I learned the meditation technique taking over Wall Street and now I get why traders are willing to set aside 40 minutes a day
I was waiting for my first Transcendental Meditation lesson.
My teacher Mario Orsatti, a man in his 60s with a penchant for big smiles and unwavering eye contact, took my offering of two apples, a kiwi, and purple irises I'd picked up at a bodega 20 minutes earlier as instructed, and ushered me into a plain, dark room.
In front of an illustration of an Indian guru in an orange robe, sitting cross-legged with a golden aura, Mario handed me one of the irises and began solemnly reciting what I assumed to be a Sanskrit prayer. He proceeded to light candles and arrange the fruit and other items before him.
Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio had helped popularize Transcendental Meditation (TM) on Wall Street when he proclaimed it "the single biggest influence in his life" a few years ago, but Dalio is widely known for his eccentricities. I wondered if other finance power players, like TM practitioners Third Point manager Dan Loeb and JPMorgan wealth management CEO Barry Sommers, were just following his lead. As for the celebrities who endorsed it - like Jerry Seinfeld, Martin Scorcese, Oprah Winfrey, and Dr. Oz - well, celebrities are often easy prey for this kind of stuff.
I couldn't help but wonder: Was I being inducted into Wall Street's hot new cult?