rtha Gautama, the Buddha, and second, a few central concepts shared by all variants of Buddhism. These are the Four Noble Truths, Nonself (Anatta), and meditation or mindfulness.The Noble Truths of Steve Jobs
SHAWN E. KLEIN AND DANIELLE FUNDORA
Steve Jobs first got interested in Buddhism and other forms of Eastern spirituality when he was an undergraduate at Reed College. Like so many college students in the early 1970s, Jobs took acid and meditated in a pseudo-spiritual search for fulfilment and enlightenment (Steve Jobs, p. 41). This pseudo-spirituality took root, however, and Jobs’s interest in meditation and enlightenment grew more serious. He and his college friends regularly attended a local Zen center and even set up a meditation room in their attic (p. 40).
A few years later when he was working for Atari, Jobs convinced his boss first to send him to Europe on business and then from there he made his way to India to start a spiritual journey and search out enlightenment. While in India, he came across Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi and read it several times. He continued to re-read it annually (p. 51). The seven-month adventure didn’t end with his enlightenment but it did have a long-lasting effect on his life and his work.
Some of Jobs’s critics argue that he was not a real Buddhist. Buddhists are supposed to be calm, level-headed, and compassionate. They aren’t supposed to be intense billionaire CEOs famous for temper tantrums and interpersonal cruelty. A true Buddhist, the critics claim, would be free of anxiety, supremely joyful, and always compassionate. These are not the ways Jobs is characterized by his friends and biographers. Buddhism teaches that suffering is rooted in “thirst” and that wisdom and enlightenment come from the cessation of this drive (What the Buddha Taught, pp. 29, 34). Can the man who ended his famous Stanford Commencement speech advising the students to “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish” be a Buddhist? Buddhism counsels the Middle Path, avoiding the extremes of hedonism and asceticism (p. 35). Jobs, given his various obsessions with not bathing, fasting, and carrots-only diets, doesn’t typically strike us as finding the moderate path between extremes.
We’re not trying to justify the claim that Steve Jobs was a true Buddhist. First, such a justification is impossible and unfair: it’s not our place to judge Jobs’s inner commitment and devotion to these ideals. We’re in no position to know what we would need to know to make such judgments so it would be unfair to try.
Second, a litmus test of the “true Buddhist” seems contrary to the heart of Buddhism. Unlike most Western views of religion, Buddhism is more about a set of practices then professed faith in specific theological claims. There are no initiation ceremonies or tests of creed: “If one understands the Buddha’s teaching, and if one is convinced that his teaching is the right Path and if one tries to follow it, then one is a Buddhist” (p. 80). To be a Buddhist doesn’t mean that you have achieved enlightenment. It’s to be on a path, as understood and taught by Buddhism, to enlightenment. Steve Jobs might have misunderstood or misapplied what he learned about Buddhism, but he also might just have been on his path, with much ground still to travel.
Basics of Buddhism
There’s no single version of Buddhism. After millennia of spreading and evolving, there are many varieties. What ties all of them together is, first, the connection to the teachings of Siddrtha Gautama, the Buddha, and second, a few central concepts shared by all variants of Buddhism. These are the Four Noble Truths, Nonself (Anatta), and meditation or mindfulness.
The First Noble Truth concerns the existence of suffering (dukkha). We all suffer in some way. In an effort to show that everything on Earth is suffering, students of the Buddha have argued that there are three kinds of suffering. The first kind is “the suffering of suffering” (dukkha dukkhata) (Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, p. 19). This kind of suffering is associated with unpleasant sensations such as physical and emotional pain. The Buddhist philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh places the pain of a toothache, losing your temper, and feeling too cold on a winter’s day into this category.
The second type is “the suffering of composite things” (samskara dukkhata). In this world, things decay. Rocks, soil, and mountains erode. Plants and animals die; and food spoils. Eventually everything that is brought together will fall apart in decay which in turn causes suffering.
The third type of suffering is “the suffering associated with change” (viparinama dukkhata). All things in life are changing. Our health changes as we endure infections and viruses. Our bodies change as we grow older. The weather varies from sunshine to cloudy to snow flurries. Such change can lead us to suffering as much as it does when we catch a cold and experience the suffering of a sore throat.
It is easy to see how nearly all of earthly life can fall into one or more of these three categories and this suggests that everything is suffering. While some Buddhists try to prove that all things are suffering, Hanh suggests, instead, that the First Noble Truth requires us to “recognize and identify our specific suffering” (p. 23).
Dukkha, then, should not be understood simply as a claim that all there is to life is suffering or that Buddhism is a pessimistic view of the world. As the above categorizations show, the word has wider connotations than simply pain. It suggests “imperfection, impermanence, emptiness, insubstantiality” (What the Buddha Taught, p. 17). It is a reminder that one’s life and this world are finite. Although this realization can be sad or discomforting, it is not a pessimistic view; it is a realistic and objective view of existence. It is also one that is potentially liberating. Steve Jobs seems to recognize this in his famous Stanford Commencement speech:
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering. It is, at its core, about recognizing the root cause of suffering so that we can learn to liberate ourselves from it. Once we understand the nature of our suffering, we must discover the cause. That is, what spiritual and physical “foods” are creating this suffering so that we may stop ingesting them.
The Buddha identified four sources of suffering: food, sense impressions, intention, and consciousness. While these can bring happiness to our lives, they can also lead to suffering (Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, p. 31). The first source, food, brings suffering when we do not eat mindfully. Hanh argues that we must learn to eat in a way that the health of our body and spirit is maintained. For example, he advises that we ought not smoke or drink as they are toxic for our bodies (p. 32).
Sense impressions, the second source, can be toxic when they lead us to crave toxic possessions and behavior. As Hanh points out, advertisements might create in us a want for toxic things, such as alcohol. Additionally, sense impressions can lead us to experience unpleasant emotions. Television and movies contain violent and sexual images that can create feelings of lust, anger, or fear (pp. 32–33).
The third source the Buddha identifies is intention. By intention, Hanh says that the Buddha meant “the desire in us to obtain whatever it is we want.” While desire can lead us to some happiness, it can also be a potential obstacle to our happiness by leading to unhealthy senses of status, revenge, wealth, or fame. Rather, Hanh counsels that we ought to enjoy the wonders of life all around us: the beauties of nature or the love of family.
The fourth source of suffering is consciousness. When we engage in actions, thoughts, feelings, or behavior that are toxic, our consciousness can suffer from things such as fear, hatred, ignorance, or pride. Thus, we must be mindful of what our consciousness is digesting.
Once we understand the source of our suffering, the Third Noble Truth is the recognition that we can stop engaging in the suffering-causing activities and achieve peace and happiness. The claim here is that if we learn to stop the desire or drive that is the cause of suffering, then we can end the suffering. This existence liberated from suffering and the thirst that leads to suffering is what is commonly called Nirvna (What the Buddha Taught, pp. 35–37). Though Nirvna has been understood in many ways, its core idea is an existence devoid of suffering and direct awareness of ultimate truth (p. 40).
Once we accept the possibility of ending suffering, we’re ready to walk the path set out in the Fourth Noble Truths: the Eightfold Path. The path is a prescription for how to remove suffering from our lives and walk a path to Enlightenment. The Eightfold Path is a “Middle Path” between the extremes of pursuing happiness via pleasure and sensation and of seeking happiness through “self-mortification in different forms of asceticism.” It includes adopting the following principles to guide your actions and lead them towards the realization of an enlightened life: Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
Anatta
In addition to the Four Noble Truths, we have to understand another key component of Buddhism, the concept of Nonself (Anatta). At its core, Nonself is a metaphysical doctrine about the existence of the self. It’s a rejection of the idea, common in Western philosophy, that the self is an unchanging substance. Western religions call it a soul. Western philosophers, like René Descartes in his Meditations, refer to it as the thinking thing.
The Buddhist view is that individuals are composed of constantly changing mental and physical aspects, known as the Five Aggregates. The Buddhist view of personal identity is similar to David Hume’s: there is no single thing we can identify as the self. We are a bundle of perceptions and sensations.
One way to understand Anatta is that all things in this world are interconnected. We’re composed of different elements that are in flux. As you sit reading this, different elements have both entered and left your being which in turn enter and leave other beings that surround you. For example, if you’re in a good mood that mood can spread to people you talk to or engage with. Likewise, a hostile or angry mood can create a hostile or angry environment for those around you.
Because of this interconnectivity, Buddhism teaches that we ought not to think of ourselves as single, separate individuals. Rather, everything functions as one being with the ability for all parts, objects, and living beings to affect each other. Such a worldview aids in our understanding of eliminating suffering for others. If you walk the Eightfold Path, your happiness increases, which in turn increases the happiness of everyone and everything else (Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, pp. 133–36).
Meditation
One last essential component of Buddhism is meditation. Buddhist meditation has two aspects: vipashyana and shamantha. Vipashyana, “looking deeply” tends to be emphasized over shamantha, “stopping”, as the former is a path to realization that aids in our understanding of ending suffering. However, shamantha is also important because as Hanh points out, “If we cannot stop, we cannot have insight.” In order to entertain new ideas and new behaviors, we must be willing to stop our old habits and old thought-patterns.
Buddhist meditation practice is sometimes misunderstood as something that is an escape from life or an ascetic practice cut off from the rest of living. Buddhist scholar Walpola Rahula emphasizes the idea that mindfulness in all activities of your life is essential for the Buddhist. It’s important “to be aware and mindful of whatever you do, physically or verbally, during the daily routine of work in your life, private, public or professional.”
Meditation or mindfulness is both inherently spiritual and profoundly practical. It develops powers of concentration and focus that are useful for everyday living and essential for understanding the true nature of reality. The focus on the present moment and action helps to reduce anxiety and stress, while also putting your past and future into proper perspective. By clearing your mind of distractions you’re better able to see things as they are and to develop an attitude of observation rather than judgment. Meditation allows you to become more of a scientist, rather than a critic, of your own world and emotions. The constant self-judging that we tend to engage in is the source of much anxiety and inner strife. There’s a time and place for self-evaluation, but awareness and acceptance are basic and important steps for inner peace and understanding.
Jobs and Buddhism
There are many ways that Steve Jobs seems to fall short of Buddhist ideals. Part of the Noble Eightfold Path are proscriptions against telling lies, speaking rudely or maliciously, or otherwise engaging in talk that could inspire hatred and disharmony. Many former employees and friends report instances of Jobs engaging in these dishonorable ways of acting. And seemingly contrary to the Middle Path, Jobs was often strident and unbending in his demands of both friends and employees. His infamous “reality distortion field,” in which he seemed to bend people and reality to his will, also seems inconsistent with the Buddhist focus on seeking out the truth.
Nevertheless, these failings do not disqualify Jobs from being a Buddhist. Rather, they highlight the complex nature of Jobs’s personality and his life-long journey towards enlightenment. In what follows, we explore some of the ways that Buddhism may have influenced Jobs.
Simplicity and Apple Aesthetics
Jobs’s aesthetic style was minimalistic and simple and he frequently pointed to Japanese Zen Buddhism as his inspiration (Steve Jobs, p. 128). Buddhist art is often minimalistic. Take, for example, the haiku, a very short poetry form developed in Japan. These poems strip out all features but the basic experience or moment that the poet is trying to capture.
Jobs’s interest in modernist architecture was surely a part of his interest in simple, minimalistic design. But we can also see Buddhism’s focus on letting go of attachments as playing a role here as well. Jobs’s approach was to strip away all the unnecessary features and elements of a product. The goal was to get to the essence of the product by continually removing inessential aspects and simplifying it.
Meditation and the focus on the present moment clears the mind of distractions and excess thoughts that more often than not inhibit rather than help. By removing these excess thoughts one is able to focus on the present moment and to see what it is truly important. This in part explains the minimalistic aesthetics of Zen Buddhism and of Steve Jobs. In his drive to perfect his products, he strove to remove the excess in the product. This left only the pure essence of the product.
The User Experience
Apple is best known for creating products that are easy to use. They user-friendly regardless of the users’ technological background or comfort with technology. This comes out of Jobs’s commitment to simplifying. We’ve seen that there was an aesthetic component to this simplifying, but this was also integrated with a concern about the user’s experience. Jobs wanted users to be able to employ Apple products easily and to quickly find what they needed. He wanted the experience to be natural and intuitive. Isaacson reports on the development of the iPod: “If he wanted a song or a function, he should be able to get there in three clicks. And the click should be intuitive” (p. 388).
Jobs wanted users to feel naturally connected to the product. We can see how this ideal relates to Buddhism. Meditation is about awareness in the present moment. But a bad user experience takes you out of the moment. You have to think about what you’re doing rather than doing it. This self-consciousness draws you out of the task you were doing or the moment you were enjoying, such as working on a writing project or listening to a song. Simple, intuitive interfaces allow you to use the product naturally and without thinking about what you have to do. Stripping away the excess and focusing on the process of how people actually use the technology allowed Apple to develop some of the most user-friendly products in the computer industry.
Art and Technology Combined
Jobs always saw Apple and his career as sitting at the intersection of the humanities and science:
We believe that it’s technology married with the humanities that yields us the result that makes our heart sing. (Steve Jobs, p. 527)
Jobs was critical of Microsoft and other high-tech companies for forgetting or being seemingly unconcerned with the humanities and the arts. Jobs, from a young age, was interested in technology and the humanities. He showed a deep curiosity with the technology that was being created in Silicon Valley where he lived. But unlike many of his technology peers (such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Microsoft’s Bill Gates), Jobs was not only interested in computers. While at Reed College, he sat in on classes on calligraphy and began his study of Buddhism.
The Buddhist view of the mind doesn’t fit neatly into traditional Western categories. Consciousness, according to Buddhism, arises out of certain conditions. That is, visual consciousness arises out of the conditions of the eye and visible forms (What the Buddha Taught, p. 24). Nevertheless, it does not seem correct to say that Buddhism is some kind of materialist or physicalist view. Mental consciousness arises out of ideas and thoughts—things not sensed or perceived by our sense organs (p. 21).
What we can say is that Buddhism is non-dualist. It doesn’t oppose mind to matter. It doesn’t privilege one or the other. Similarly, Jobs always tried to bring both the arts and technology together. He didn’t see one as more important or essential than the other: they shouldn’t be separated.
In this integration of the arts and technology, we can see further evidence of Buddhist influence. Too often people segregate themselves as either artsy or a science geek. As teachers, we hear students say they don’t want to take science or math classes because they prefer poetry or music. Conversely, we have pre-med students who see little value in putting effort into Shakespeare’s Sonnets. For Jobs, life wasn’t about just art or just technology. One was not to be privileged over the other: we should strive for the Middle Path. The best products (and by extension the best life) come out of bringing these together. You can’t just be an artist or just be an engineer. To be truly great you must be both—that is, you have to bring together the arts, humanities, science, and technology: “some of the best people working on the original Mac were poets and musicians on the side. . . . Great artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were also great at science” (Steve Jobs, p. 568).
We see the same middle path at Pixar—a company Jobs helped to get off the ground and achieve success. Pixar has had hit animated movie after hit animated movie. But the company’s success is not primarily due to its innovative technology. It is this technology integrated with a deep sense of what makes great story-telling. A great story without the technological medium that Pixar provides wouldn’t be able to be seen and enjoyed by the millions who love Cars or Toy Story. But amazing graphics and animation devoid of the art of story-telling would quickly be uninteresting and boring.
Jobs always trudged a path all his own. He strove to stay true to his vision—often at great personal and professional cost. His refusal to use market research and his determination instead to rely on his own sense of what would be a good product is legendary. The famous Apple marketing campaign “Think Different” was a homage to self-reliant individualists who strove to follow their own vision—a group in which Jobs no doubt included himself. It celebrated “The crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently” (p. 329). Jobs seemed to embody and strive for a kind of authenticity and self-reliance that might at first seem at odds with Buddhism.
Like most philosophies, Buddhism is interested in discovering and teaching The Truth. “What is essential is seeing the thing, understanding it” (What the Buddha Taught, p. 6). The Buddha acknowledged that the truth is often difficult to see and harder to accept (p. 52). According to Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path and meditation practices are the main ways that we can come to see and accept truth. Rahula tells us that the Buddha explained the Noble Eightfold Path “in different ways and in different words to different people, according to the stage of their development and their capacity to understand and follow him” (p. 45). The path to truth and enlightenment is not a singular or absolute one. It is unique and relative to the needs and capacities of each individual.
This leads us to meditation and mindfulness. Mediation makes you more aware of the present moment and the emotions and feelings that you experience. It does so in a way that is (ideally) free from criticism or judgment. It is just a matter of acceptance of the reality of these emotions. Instead of experiencing the feeling as my feeling (my sadness), it becomes a feeling (sadness) (p. 73). This detachment frees you to better understand yourself and to see things as they are. Through consistent mindfulness you can discover the path that best fits your needs and capacities. Thus, as Joshua Guilar and Karen Neudorf tell us, Buddhism calls for a kind of authenticity and self-reliance. As a Buddhist you must be true to yourself.
But since Buddhism teaches that there is no self, in what sense is there any reason to discover who you truly are and what your capacities are? How can you be true to yourself when there is no self?
While Buddhism teaches that there is no metaphysical soul or self, it still teaches that you have to take care of yourself (What the Buddha Taught, p. 60). The impermanent, composite self does exist and it is part of the Four Noble Truths to recognize this. Buddhism teaches that you should live within your means. You should take care to develop your skills and talents and work diligently. Individuals ought to develop and progress both spiritually and materially—and moreover, these go together. Material progress without moral and spiritual growth is meaningless and misdirected and there can be no moral and spiritual development without economic well-being (pp. 83–84). So rather than being inconsistent with Buddhism, the authenticity and self-reliance that Jobs embodied is deeply connected to his Buddhism.
Buddhist Icon?
Steve Jobs may not have been the ideal image of a Buddhist. As we’ve seen, there were many ways that Jobs seemed to fall short of the teaching of Buddhism. Nevertheless, the ideas and practices of Buddhism clearly had a life-long effect on his life, his work, and his companies.
In some ways, though, Jobs might even be the best symbol for Buddhism. Buddhism is a worldview for human beings—not for perfect beings. It is a guide for all of us who, like Jobs, are complex beings driven by many passions and drives. We, like Jobs, struggle with these passions and sometimes fall short of living up to our professed ideals. What we can learn from Jobs and Buddhism is to stay true to ourselves and to keep trekking on our path. We may not ever reach Enlightenment, but part of what Buddhism teaches is that the path is what matters (p. 81).
Enlightenment may come or it may not, but stay true to the right path and you’ll be living the best life you can live.