A Buddhist Monk At Davos Says El-Erian Should Chill Out

REUTERS/Fred Prouser

A Buddhist monk who is leading early-morning meditation workshops at the World Economic Forum in Davos says that business leaders like Mohamed El-Erian need to relax before they push themselves to the breaking point.

Bloomberg reports that the monk, Matthieu Ricard, had a message for managers like El-Erian, who resigned from PIMCO this week in a surprise move in order to "recharge the batteries." From Bloomberg:

"What's the point if you don't have a sense of the quality of the moment passing by?" asked Ricard, a French citizen who founded the Karuna-Shechen humanitarian association. "It doesn't have to be blissing out under a mango tree, but some kind of joy." Ricard's been easy to spot in the cavernous Davos convention center this week, thanks to flowing robes of red and yellow fabric complemented by an Apple iPad.

Bloomberg notes that PIMCO's chief investment officer Bill Gross, who apparently begged El-Erian to stay, "is a fan of many of the de-stressing techniques being advocated in Davos."