About My Zen Path
In a single sentence, My Zen path is simply My Own Path. Besides its contemporary, colloquial connotations and ongoing trend of using Zen for anything and everything, this is what Bodhidharma had to say about Zen –
Zen:
Not dependent on the written word,
Transmission apart from the scriptures;
Directly pointing at one’s heart,
Seeing one’s nature, becoming Buddha.Excerpts from: What is Zen?
As the last two lines suggest, Zen can also be interpreted as becoming fully aware of your original nature, your real being. Keeping that in mind, My Zen Path becomes My Own Path, that is the path of my original nature, path of my being and my way of living!
So when I do something in harmony with my original nature, I follow my own path, which is essentially My Zen Path!
My Zen Path features interesting ideas about self-exploration, purposeful work, meaningful life and stories of individuals who personify these. It is for all those who wish to follow their own path, including those who haven’t yet figured out their own path! 🙂 You can find several articles, personality assessments (psychometric tests) and videos related to self discovery, self-actualization and inspiring people here.
About Manish
My name is Manish Hatwalne and I am based in Pune, India. I write most of the stuff that you’d read here. I’ve been a software professional for more than 20 years, but it is rather difficult to identify myself with a single professional identity now. I am a curious soul that enjoys several pursuits – writing, studying psychology, facilitation, travelling, films, food, designing products/systems, building prototypes and so on. I happen to be an INFJ, and a Renaissance Soul(or multipotentialite) – and that kind of explains all that exploring.
I am a Certified Occupational Testing Professional and accredited professional member of Indian Institute of Business Psychology (IIBP). I am also a Certified Psychometric Test Professional (CPTP) from Middle Earth HR.
My story
I have been working as a software professional since 1999, and more as a consulting technical architect of late. I took a sabbatical in 2014 to slow up, to pursue my other interests more actively; and I have plenty of them. I explored quite a few options for self-discovery, read about self-actualization, met some interesting people, travelled in the Himalayas, completed applied Buddhist Psychology course, did another course in Science Of Happiness and learnt more about positive psychology there. One fond memory from that year is my Head2Heart retreat at Deer Park, Bir where I had some memorable experiences. Another crucial interaction that I cherish from this journey is the one I had with my mentor-friend Sachin Chavan. I discovered and learnt a lot about myself in this sabbatical and I continue to draw insights from that journey.
During my own self-exploration I used several psychometric inventories, few other insightful resources that I shared with some of my friends and they found them quite helpful. I also gave a talk called ‘What Do I Really Want To Do?’ at ThoughtWorks, Pune (India) in Feb 2015. I realized that many of my friends and people from the audience resonated with my thoughts and were curious about my own self-exploration. The talk was then followed by 7 blog posts series: Journey Of Self Exploration that became quite popular.
What I had thought of as a deeply personal journey turned out be a nascent need of many other professionals. It doesn’t matter whether you know Maslow’s hierarchy, self-actualization and all that jargon; aligning your work with your original nature, your own being is a bliss that everyone could benefit from. And that’s the reason for My Zen Path and my work around it.
Since its launch in Nov 2015, I am writing articles, stories here that would encourage all of us to rethink our work and life – for individuals as well as within the organizational work culture. I believe the resources here would be useful for individuals keen on their own self-exploration, self-actualization as well as for organizations looking for talent management insights.
My experiments here
This is what I offer through My Zen Path as it continues to evolve –
- I enjoy writing articles about various theories, books, inspiring people and my own musings about work and life here on MyZenPath.com. The website also features several TED talks and other videos based on exciting ideas or noteworthy individuals. I use multiple psychometric inventories myself and for my clients, so you can find many resources (inventories, tests etc.) here to gain deeper self-knowledge; such as personality inventories, your strengths, your career interests and so on.
- I facilitate custom workshops for limited audience (such as Young Feet for teenagers) and occasional open workshops that are open for anyone to register. Open workshops are announced on the Events Page, as and when they are scheduled.
- I also like to help people with their self-explorations and career decisions, including career transitions. I strongly believe that you should choose your work (doing) based on who you are (being) and what you really love doing. I have helped few individuals through personal consulting sessions and this work is immensely gratifying for me. My role in these sessions is not as a career counselor, but I am more of a self-exploration facilitator and I love connecting the dots. If you’re interested, contact me for more details.
If you like what My Zen Path is becoming, do share the articles, stories and resources with your friends and on social media. Subscribe to the free monthly newsletter to ensure that you do not miss the latest stories, updates or events.
Leave a comment to let me know what you’d like to see here and I’ll try to include it.
Some reflections…
The journey of self-exploration is lifelong. It is unique for each of us. All you really need is committing yourself to this process of self-exploration as authentically as you can. Purposeful work is extremely fulfilling and intrinsically rewarding. However, this is usually not an easy process as you go deeper into your being, questioning your beliefs and cultural conditioning about life, work and money. You need to unlearn some of what you have been told repeatedly about success and its delusive association with wealth & fame. You need to evolve your own definition of your success. When you know who you are, and what (all) you love to work on, then it is more of a dynamic journey of building your career and lifestyle around your preferences and interests. Currently, I try to choose my work based on what excites me and what energizes me, although it is not always lucrative. 😛
If you’d like to discuss about your own career choices, just drop a line and I’d be happy to help. Happy exploring, experimenting and walking on your own Zen path! 🙂