My grandmother used to delight in giving the people she loved gifts on her birthday. I always loved that – it was awkward for people, but she would force it because she found joy in the process of giving – and because I think she liked making people a little bit uncomfortable.
With that in mind, on this, my birthday, I give to you BAOISM. https://www.baoism.org
I’m convinced that what I’m giving you here is the key to happiness. I can’t force you to take it, to listen, to read, to attempt to understand why I believe this is the key to your happiness. I can only offer it to you – as a gift. No strings attached. No requirement. No conversion. No obligation. Not even a need to pay attention to it because we are friends. I’m just giving it to you – unconditionally.
You can ignore it, throw it away, or embrace it. It has to be up to you.
What is Baoism, this thing I’m giving you?
It’s a simple formula for human happiness.
That’s it.
Am I the happiest person on the planet? Nope. Not even close.
But I’ll tell you the truth – I’m infinitely happier than I was before I started embracing this simple truth and practice that is Baoism.
I want you to understand completely all at once – but this process takes time. I’m going to be releasing a series of articles and podcasts – you can follow them all at https://baoism.substack.com It’s free and they’ll get delivered to you via email where you can either learn how to be happy – or just ignore them. And if you are already happy – Good! I’m incredibly happy for you. It’s all I really want – is for more people to be happy in our world.
I really and truly believe this is the key. It’s a combination of learning who and what we are as humans, de-learning negative behaviors and patterns, and embracing the things that bring joy into our lives. Celebration, camaraderie, nature, doing good, and helping others.
Honestly it really is simple. Our world only hides it from us because misery is profitable via exploitation. Joy isn’t.
For those who are tech savvy – think of Baoism as a browser extension. You don’t have to change anything about the browser (which I’m using as a metaphor for your belief systems, your faith, your religion, your creed) but when you add the browser extension, suddenly the functionality is enhanced and expanded. It’s the same with Baoism – when you add it to your system, it supercharges it. You can be a Baoist Jew, a Baoist Muslim, a Baoist Christian, a Baoist Hindu, even a Baoist Satanist or a Baoist Atheist – you don’t have to convert or swear an oath or take a vow. It’s really simple. I mean really really simple.
As a Baoist – you do your best to stop doing bad things and instead you do good things – then when you see results from that you try to help others to stop doing bad things and start doing good things. That’s it. Everything else is just there to help you understand the difference between bad and good things. Here’s an example:
Checking social media first thing when I wake up is very obviously not good for me – so it’s a bad thing (in Baoism bad things are called TOX). So, the first step is to stop doing that Tox -but – nature abhors a vacuum and vacuum habits are the same – so I need to replace it with a good thing. Meditation and exercise are good things (in Baoism Good things are called ROX) – so this morning I woke up, I didn’t look at my phone or computer, I meditated and did some stretching instead. Rox not Tox. It feels good and now I’m sharing that message with you – I’m teaching you about this positive process. In Baoism, when someone teaches something that is positive and good we say they are a Bao Ji. You know bao, right? Those little steam buns? The Chinese word means ‘wonderful treasure’ and Ji is an honorific meaning teacher, so when you teach someone something that is a wonderful treasure (like this) you are being a Bao Ji.
All of this can be summarized and simplified with. Rox not Tox, Bao Ji. That’s Baoism in a nutshell.
I encourage you to watch the video above, sign up for the newsletter which will likely be once a week, and maybe even follow the social media accounts on the Baoism website.
Be Happy. Happy Bao Day!
