The Master's Four Hour Work Week *

The speaker --touted in the media as the trendiest motivational life coach of the moment-- sat cross-legged before his disciples as they waited to catch his first words. This was supposed to be a seminar on time management and life changing insight into the quality of living. There were all kinds of people here too-- sales executives, ministers, politicians, CEOs and even some "creative" types and people off the street. But why were we all sitting on the ground? Someone whispered that the guy had taken all the management and how-to knowledge of the past 1,500 years (and possibly of the future, too, if you buy into the spiritual stuff) and distilled it into a few succinct statements that could rearrange your priorities forever. If he wanted us to sit on the ground, that was fine. The speaker lifted his hand and the buzzing died down.

*******

"Point No. 1," said the speaker, gazing at his audience. "Swear not."

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There was silence for a full 30 seconds. What the ... is that it? I hate these 'zen' kind of things speakers do. A hand went up. "What do you mean by swearing?" asked an earnest-looking minister. "I mean, don't promise anything, and you'll never disappoint or be disappointed. Let your yea be yea and leave it at that. Never have a goal. People will understand--in fact they'll thank you for it, they'll be free of expectations, so will you, and everybody will get more done." There was some nodding, but it was clear no one was really getting it.

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"Point No. 2. Don't lay up treasures here on earth."

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There was furious whispering among the group. A man in a blue sports jacket raised his hand. "I'm pretty sure that would wreck the economy. I mean, the banking industry would crumble and we'd be in a Depression for sure. Maybe if you elaborated a little..."

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"Point No. 3. Take no thought for your life."

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Now there was real buzzing. One elderly gentleman got to his feet and walked away. Finally someone asked, "If we took no thought for our lives, we'd probably never even come to a seminar like this."

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"Now you're getting the idea," the speaker said. "Which brings us to point No. 4. Love your enemies."

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The tension seemed to break and the crowd relaxed. Surely he was joking. Maybe this whole meeting was some kind of reality TV show set-up. A few started looking around for the cameras. A harried looking woman executive motioned to speak. "Sir, I'm sorry, but we expected some direction in how to live. Like... maybe you could evaluate our "lifestyle quotient." I actually brought some notes on what my dream lifestyle might be. Aren't you going to explain about how we need to take a mini-retirement and outsource our lives?"

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"Actually, that was going to be my final teaching today. Point No. 5. Die to yourself."

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The effect was as if he had adjourned the meeting. Several people got up and left. One rich young man protested: "Come on, that's not a mini-vacation, that's a permanent vacation... forever. You can't be serious." "As a heart attack," the Master deadpanned.

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As the space around him emptied, a bird landed on the tree branch to his left. He smiled and thought to himself, "A prophet has no honor in his own country. Must be time to move on."

*An article from the "Wittenburg Door" blog