Maybe you’ve heard this one: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Confounding at first. Shocking in it’s violence, notably coming from a Buddhist. At least, those were my first thoughts. I’m pretty sure that was the point.

If You Meet the Buddha on the Road

The point here is to shock, to shake the recipient into thinking. It is prose mindfulness, designed to anchor one to the moment and observe. It’s akin to a slap out of nowhere, a sucker punch, but the kindest variety, concerned for the punchee.

It is not advocating murder.

What it is doing is reminding one that truth and answers, the power to transcend one’s suffering is within oneself, and nowhere else.

It is reminding one that if someone claims to have all the answers, all the solutions, demands reverence and obsequience, that the only place that the power to change oneself lies is within oneself.

Only you can find the answers you need. Only you have the power to find them and apply them.

Kill the Buddha and Coding

What does this have to do with coding?

It is empowering. It is a reminder to focus on the moment. Don’t believe your own hype. Don’t mindlessly accept dogma and hierarchy. Listen, always listen, but consider, and don’t blindly accept.

Question authority in a healthy way.

Don’t be a dick, and don’t tolerate dicks on your team.

If there’s a coder who claims to have all the answers, and they’re the only one who knows the way forward, this attitude is not conducive to a growth mindset, nor to psychological safety, and team.

So: go forth, and remember: if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill the Buddha!