Sometimes one has to be indifferent to the barrage of information these days. Especially when it appears to be so much FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). A lot is simply noise, and not real signal. Whether you are a trader, investor, or simply a consumer on Main Street, there comes a point where you realize that the market, and indeed society as a whole, is filled with so much chatter and trivia. At this point one learns to ignore it like the gossip and village talk that it is.
On any path of life, there are so many opinions and personal insights, yet they are coming from individuals who are all at differing levels of realization. So there are very few blanket statements that apply to one and all. Life should be customized to suit you personally. Your style of trading and investing your energy may be different from another person, since it depends on your psychology.
The rules and tips of trading, called Technical Analysis, are vast and varied, all the way from moving averages and candlesticks, to TD sequentials and Wykoff patterns. But some of it may just end up cluttering your chart. Some prefer a naked chart and simply trade price action. Others use all the indicators that they can to get the data-rich conclusion they require.
The pursuit of consciousness is much the same. There are so many differing schools of thought coming from diverse cultures and different times in history. Even though we are all, as human beings, of the same consciousness, still there are variations of realization on how to express that consciousness and how to upgrade it. And some of these differing applications may even clash. The clash of cultures over who has the right technique of application seems odd when you take a step back or zoom out to get the bigger time frame impression.
It’s usually at a later stage of life, as we grow older, that we may begin to feel saturated with all the trivia and noise that distorts our signal in life, so to speak. We see that the game is rigged, that the 1% at the top – the whales – appear to have 99% of the control over outcomes. We see the decline of morals and ethics, the decay which is unavoidable and we realize that little can be done about it. So we become callous to the noise and simply focus on our goal, more determined than ever.
This degree of indifference to frivolous details helps one to rise above the trivia and keep the goal in sight, like a mountaineer who climbs a higher peak so that they can see above the clouds toward their real goal, further in the distance. The long game is more important than the day to day profit taking. The hodler and investor does better than the day trader when it comes to time management and quality of life because they don’t have to give so much time to their charts and can simply let their investment work for them, while they relax. This is a mature insight.
Young traders like to chase profit and have lots of energy and enthusiasm to pursue daily scalps and profit margins, while also having a greater risk tolerance. And that’s fine, since we are all at different levels with differing natures. Similarly, those who come to the path of consciousness awakening might like to try all the rituals and ceremonies, they may wish to climb the ladder with great enthusiasm, fired up by their new found zealousness and sometimes evangelical fervor.
I remember how enthusiastic I was about bitcoin when I first found it. I wanted to tell the world about this magical internet money. I studied it from dawn to dusk for years, learning TA and trading along with blockchain technology. I was in love. And I wanted everyone to share the miracle and also get rich. But few listened or could comprehend my fervent faith in this miracle. I had seen the light but those I tried to tell about it could not see it or could not take up the torch and light their own way as I had done.
But after a few years, I relaxed and slowed my pace as a day trader and realized that I don’t need to know all the details, or catch every trade, and that I could let the investment work for me passively, since I knew the patterns and cycles of bullish and bearish trends over the four year cycle of the bitcoin halvings which rule the entire cryptocurrency market. Also I gave up bothering to save the world by trying to convince them that bitcoin or crypto was the way to salvation. They didn’t seem interested or were too suspicious and skeptical. I was like a lone voice in the wilderness proclaiming the arrival of the savior, yet it fell on deaf ears.
So I gave up bothering and became indifferent to their struggle for survival. I kept my pearls of wisdom for those who actually asked. Similarly, with my studies of Vedanta and Bhagavad Gita, I felt as if I had found some valuable insights in consciousness and the techniques of yoga that could help anyone achieve enlightenment and liberation. Yet few could see it or take it when I tried to offer these pearls of wisdom. I have become callous to the moral decay and abuse by the 1% on the planet now, and I have become indifferent to the suffering of the herd who seem unable to drink the water when you take them to it. Their loss. I am in bliss, materially and spiritually, so all I can do is be myself and be the example of perfection on all levels, body, mind and spirit soul.
And just like my trading studies in Technical Analysis led me to see that there are so many trivial details that are unimportant, so also my study of the Veda showed me that there too one can find so many details for one’s daily practice, that you could end up losing sight of the actual goal. I mean, if I were to religiously follow all the rules, regulations and rituals required by the Vedas for a brahmana or strict follower, I probably wouldn’t even make it out of the bedroom on the day.
You need to have your timing just right, your mantra pronounced accurately, your eating, sleeping, work and recreation all in ship shape. You need to place the correct foot on the floor first when you get out of bed in the morning and all sorts of details, that I would be swamped. There are two words in Sanskrit that are almost identical yet are opposites. The word is “niyamagraha” which can mean “not enough adherence to the rules” and can also mean “too much adherence to the rules and regulations”. The only difference in the word is in the pronunciation of the middle "a" syllable, whether long or short. And this is an obstacle either way. The delicate balance of adherence to to the rules of TA or the rules of spiritual practice on the one hand, and keeping the actual goal in mind on the other, seems to be the secret for the trader of bitcoin as well as the practitioner on the path of consciousness, the yogi. “Niyama” means “rules and regulations” and is the beginning of the Ashtangha yoga practice, or eightfold path (ashta means eight in Sanskrit). The eight steps in the yoga practice begin with “yama” and “niyama” or what to do and what not to do. And “niyama-agraha” means too much or too little application of the rules, depending on how you pronounce the word.
This principle of knowing which rules are important and which are simply noise, will help one go far on the journey in general. I apply it to my trading of cryptocurrency as well as to my practice as a yogi. I walk both paths with a light step, ignoring the barking dogs that may ridicule my faith in bitcoin as well as yoga. I have found a style of investment that works for me, and an application of the yoga practice that suits my psychophysical make-up and my doshas, if I may use an Ayurvedic term. There is no blanket style on either path. Even Ayurveda will tell you that you need to customise the medicine according to the unique balance of doshas in each individual, which is the opposite of allopathic medicine who want to give a universal cure-all to everyone.
Ultimately it depends on where you are at personally, whether choosing a trading technique or a spiritual practice. We may all be spirit at the end of the day, and there are indeed some techniques which are transcendent and applicable to all, yet we also need to consider each person’s unique psycho-physical make-up on the ground too. Some practice mentioned in trading may not suit you, and some practice on your spiritual path may also be more of an obstacle if it distracts you from the ultimate goal.
That is where one needs to learn to become indifferent to the noise while keeping an eye on the signal and the goal in the long term. Playing the long game with your eye on the prize is easy if you know where you are going or where you want to be. Then the distractions of short term profit taking don’t bother you. You become indifferent to temporary dips in the market, knowing full well that the cycles are built into the code of bitcoin and where bitcoin goes, all the other altcoins follow. The macro picture is more important and there is no quick fix or easy money generally.
Similarly as a seeker of consciousness or a pilgrim on the path to the kingdom of god, we may be required to perform so many practices to appease the gods, the forefathers, the church or whomever, yet all of those details are simply noise that can distort the signal once you have your goal already in your heart. And like any trader, we learn how to alter course when coming upon new data. We are open to being wrong and we update our analysis with every new candle on our chart. In this way personal experience and realization also play an important role in our method. Succeed in the big goals and the little goals will become superfluous.
Bhagavad Gita ch2:52
यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति ।
तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥ ५२ ॥
yadā te moha-kalilaṁ
buddhir vyatitariṣyati
tadā gantāsi nirvedaṁ
śrotavyasya śrutasya ca
yadā—when; te—your; moha—illusory; kalilam—dense forest; buddhiḥ—transcendental service with intelligence; vyatitariṣyati—surpasses; tadā—at that time; gantāsi—you shall go; nirvedam—callousness; śrotavyasya—all that is to be heard; śrutasya—all that is already heard; ca—also
TRANSLATION
When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.
COMMENTARY
There are many good examples in the lives of the great devotees of the Lord of those who became indifferent to the rituals of the Vedas simply by devotional service to the Lord. When a person factually understands Kṛṣṇa and his relationship with Kṛṣṇa, he naturally becomes completely indifferent to the rituals of fruitive activities, even though an experienced brāhmaṇa. Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, a great devotee and ācārya in the line of the devotees, says:
sandhyā-vandana bhadram astu bhavato bhoḥ snāna tubhyaṁ namo
bho devāḥ pitaraś ca tarpaṇa-vidhau nāhaṁ kṣamaḥ kṣamyatām
yatra kvāpi niṣadya yādava-kulottamasya kaṁsa-dviṣaḥ
smāraṁ smāram aghaṁ harāmi tad alaṁ manye kim anyena me.
"O Lord, in my prayers three times a day, all glory to You. Bathing, I offer my obeisances unto You. O demigods! O forefathers! Please excuse me for my inability to offer you my respects. Now wherever I sit, I can remember the great descendant of the Yadu dynasty [Kṛṣṇa], the enemy of Kaṁsa, and thereby I can free myself from all sinful bondage. I think this is sufficient for me."
The Vedic rites and rituals are imperative for neophytes: comprehending all kinds of prayer three times a day, taking a bath early in the morning, offering respects to the forefathers, etc. But, when one is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is engaged in His transcendental loving service, one becomes indifferent to all these regulative principles because he has already attained perfection. If one can reach the platform of understanding by service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, he has no longer to execute different types of penances and sacrifices as recommended in revealed scriptures. And, similarly, if one has not understood that the purpose of the Vedas is to reach Kṛṣṇa and simply engages in the rituals, etc., then he is uselessly wasting time in such engagements. Persons in Kṛṣṇa consciousness transcend the limit of śabda-brahma, or the range of the Vedas and Upaniṣads.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A. C. Bhakivedanta, original 1972 Macmillan edition (www.prabhupadabooks.com)