Russell Simmons - Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple

Life finds its purpose and fulfillment in the expansion of happiness.

MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI

W hy should you meditate?

The answer is very simple: to be happy.

Which is the only reason youre here.

That might sound like a very simple take on the meaning of life, but I believe it with every fiber in my body.

Yes, Im certain that if we were to strip away our egos, desires, fears, and insecurities, all that would be left is happiness.

There are days where it feels like we can almost touch this truth. Days where when we wake up, the sun seems to be shining a little brighter, the birds are singing a little bit louder, and we walk out into the world with a bounce in our step and a song in our heart.

Yet there are also days when we start out feeling nervous about what lies ahead of us, unsure about the situations were about to encounter. Where it could be eighty degrees and sunny out, but we feel like were walking through a cold, dark world.

The purpose of this book is to show you that you can control which of those worlds you live in. You can decide that no matter what is happening around you, the sun will always be shining in your world.

Or you can decide that your world is always going to be a cold, dark place.

The point is, the external world doesnt make that choice.

You do.

Obviously most people would prefer to live in the sunshine. The problem is that they just dont know how to step into it.

Im here to tell you that meditation can take you there. That sitting in silence for twenty minutes can be a tool to wash away the pain, frustration, and insecurities that have been coloring your existence and allow you to get back to the state of happiness that is your birthright.

The path that I will lay out in this book represents the simplest route between your current state and that happiness. As your guide, I will not lead you on any detours or suggest that we take the more scenic route. No, this is a simple and straightforward guide on how to use the tool of meditation to get the most out of your lifewritten with the authority of someone who has used that very tool every day for the past fifteen years himself.

I want to keep this book very simple and direct in order to help demystify meditation. To clear up any misconceptions or uneasiness that you might have about this ancient practice and help you see that its a valuable and relevant tool in the modern world. Just the fact that youre reading these words means that at the very least youre curious about the practice, but maybe theres still something thats holding you back from committing fully. Maybe you still have a vague sense that theres something foreign or mystical about meditation. Even worse, something ungodly. Or maybe youre still skeptical that it really works. Or maybeand this one always makes me laughyou believe that it could help you, but youre just too busy to meditate.

Ill dive into these misconceptions, and several other ones, over the course of the book, but let me say right here that there is nothing foreign about meditation. In fact, its way more mainstream than you probably realize. Oprah. Jerry Seinfeld. Paul McCartney. Phil Jackson. Ellen DeGeneres. Forest Whitaker. These are all people that you know of and whose success has inspired millions of people. And they all meditate and credit the practice as one of the foundations of their success. Ill be sharing their thoughts on meditation, and the thoughts of many leaders from the arts, business, education, science, and the spiritual communities, throughout the book, because I want you to realize that when you become a meditator, you are joining a community of successful people. A community of people who move through life on their own terms and maximize their potential.

To share an example that really illustrates this point, earlier this year I bumped into Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh of the NBAs Miami Heat at a party Dwyane and Gabrielle Union were hosting in Malibu. It was not long after the Heat had just won their second straight championship, and after I congratulated Dwyane and Chris, we got to talking about practices they could use to stay energized and focused. I told them how much meditation had helped me maintain focus in my career and suggested they give it a try.

You guys should definitely try it, because though you might not realize it, youve already experienced the sort of focus and stillness meditation creates, I told them. You know how when you get out on the court and get in a zone? When it feels like the basket is as big as an ocean and every time you put up a shot, you just know its going to go in? Well, meditation is going to help you get in that zone off the court too. Imagine being able to live in that sort of focus.

They were both incredibly intrigued. Everything we do is about trying to find more precision, more focus when were out on the court, Dwayne said. To figure out how to push ourselves into that zone. Do you really think meditation could help do that?