THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS & BUSINESS OF IDEAS

The first truth was the inevitability that all life is suffering. But by suffering it does not just mean illness and old age only, but the persistent disappointments and insecurities of life. As I work in the business of ideas, we have to go through such setbacks all the time. At times, we have “great idea” which we feel so proud of, but unfortunately, it gets rejected at the very beginning or by the market. The second truth was suffering is caused by craving. Suffering happens because we have expectations. We expect a great admiration when we went with that “great idea”. But, because they know their business challenges or competition better than us, they thought that “idea” we presented might not work well or for that matter will not work at that time in the current context. The third was that, since suffering has a recognizable cause, it could have an end. What he meant is that we suffer because of certain “Cravings” or “Desires”. If we can avoid those “Cravings” or “Desires” which I know is difficult as human, we will never suffer or at least mitigate the suffering. The one-line implication in our business is that “Don’t fall in love with your own idea”. At times, we do that quite often. And that’s a trap because as soon as we fall in love with our own idea, we become close-minded. And our business of ideas is all about being “open-minded”.

But it’s the fourth truth that offered the critical answers what is popularly known as the Noble Eightfold Path to plan our action. Right View (Know the truth), Right Intention (Free your mind of evil), Right Speech (Say nothing that hurts), Right Action (Work for the good), Right Livelihood (Respect life), Right Effort (Resist evil), Right Mindfulness (Control your thoughts) and Right Concentration (Practice meditation). With these practical solutions, Buddha helps us to overcome the “Cravings” or “Desires”. And his greatest gift to the world is that its compassion, empathy and knowing who we truly are that makes the world better place for all of us to live together.

In fact, these unprecedented times have taught us many new lessons and as a communication professional, I strongly feel that “Empathy” is going to play a larger role in the spectrum of brand communication. Going forward, it will be an “empathy” which will help to create that salience for the brand. And if you see all the good works (that we happily share in our social media), most of them are inspired by thought of “Empathy” towards their core target group so they very well connect to their pain points and relate to their life journey. #Brandsutra

Disclaimer: I am not trying to influence anybody with my religious belief or any other belief I have. This is purely from the context to share my own personal viewpoints with my own personal interpretation and have nothing to do with organization I work with. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer