Between Two Bales of Hay

Not long ago, someone said to me, “I have a few ideas, Swami. They are all very good, but I’m torn about which one I should work on.”

We all have them. Ideas. A book you want to write, that business you want to build, some product you want to launch, and so on. In fact, if there was anything more abundant than human intelligence and ignorance, it would be ideas.

Naturally, I completely empathize with anyone struggling to pick that one perfect idea that might change their life forever. Having said that, there’s a fundamental problem with approaching an idea with that mindset. In fact, when someone tells me (as many have) that they have too many ideas, instead of responding thoughtfully (as I usually do), I could — or perhaps should — have simply said, “Don’t be that ass. Buridan’s ass, to be precise.”

Imagine a happy donkey standing exactly midway between two identical piles of hay. Both stacks look equally appetizing, both equally reachable. The donkey cannot decide which one to eat first. So it stands there… thinking, comparing, calculating. Using this AI model and that. ChatGPT here and Claude there. Leaning left and right. In the meantime, it starves to death.

This, in philosophy, is known as Buridan’s Ass — a cautionary tale about the paralysis of indecision. Now, if you’ve ever felt stuck choosing between two options, you know exactly how the donkey felt. The only difference is, perhaps it didn’t bray about it as much. ¹

It’s an unusual and funny story, but it illustrates something rather common and tragic: sometimes, we spend so long analyzing, debating, and searching for “the best idea” that we end up doing nothing at all. We forget that eating either pile of hay is better than starving in the middle.

The real issue, therefore, is this obsession with finding the best idea, as though there’s a secret lottery ticket hidden among our thoughts and we must somehow pick the winning one. The truth is, most ideas don’t start out looking extraordinary. They become extraordinary only because someone was willing to stay with them long enough. Indeed, ideas evolve as we work on them. Your finished product or the final outcome will rarely be how you started.

The question, then, is not which idea is the best but which idea am I prepared to give the next seven or ten years of my life to? If you stay the course, if you keep chipping away, one day before you know it, you will have created something beautiful that will give you happiness and satisfaction.

No doubt, it is far more joyous to remain committed to an idea if you are passionate about it. But even without the passion, just sheer commitment will see you through. I’ve been writing on this blog for the last 15 years. Long before it got a million views, barely 20 people read it in a month. But I kept writing. Not because I was especially capable or equipped, nor because I carried a passion in writing. I simply cultivated the self-discipline to show up and write. I felt it was my duty to be there for those who sought me. And for someone of my temperament, writing seemed like the perfect way to engage meaningfully — without all the smalltalk. 

A seeker once approached a Zen master, who as part of his monastic discipline, used to make bowls and he had been doing so for three decades.

“Pardon my ignorance,” the seeker said, “but don’t you get bored of making the same bowl everyday?”

“But, I’m not making the same bowl,” the master replied. “I’m making the same bowl better. Each day, the clay teaches me something new. The bowl takes form under my hands, but I take form through making it.”
(“Oh, for heaven’s sake, at least switch to plates after 30 years,” the seeker didn’t say. Just joking.)

Whatever you work on with your heart, mind, and soul will define you forever. Einstein — relativity, Gandhi — non-violence, Steve Jobs — Apple. Think of any person of note, they are known for the idea they pursued. Even Buddha started with the simple idea, “Why do we suffer?”

I’d like to take a passage from Walk The Dragon, where I cite Kentaro Miura’s beautiful quote: “Each man longs to pursue his dream. Each man is tortured by this dream. But the dream gives meaning to his life. Even if the dream ruins his life. Man cannot allow himself to leave it behind.” ²

You don’t need the best idea, you simply need the one you won’t abandon. If you don’t have such an idea, then commit to something, anything. Just show up and work on it day after day. In time, the idea will take hold of you, of your very consciousness, becoming one with you. And when that happens, you will have gained meaning. You will know why you exist. 

That, in truth, is the only reason any idea ever comes to us in the first place: to help us evolve, to lead us closer to our purpose, to guide us toward our truth. The rest is commentary.

Because remember, in the end, it won’t be the idea that changes your life. It will be your devotion to it.

Peace.
Swami