Expedition: Shamatha

Beat the Market, One Breath at a Time

I've been surprised of late how many people in finance -- and in particular hedge fund managers -- are dedicated meditators.  Makes sense of course.  Trading public securities is about as stressful a job as it gets, and so much of the game is keeping your cool when everyone else in the giant fear-and-greed game isn't.

Here's a good article someone just shared with me from Time Magazine, on a well-known futures trader who claims that "Meditation is my secret weapon."  Companies like Google, Deutsch Bank and Hughes Aircraft are seeing the benefits, and are offering meditation classes to their employees.

Inspiring Alan Wallace Article on Shamatha, in Tricycle Magazine

Alan Wallace just published this article in Tricycle Magazine, in which he outlines the profound implications of shamatha practice for the modern era. It's a great piece. I just returned from Phuket International Academy, which will include long-term retreat cabins and scientific labs, allowing the yogis and the scientists to partner in exciting ways.  The closing paragraphs from the article, with relevance to PIA:

Update from Cliff Saron (Shamatha Project Principal Investigator)

Hi Nick - first study has recently been accepted in Psychological Science, a top, high-impact journal in academic science. The paper describes improvements in perception over the course of the retreat that result in improvements in measures of vigilance during the infamous line task. There will be a press release to coincide with it's epublication - which will be in about 2-3 months. We'll post the paper then to the google site you set up, but you can post this. We're very happy about it - the paper went through 3 rounds of incredibly rigorous peer review.

Another paper is under review. A third nearly done. many more in the pipeline.

hope you guys are well,

warm regards,

Cliff