Bunky Passions

YALE TALK 2015

I AM DEFINING THE GATEWAY TO PASSION AS BEING OUT OF YOUR MIND, 100% IN THE FLOW OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING, IN THE ZONE

THIS IS WHERE WE LEFT OFF 50 YEARS AGO, I WAS ARROGANT AND NAÏVE, TRYING TO FIT IN AND BE THE BEST. SKIING WAS MY PASSION

AFTER HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL AND THE PEACE CORPS I MOVED TO ASPEN, COLORADO FOR MY DREAM JOB, DEVELOPING SNOWMASS, I HAD A CONDO NEAR THE SKI SLOPES, SKIED ON MY LUNCH HOUR, AND

AT 28 LIVING IN THIS PARADISE I WAS DEEPLY UNHAPPY AND THOUGHT “SOMETHING IS MISSING” BUT I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS? THIS SONG WOKE ME UP: “IS THAT ALL THERE IS”, BY PEGGY LEE (SONG)

6 HOURS A DAY OF MEDITATION, FASTING, AND BEING WITH BABA PRODUCED A BIG SHIFT IN ME THAT TOTALLY REDIRECTED MY LIFE (ME WITH SWAMI)

I CAME BACK FROM INDIA SLIGHTLY HOLIER THAN THOU TOOK THE EST TRAINING AND JOINED THE EST STAFF AS A TRAINER IN 1973. OVER THE NEXT 7 YEARS I TRAINED MORE THAN 50,000 PEOPLE AND CREATED THE ADVANCED 6 – DAY COURSE.

(VIDEO)

I DIDN’T REMEMBER HER BUT THIS STUDENT OF THE 6 – DAY WOULD COME BACK INTO MY LIFE 30 YEARS LATER.

WHILE PASSION IS ABOUT BEING OUT OF YOUR MIND, ENLIGHTENMENT IS KNOWING YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND, YOU ARE THE EMPTINESS (THE NO THING NESS) OUT OF WHICH EVERYTHING YOU ARE EXPERIENCING INCLUDING YOUR “PERSONA” ARISES. ENLIGHTENMENT BECAME THE UNDERLYING THEME OF MY LIFE.

ON THE SURFACE I STARTED A RUNNING CLUB TO RAISE MONEY FOR ENDING WORLD HUNGAR AND RAISED $1M THROUGH MY RUNS.

I COMPLETED THE 11OO MILE IDITAROD DOG SLED RACE IN 1980, THIS IS NOME, ALASKA AFTER 21 DAYS

I RAISED A FAMILY, STARTED BUSINESSES, SUCCEEDED AND FAILED, DID TEAM BUILDING FOR FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES.

IN THE EARLY 90’S I FOUND ROWING, A SPORT THAT FIT MY BODY TYPE AND ZEN TEMPERMENT. A PASSION SINCE THEN, I HAVE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT SURRENDER. SURRENDER TO THE COACHING, TO THE FEEDBACK, TO THE DISCIPLINE OF THE TRAINING AND TO BEING WHERE I AM, ONE STROKE AT A TIME.

19, 20, 21, 22 AND I HAVE DONE WELL WINNING MANY NATIONAL TITLES, THE HEAD OF THE CHARLES AND THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

I RECENTLY COUNTED 270 MEDALS, MOST OF THEM FIRSTS, REPRESENTING 350 MILES OF RACING!

IN 2004 I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK ABOUT WHAT I WANTED TO PASS ONTO MY CHILDREN. BUT THE AREA OF RELATIONSHIPS STILL ILLUDED ME – TWO DIVORCES, AND MANY SERIAL MONOGOMOUS RELATIONSHIPS.

ALONG COMES DIANE, 30 YEARS LATER, A WRITER TELLING ME SHE COULD HELP ME IMPROVE MY BOOK.

THE STORY OF OUR RELATIONSHIP IS DOCUMENTED FROM BOTH SIDES IN OUR BOOK “FALLING IN LOVE BACKWARDS: AN UNLIKELY TALE OF HAPPILY EVER AFTER”. IT STARTED WITH HER NOT BEING IT, PART OF A LARGER PATTERN OF “THIS ISN’T IT” THAT HAD PLAGUED ME ALL MY LIFE AND ROBBED ME OF THE SATISFACTION AND HAPPINESS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN MINE. DIANE ONCE SAID “YOU’RE 66 YEARS OLD, ARE YOU GOING TO GO TO YOUR GRAVE WITH YOUR FANTASIES OF THE PERFECT WOMAN? I’M REAL AND I’M HERE AND I WILL STAND UP TO YOU WHEN YOU ARE BEING A JERK, LIKE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW.”

DIANE IS MY ANGEL AND OUR LIFE HAS ONLY GOTTEN BETTER AND BETTER FROM THAT ROCKY START. THIS IS OUR WEDDING DAY.

MY LAST BOOK. THE AWAKENED RELATIONSHIP IS MY SHARING WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED AND DISCOVERED AND DEFINES A PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT USING YOUR INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP AS THE VEHICLE. IF YOU GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL, I WILL SEND YOU AN ELECTRONIC COPY AS MY GIFT TO YOU. I AM PLEASED WITH WHAT LIES AHEAD, AS I WILL BE TEACHING MUCH OF THIS MATERIAL IN BALI IN OCTOBER DURING A THREE DAY INTENSIVE AND A 28 DAY YOGA TEACHERS TRAINING. AND I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT TEACHING.

29. IT HAS TAKEN ME MOST OF MY LIFE TO REALIZE THE OBVIOUS, SOMETHING THAT IS AVAILABLE TO EACH OF US ALL THE TIME. “SURRENDERING TO THIS MOMENT: BEING HERE NOW, IS THE ONLY PLACE WE WILL FIND EVERYTHING WE ALWAYS WANTED: HAPPINESS, JOY, SATISFACTION AND PEACE.

MAY YOUR LIVES BE FILLED WITH THOSE EXPERIENCES.

NAMASTE AND THANK YOU.