Zen and The Art of Trading

If any of you are interested in meditation please visit the following website. You can register for a 10 day silent meditation course. It is free. They ask for a donation after the 10 day course. Some gave a donation some did not. I took a course in the Midwest. They have meditation centers throughout the world. I have taken meditation courses with many different groups and this is the real deal. They do not care what religion you are. Conversion is not discussed. They are just teaching the technique of meditation.

http://www.dhamma.org/
 
Quote from MajorUrsa:

This might be an interesting pointer. Did you actually gain something from reading this book?
(1-click order was faster than me this time :-). Hope I won't regret it).

Ursa..
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Hi Ursa,

In case you ever run into fuzziness and blackboxes from the newer materials, see if going back to the traditional source helps. You don't have to ever be a Buddhist to study this stuff. It was written for everybody. It might take more time to dig through it to find what you want, but it's worth the time and it becomes yours. I am from the East but grew up going to a Catholic school as a kid, it took me three years to understand the real difference between Buddhism and Christianity. It wasn't from all those books. It just clicked all the sudden when one of my teachers talked about the basic refuge vow for the n-teenth time. Now thinking back, I spent three years acting like a Buddhist but I didn't even know what it stands for.

A modern author I like is Thrangu Rinpoche. Thanks.
 
Quote from MajorUrsa:

This might be an interesting pointer. Did you actually gain something from reading this book?
(1-click order was faster than me this time :-). Hope I won't regret it).

Ursa..
More...
yes it is a wonderful pointer. lol
i like this question
because i get to answer like this
it's not so much something one "gains" (as if cramming your brain with more information) it's more like the book is a "pointer" to practices to let go of your disturbances... (non-stillness?:))

i like the story of how michaelangelo was asked how he could sculpt such a magnificent "david".... he said something like he was already in there he just "released" it from the stone by chipping away the excess. so some people like to use it for an analogy that your "true self" is already in you, just let go of what is "not you" (excess)


"the power of now" by eckhart tolle
"i am that" by nisargadatta maharaj
well, both of these books are highly recommended by me i'm just a reader i don't get paid by you buying these
if you "need another pointer" i hear ramana maharshi is a nice fellow http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1878019007/104-4408286-6865521?v=glance

oops i agree with martys about turning this into a buddhism/self-realization thread vs. trading.... yes perhaps we can steer back... of course i've found some of these "practices" helpful in my trading, to keep calm, relaxed as opposed to the heart attack. of course, as said by others, by living to see another day, the profits take care of themselves.
 
Quote from darkhorse:

I wonder how many of these issues can be at least partially addressed by answering the question, "why do I trade." I mean really, thoroughly answering it, getting down to the core.

No journey quite like self discovery...
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Thanks again. Marty Schwartz has a checklist item:
"Do I really want to have this position? Do I really want to win with this?" I am going to put yours on my checklist.
 
"POKER RULE#7: Regard patience as a central pillar of your game and strategy... Don't assign it a secondary or lesser role..."

Mark Weinstein interviewed in Market Wizards by Jack Schwager:
"Although the cheetah is the fastest animal in the world and can catch any animal on the plains, it will wait until it is absolutely sure it can catch its prey. It may hide in the bush for a week waiting for just the right moment. It will wait for a baby antelope, and not just any baby antelope, but preferably one that is also sick or lame. Only then, when there is no chance it can lose its prey, does it attack. That, to me, is the epitome of professional trading."

If by any chance that cheetah misses its prey, it doesn't deviate from the plan and starts picking any fight. It sticks with strategies that's been tested for million years of evolution or we won't see that cheetah for long.
 
Quote from darkhorse:

I would suggest the level beyond this is having no desire to act inappropriately- to be so immersed in the moment and the process that time does not exist and thus impatience does not exist.

I think great traders have rituals they enjoy for their own sake- a method and a habit that acts as its own reason for being. When you have this mindset, impatience goes away- whatever is in front of you becomes too engaging to worry about what you aren't doing or could be doing.

The amount of time a trader should be willing to wait for a good trade is infinite, because with the correct mindset the trader isn't actually 'waiting' in the traditional sense; being and experiencing yes, waiting no.
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Beautifully put.
 
I am unaware if I have the means to meditate, and I am certainly unware if I have the inclination. However, using a simple process of self hypnosis, I will frequently put my self in to a trance of 'nothing' for a few minutes to a couple of hours. Is that the same thing?

I saw there was a ten day course on learning to meditate. Wow; ten days!!

I once went and had my aura rebalanced. Anyone else do this?

It was amazing and very frightening.

Try the mind game in whispers on the wind. OOOOH.
 
Thanks et user. That lead to this article which seems to me to be a good way of addressing the fear and discomfort that the less advanced traders such as I feel from time to time. Something to try tomorrow:

Buddha Lessons
 
Quote from Everest:

I am unaware if I have the means to meditate, and I am certainly unware if I have the inclination. However, using a simple process of self hypnosis, I will frequently put my self in to a trance of 'nothing' for a few minutes to a couple of hours. Is that the same thing?

I saw there was a ten day course on learning to meditate. Wow; ten days!!

I once went and had my aura rebalanced. Anyone else do this?

It was amazing and very frightening.

Try the mind game in whispers on the wind. OOOOH.
More...

If there is awareness, then it is meditation. If your mind is not AWARE of what's going on then even if you are meditating in a shrine room, then you are probably not meditating at those time you lost your awareness. The real difficult thing for me in the beginning is having preconceived idea as to what meditation should be. Don't try to tamper your mind into some "fantasized" state of meditation. It is like someone with insomia, trying to will him- or herself falling asleep, it just gonna make the matter worse. The mind will naturally settle into its innate state if you leave it alone. Welcome both all the good thoughts and dirty thoughts, the more the better just as you welcome the stillness. Just leave the thought alone like a tired old man watching the children play, don't get involved, relaxed and be aware of fact that it is the nature of thoughts to dissolve on their own like a snake untieing itself. I think this is probably a good start for tranquility meditation - you don't even have to count breath, just sit straight and relaxed the arms and legs and be naturally aware (not forceful). Also if you have a great meditation session, don't expected that "fantasized" state to come back next time. Move on or you will get stuck because of attachment. Same thing if you have a bad session, it means nothing over the long run. Hope it helps.

Has the self-hypnosis helped your trading? Thanks.
 
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