In the book " Being Authentic ", Ric Giardina talks about keeping your perspective (C17). In this chapter he talks about how most of us take life too seriously and how our lives today are centered around the workplace. Giardina then goes on to reference a dialogue between Diogenes the Cynic and Alexander. When I read this parable (insightful as it is), my mind went back to a similar dialogue (albeit not the same) between Alexander The Great and an Indian mystic/yogi. This story is mentioned by Devdutt Pattanaik in this post : Alexander, the Great, after conquering Persia found there, what he called a gymnosophist , or a naked wise man. He was perhaps a Jain muni or perhaps a yogi, who sat on a rock and meditated all day and gazed at the stars all night. “What are you doing?” asked Alexander. “Experiencing nothingness,” answered the gymnosophist. Then the gymnosophist asked, “What are you doing?” Alexander replied, “I am conquering the world.” Both chuckled an...