I found this article which I think is worth reading. Seems he was strongly influenced by Buddhism, much more than I realized. That he was influenced also by Trungpa Rinpoche's "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism". And that he did meditate a lot when he was younger, doing meditation retreats too, so doing a lot of meditation. It doesn't say if he still meditated later in life or not. And makes it clear he was not a "poster child of Buddhism" or a Zen master or anything like that - just a famous person who was strongly influenced by Buddhist teachings and was a Buddhist.
Some people have the idea in the West that if you call yourself a Buddhist you become a perfect person or should be. But of course that's not true at all. There are whole countries of Buddhists, millions of people, e.g. Thailand or Sri Lanka and if calling yourself a Buddhist made you perfect, these would be countries populated only by the Buddhist equivalent of saints :). It no more makes you perfect than calling yourself a Christian or Jew or Muslim or Hindu or Animist or Shintoist or Taoist makes you perfect.
It's a path and along the path you have all the same human frailties and shortcomings as everyone else. And will keep falling down like a toddler learning to walk and have to pick yourself up and keep going. And Buddhist teachers say one of the most important things is to be kind to yourself along the path and to recognize this happens. You can't be kind and compassionate to others if you aren't also kind to yourself and accept your own human frailties and failings.
As a Buddhist myself I was interested and intrigued to read about how strong an influence it was on him.
What Kind of Buddhist was Steve Jobs, Really? - NeuroTribes
There's an interesting quote here, from a newspaper article so not sure how accurately quoted :
But whatever the truth or otherwise of that - he did call himself a Buddhist. It was his religion, Zen Buddhism.
Many Buddhists in the East don't meditate at all, so that he meditated rarely towards the end of his life doesn't make him a non Buddhist. Any more than it makes you non Christian if you don't go to church regularly or do any Christian practices at all, and no matter what your life is like, and how good or bad you are as a person and how little you apply the teachings, still it's possible for someone to say they are following the path of Christianity. And who can really say that they aren't?
It's like that I think. People in the West often expect too much of Buddhists, far more than they expect, e.g. of Christians.
To be a Buddhist doesn't mean you are a Buddha. Doesn't mean you never get angry. Doesn't mean you never make mistakes. Doesn't mean you are unusually compassionate or kind or open minded, or happy, or well behaved. If you were all of those, and if you were enlightened already, you'd not need the Buddhist path.
I think you can surely say Steve Jobs was a Buddhist if you feel you can say that Bill Gates is Christian, which is not to say that either were or are saints. It is just a simple statement of what religious path they were / are following.
Some people have the idea in the West that if you call yourself a Buddhist you become a perfect person or should be. But of course that's not true at all. There are whole countries of Buddhists, millions of people, e.g. Thailand or Sri Lanka and if calling yourself a Buddhist made you perfect, these would be countries populated only by the Buddhist equivalent of saints :). It no more makes you perfect than calling yourself a Christian or Jew or Muslim or Hindu or Animist or Shintoist or Taoist makes you perfect.
It's a path and along the path you have all the same human frailties and shortcomings as everyone else. And will keep falling down like a toddler learning to walk and have to pick yourself up and keep going. And Buddhist teachers say one of the most important things is to be kind to yourself along the path and to recognize this happens. You can't be kind and compassionate to others if you aren't also kind to yourself and accept your own human frailties and failings.
As a Buddhist myself I was interested and intrigued to read about how strong an influence it was on him.
What Kind of Buddhist was Steve Jobs, Really? - NeuroTribes
There's an interesting quote here, from a newspaper article so not sure how accurately quoted :
" Kaye, the head teacher of Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center in Mountain View, Calif., said Jobs didn't practice Buddhism long enough to let it sink in.
He got to the aesthetic part of Zen — the relationship between lines and spaces, the quality and craftsmanship," Kaye said. "But he didn't stay long enough to get the Buddhist part, the compassion part, the sensitivity part."
Steve Jobs' private spirituality now an open book
But whatever the truth or otherwise of that - he did call himself a Buddhist. It was his religion, Zen Buddhism.
Many Buddhists in the East don't meditate at all, so that he meditated rarely towards the end of his life doesn't make him a non Buddhist. Any more than it makes you non Christian if you don't go to church regularly or do any Christian practices at all, and no matter what your life is like, and how good or bad you are as a person and how little you apply the teachings, still it's possible for someone to say they are following the path of Christianity. And who can really say that they aren't?
It's like that I think. People in the West often expect too much of Buddhists, far more than they expect, e.g. of Christians.
To be a Buddhist doesn't mean you are a Buddha. Doesn't mean you never get angry. Doesn't mean you never make mistakes. Doesn't mean you are unusually compassionate or kind or open minded, or happy, or well behaved. If you were all of those, and if you were enlightened already, you'd not need the Buddhist path.
I think you can surely say Steve Jobs was a Buddhist if you feel you can say that Bill Gates is Christian, which is not to say that either were or are saints. It is just a simple statement of what religious path they were / are following.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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