
-D spoke of the importance of using stories as teaching tools--we remember stories much better than we do a didactic, lecture-style teaching.

-D told a story about the Sufi poet, Hafez, and the emperor, Tamerlane. The story is set in middle-age Persia. Hafez is brought before Tamerlane so that he can be questioned about a poem that he had written. In the poem, Hafez speaks of giving away Persian lands--which were Tamerlane's, not Hafez's--for the mole on the skin of a beautiful woman. Tamerlane questioned: "Are you he who was so bold as to offer my two great cities Samarkand and Bokhara for a black mole on thy mistress's cheek?" "Yes", replied Hafez, "and it is by such acts of generosity that I have brought myself to such a state of destitution that I have now to solicit your bounty." Another version has Hafez speaking: "Your meanness wins out over my generosity." (I don't have the exact version that D told.)

-The idea is that Hafez leaves the encounter with the power. He enters the encounter with a very high possibility of being beheaded, which was a very common fate for those brought before the emperor in similar circumstances (disagreement with the emperor). By the end of the encounter Hafez has the power because he's not wedded to the idea of being "right." Had he tried to be right, he would have lost his life. 

-Being right and having power are two very different things. Power comes from not having to be right. When we let go of having to be right, we increase our personal power (the power of our lives). 

-D asks us to increase awareness of those areas and circumstances in our lives where we cling to being right. Notice the consequences on relationships and the power of our lives when we cling to being right.

-Question: "How do we maintain a state of creativity in our lives, like DaVinci did?" We maintain creativity when we get over our intolerance for failure. People who achieve greatly also fail, but they're not afraid to fail, which opens up their lives to great success. D then spoke of a number of artists and authors who didn't achieve fame in their lifetimes, but they did what they wanted to do--above all else. 

-Be selfish first. Do what you want, then take care of others. We are too nice. We care too much of what others think too much of social convention (that we always have to be nice). Do what you love, not what you think you should do. Be careful of the roles that we play--wife, father, employee, employer, etc. Examine whether we are doing what we love or doing what we think we should do. If we're just doing what we think we should do, how happy are we? Ask ourselves: "Which enterprise makes us feel most like ourselves?" Do what makes us feel most like ourselves.

-Ask ourselves: "Who am I?" "What is my essence?" "Who told me I couldn't be me?" "What am I afraid of?"

-Get over the idea of leaving a legacy. Just lead a positive life, you're not going to leave a legacy. Even someone like Mozart, one of the greatest composers of all time, has very little bearing on our lives. D enjoys Motzart and even so, how much time will D spend with Mozart's music in his lifetime? Maybe 10 hours. Not a big deal. So, we should get over this idea of leaving a legacy, that we have to live lives that are "significant." We are travelers here.

-When we let go of leaving a legacy, we liberate ourselves to be who we want to be--not who we think we should be. Be like the flowers on the hill; we are fine to simply come and go in this world.

- It's not too late to have a second life, a second childhood. Live the life you love. 
