1.
llustrations: PETTERI LAAKKONEN
Text:TOMI ASTIKAINEN
Mind your elephant
How to get rid of your ego, connect with others and save the world

2.
Mind your elephant

3.
Mind your elephant
“A person with ubuntu is open and
 Dysfunctional people available to others, affirming of
 Ego-driven individuals others, does not feel threatened
 Dysfunctional relationships that others are able and good.”
Desmond Tutu
 Artificial separateness
 Dysfunctional society
 Systemic crisis

4.
You are not your elephant

5.
You are not your elephant
“I am that by which I
 Elephant is your ego know I am”
 “a mental image of who you Nisargadatta Maharaj
are, based on your personal
and cultural conditioning.”
 You are not your ego
 your name, age, body, title
or profession is not you
 You are the consciousness
behind your elephant

6.
Suffering is elephant food

7.
Suffering is elephant food
“Why are you unhappy? Because
 The obsessive compulsives 99.9 per cent of everything you
 possessiveness, pleasure, think, and of everything you do, is
fear, keeping busy, thinking for yourself. And there isn't one.”
Wei wu Wei
 Trying to be happy causes
suffering
 concentrate on peace, love
and joy within
 Acceptance is the key
 accept that everything is
unsatisfactory, impermanent
and has no self

8.
The elephant has taken over

9.
The elephant has taken over
“For some our dialogue of
 Elephant speech brain chatter runs so fast that
 “I need, I want, I desire” we can barely keep up with
 “I should, I could, I would” what we are thinking..”
Jill Bolte Taylor
 Silence the brain chatter
 elephant is in the past and in
the future; be in the now
 Replace fear with love
 accept the fact that your
elephant is afraid
 take everything as a gift

10.
The crocodile dentist

11.
The crocodile dentist
“We live in a time of chaos, as rich in
 The Golden Rule 2.0 the potential for disaster as for new
 “I am because you are” possibilities. How will we navigate
 mindset affects behavior these times? The answer is, together.”
Margaret Wheatley
 behavior changes thoughts
 The Nokia Generation
 focus on the whole, parts
and interconnections
 Give for the sake of giving
 scrap “what’s in it for me”

12.
Elephant in crocodile’s mouth

13.
Elephant in crocodile’s mouth
“Only actions that do not cause
 Spot the elephant in both opposing reactions are those that
 accept instead of judging are aimed at the good of all.”
Eckhart Tolle
 Appreciate assertiveness
 defend everyone’s rights
 focus on what works
 Law of Garbage Truck
 don’t take things personally

14.
Relationships without elephant

15.
Relationships without elephant
“When people talk, listen
 Aim for egoless synergy completely. Most people
 empathy: “walk a mile in never listen.”
another person’s shoes” Ernest Hemingway
 Practice compersion
 enjoy others’ delight
 Be radically honest
 minimize your “assholiness”
 Communicate everything
 we cannot read minds... yet

16.
The culture of letting go

17.
The culture of letting go
“When I let go of what I am, I
 Acknowledge the facts become what I might be.”
 let go of safe and familiar Lao Tzu
 Do less, be more
 free time to do nothing
 Get rid of needless stuff
 learn to minimize craving,
delusion and attachment
 It can feel like dying
 when the ego dies, you can
be reborn and grow up

18.
Society of ants

19.
Society of ants
“As a thinker and planner, the ant is
 We don’t need control the equal of any savage race of men;
as a self-educated specialist in several
 we can be self-organized arts, she is the superior of any savage
 50% of ants do nothing race of men; and in one or two high
 be the change you seek! mental qualities she is above the
reach of any man, savage or civilized!”
 Competition is not enough Mark Twain
 co-create for common good
 We are already connected
 how do we work as a
system?

20.
Monetary system is unhealthy
 System-created values
 greed, self-interest, elitism
 Who creates money?
 1-3 % is coins and bills
 money is debt
 who pays the interest?
 Nature and we suffer
 are you free or in debt?
 what are the alternatives?

21.
Towards a new society
What kind of world
would you like to see?

22.
Towards a new society
“Our customs, behaviors, and
 Equal opportunity to values are by-products of our
culture. If the environment is
abundance is the key unaltered, similar problems and
 I am because you are behaviors will reoccur.”
because we are Peter Joseph
 New culture is needed
 meaningful co-creation and
agile development
 bestowal and abundance
 authenticity, awareness and
dialogue

23.
Be the awakening

24.
Be the awakening
“Everything in your life is
 off-the-creed there as a vehicle for your
transformation. Use it!”
 knowing and doing the right Ram Dass
thing
 off-the-greed
 from monetarism to free
co-creation
 off-the-grid
 small self-reliant and
interlinked communities

25.
www.mindyourelephant.org