Steve Jobs, Ch’an Buddhism and innovation

Citation

Teck Foo, C. (2012), "Steve Jobs, Ch’an Buddhism and innovation", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 6 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/cms.2012.32306aaa.002

Steve Jobs, Ch’an Buddhism and innovation

Article Type: Editorial From: Chinese Management Studies, Volume 6, Issue 1

On October 5, 2011 the iconic Steve Jobs left this world.

You may ask, “Does his death matter to Chinese Management Studies, the scholarly journal?” It is only with his passing away that his truer, inner self surfaced. Despite his seemingly American ways, deeply in his heart of hearts, he is a Ch’an (or as pronounced in Japanese, Zen) Buddhist practitioner. Before his utterance of “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow” on the death bed, very few people in America realized that Steve was a Buddhist.

Even as I write this editorial, I find there is no mention of his Ch’an affiliation on Wikipedia[1]. Yet, this may be the key to a deeper understanding of the psychology of Steve Jobs. Now what is so significant about Steve’s “Oh wow”? From a Japanese Zen perspective, these shouts can be highly instructive. Here I shall outline three possible explanations behind Steve’s outcry on the death bed.

First explanation: there is a body of Japanese literature on poetry by those on the verge of dying. Let me for illustration quote a well known Japanese death poem (Hoffmann, 1986). Note, especially the preface of “Let he who has eyes see and followed by, three times the shouting of these words”: Katsu, Katsu, Katsu. Literally, the meaning of Katsu is to shout.

As for the complete record:

Katsu!

On the death bed – Katsu!

Let he who has eyes see!

Katsu! Katsu! Katsu!

And once again, Katsu!

Katsu!

– Yōsō Sōi ( , 1,379 – 1,458)[italics added]

The behavior of Steve Jobs is very much consistent with Japanese Zen practitioners or masters.

Second insight: Steve had an experience of enlightenment. The goal of all Buddhists is to realize the ultimate state of the Buddha which is to be enlightened. Here there are two possibilities depending on how deep is the level of awakening: One, a deep experience of directly perceiving the nature of reality or in Japanese a Satori (Figure 1) or it may even be Kenso, of directly seeing into the void of one’s self-nature. The most famous Japanese Samurai, sixteenth century Miyamoto Musashi emphasizes the void. He did that during his dying months, in the last ring (or chapter) of the Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho).

Third possibility: The well known Japanese Pure-land Buddhist belief is in the occurrence of Raigo (meaning a welcoming approach; in Chinese, pin-yin, lai ying). See in Figure 2 the descent of Amitabha, the Buddha of the Western Paradise to welcome a departing soul. This is depicted in the thirteenth century Japanese artwork. Could it possible that Steve was overawed by what he was seeing? On being welcomed, he simply shouted out loud:

Figure 1 Satori in Japanese

Figure 2. Raigo - a thirteenth century Japanese painting

OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW.

The exclamation of “Wow” suggests of a mind that is surprised but pleasantly by the perception of a vision. What exactly was seen by Steve Jobs on his death-bed moments before his passing, we do not know.

There is another, a remote but essential key to understanding of the psychology and personality of Steve Jobs. Besides analyzing the extensive interviews (Isaacson, 2011), it is in his genes: he has roots to the intellectual Arab traditions and civilization. His biological Syrian father, Abdulfattah Jandali had been a political science professor at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma[2]. This may also explain the innate, relentless drive in Steve Jobs for intellectually stimulating challenges: creating cutting edge, innovative products. Such a trait of embarking on relentless search was seen too in the ancient Arab scholar.

Just let me quote for you from what is available from through the historical records. This is just how intensely, Hunain ibn Ishaq, a ninth century researcher will go for in his search of a book:

[…] I myself searched with great zeal in quest of this book over Mesopotamia, all of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, until I came to Alexandria. I found nothing, except about half of it in Damascus […] (Max, 1926).

Lyons (2009) in his House of Wisdom[3] – a society of learning founded by Caliph Hārūn ar-Rashīd Baghdad in the ninth century – described another feature in the making of the Arab scholar. It is in the scholar’s love for new experiences, travel and alas, of the necessity for meetings face-to-face:

[…] Travel, and the accompanying exposure to new experiences and new ways of thinking, was an important element of a scholar’s education in a society that retained great reverence for the spoken word;

And importantly, as he continues:

[…] other than face-to-face, how else could a learned man meet his colleagues and collect and debate their ideas? (Italics added).

Steve Jobs too was on a long trail in search of spiritual enlightenment. He went in his search through many bus rides across Northern India. His visits include the remotely located Kainichi Ashram, up on Kumoan Hills, Uttarakand, India as well as Ashram of Hariakhan Baba, better known as Babaji. Later, he went to Japan embracing in the process, Buddhism.

Now I venture to propose the elements of A-BA theory to account for the unique creativity and innovation within Steve Jobs. Foremost, Steve Jobs was born an American, thus the first alphabet “A”. Of all the nations, USA remains the most innovative society. Then by personal choice, Steve embraced deeply Buddhism (B) with a personal Zen master. And finally, it is his genes, being of Arab (A) descent. I cast this society-spirituality-gene theory in a diagram (Figure 3).

Figure 3.A-BA theory of innovation - Steve Jobs

How significant is the innovation of Steve Jobs to scholars? Very much so; the innovative impact of his Apple PC is equivalent to that of paper-making technology. Behind the history of rapid growth of the Arab scholarly enterprise is in obtaining the secrets of the art of paper making. As described again by Lyons:

[…] Arab tradition tells us that a [Chinese] prisoner of war from the battle of Talas, where in 751 Muslim forces decisively defeated those of the Tang dynasty […] The Chinese prisoner taught his captors how to produce paper from linen and hemp […] (page 57, Lyons).

It is precise this paper-making technology that is the driver behind the rapid growth of Arab arts, poetry, sciences and more:

[…] the rapid and efficient interchange of ideas and knowledge, prompting demand for further scholarly works, research and writings. Paper making […] fostered a profound culture of the book among the Arabs. Knowledge and scholarship had always been prized by Muslim society […] (page 58, Lyons).

It is the same with PC technology, the Apple by Steve Jobs. Nobody then had expected the PC to lead to a snowballing towards online technology. In probably the greatest come-back story in business, Steve Jobs re-surfaced to guide the PC in morphing to become handheld devices. Due to his legacy, there is now globally, faster and diffused growth of creation, sharing and accessibility of knowledge.

Now it leaves me just enough space, to invite you to come face-to-face with scholars at the 2nd Global Chinese Management Studies Conference, August 6-8 2012, Singapore. Already we are receiving promising submissions including scholarly papers from leading universities including Tsing Hua, Cambridge and MIT. You then spend August 9 in Singapore, celebrating our National Day in a colorful metropolis.

Finally, I am very thankful to Professor Wei-Wei Wu for his Guest Editorship of this 6th Volume, 1st Issue. Professor Wei-Wei Wu has in his editorial provided an overview of the collection of papers – yes, it is on the same theme of technology and innovation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/more-back-story-on-steve-jobss-biological-father/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdom

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