Climbing Maya

What is success? What does it mean? How is it that we all look for this thing we call “success,” while each having our own idea about what it could be? Is there one definition for success? And why does the dictionary get it wrong? Find out in Climbing Maya.

Each person must find success on their own, of course. It’s either that or remain unfulfilled. Nobody tells us what it is or how to find it or even what to look for; we’re just told that it’s what we’re supposed to be. Common ideas about success include money, fame, power, and belongings – but those are all ultimately meaningless in the face of mortality.

As it turns out, “success” isn’t a thing we acquire or a place where we go. It’s not a job or a family or any one thing. It is all of these things, and when you find what they all have in common the way to success opens before you.

Success casts its great shadow, like the shadow of some unscalable mountain, across our lives. We know it’s “up there.” But what does it mean to go “up there?” Where is the map that shows us the way?

Climbing Maya was my way of finding the answer to this question of success, my way of defining the term and laying out a map to the goal. As a philosophical memoir, Climbing Maya exposes the reader to ideas about success in the works of Plato and Aristotle, Optimality Theory and Buddhism, Kundalini Yoga, Maslow, and much more as I search for the final answer.

Because success, as it turns out, is not about being rich or having it all. It’s about finding that place in your life where you can breathe free, understand yourself, and take that next step towards becoming who you want to be.