In a distracted moment this past Friday evening, when my brain had permission to drift after a busy day, I opened up the stock-tracking app on my phone and was amused to see the following:
The trend for the day for the S&P 500 (and a few other indices/ETFs I track) looked like a smile.
But not just any smile; it looked like the Buddha's smile.
The S&P’s Buddha smile had a quality of mild amusement or contentment to it while belying a lot more going on beneath the surface.
The S&P started the day at 5,243, then fell ~1% to an intra-day low of 5,192, before climbing back to 5,277 by market close.
The S&P broke even for the day despite a bit of drama along the way.
I had missed all of this being busy at work and living my life. If I had checked in during trading hours, I might have caught things on the down- or up-swing and got swept up in the drama. I might’ve felt compelled to take some action—to sell or buy something (not heeding Jack Bogle’s advice “Don’t just do something, stand there!”).
But all the market got from me on Friday was a blissful little Buddha smile.
I had missed all the drama and came out the other end no better or worse off. The market had closed basically unchanged from where it started.
There is some debate around the meaning of the Buddha’s smile (discussed here). I like to think of it as a smile of equanimity, reflecting a deep acceptance of the world and all of its highs and lows. Buddhism teaches that highs and lows are an inextricable part of the human experience, and we only cause ourselves suffering if we try to think otherwise. Similarly, volatility is a feature (not a bug) of the stock market. To invest is to ride the highs and lows—whether intra-day or over months/years—while keeping a level head and not getting swayed from your goals by the drama.
Some scholars have suggested that the Buddha smiled when he had an opportunity to teach something. The smile-producing lessons from Friday’s up-and-down market day were:
Live your life. There will be drama. But keep smiling like the Buddha. And keep investing.
- The Buddh-i$h Investor
If you’re looking for more:
The Algebra of Wealth: Scott Galloway’s latest on achieving wealth and success in life. There’s a lot of practical advice in the book along with a sprinkling of Stoicism and Buddhism.
Why Does the Buddha Smile? from Tricycle (paid)
Latest episode from the Secular Buddhism Podcast (my own entry point into the Buddhist world—thank you, Noah!):