The Law of Success, Lord Buddha’s version
By Atip Muangsuwan
You may have read the law of success by Napoleon Hill. But have you ever known about the law of success which was taught more than 2,500 years ago by Lord Buddha?
The law of success by the Lord Buddha is called, “It-thi-bart”. It-thi in Pali word means… “Power”. Bart means… “Path”. Therefore, it means… the path to power or success.
There are 4 key components in It-thi-bart. That’s why it’s also called, “It-thi-bart 4”.
The first component is called, “Chanta” which means… “Passion”. Buddha said that if you have passion in the thing, job, task, activity, project and so on that you do, you can be successful at them. Ikigai, a Japanese concept referring to having a direction or purpose in life, also focuses on “passion” as one of the key components.
The second component is called, “Viriyah” which means… “Perseverance”. If you put effort, time and energy in whatever you do consistently over a long period of time, you can be successful at it. Anthony Robbins, NY times best-selling author, called this component… “Take massive, determined action” in his own words.
Angela Duckworth, a renowned TED Talks speaker and psychologist, combined the first and second components and re-branded it as, “Grit”.
The third component is called, “Jitta” which means… “Focus”. If you stay focused in the thing, job, task, activity that you do for a long period of time, you can be successful at it. Daniel Goleman, the best-selling author of Emotional Intelligence, wrote about the importance of “focus” in another book of his, “Focus, the hidden driver of excellence”.
The last component is called, “Vimungsa” which means… “Retrospect”, investigate, examine, test, review, contemplate, reflect, re-think, then adjust or improve it. Basically, the Lord Buddha taught us to use our wisdom to do this process in order to make progress, solve the problems and overcome the obstacles. Anthony Robbins called this process, “Adjust your approach or strategies”.
Adam Grant, a renowned TED Talks speaker, NY times best-selling author and psychologist called this “Vimungsa” process, “re-think” or “think again” as a title in his book. Adam said he used only “Grit” in his young age while he was climbing the highest Panama’s mountain and it almost got him killed. And several other experiences of his told him that he couldn’t use only “Grit” to be successful. That’s why Adam’s trying to close the gap of “Grit” by introducing the concept of “re-think” in the things you do.
However, you can see that the principles of “Grit”, “Focus” and “Re-think” were already discovered and taught by the Lord Buddha over 2,500 years ago which are still true and valid until today. So, the law of success by Lord Buddha is really timeless.
If you want to be successful in anything you desire, “It-thi-bart 4” is the law of success you really need to attend to!