his salt,
His deep pain like bitter vegetables,
His naughty pleasures like a greasy hotdog,
All encompassed by the sourdough of profound peace.
Delicious and nourishing is the life of compassion.
Mindfully consumed.

Funny Thought: Buffet with the Dalai Lama

Last Sunday (16 May 2010), I may have had one of the coolest tweets in the world.  My tweet was:

Stood right behind Dalai Lama at buffet line!

Funny Thought: Product ideas of the day

Product idea 1: A program you can install on your computer that locks up the computer every now and then, and the only way to unlock it is to smile at the webcam.  That way, you'll smile at least a few times a day.

Product idea 2: Competitive smiling.  Your laptop's webcam monitors your face for smiles, records the total amount of time you smiled each day and sends that data to a website, so that you can compete with your friends from all over the world.  World's longest-duration smiler wins the Dalai Lama Award, unless you are actually the Dalai Lama, in which case, you'll win the Happy Llama Award.

Product idea 3: Instant water.  Just add water!

Funny Thought: Luke at the restaurant

(Silly joke that my young daughter and I came up with)

Luke and his daddy were in a restaurant.  Luke tried to pick up his food using his hands.  Daddy said slowly and deliberately, "Use the Fork, Luke".

Luke protested, asking, "Why do you keep telling me what to do?"

And daddy answered, with a deliberately deep voice, "Luke, I am your father"