Having Fun is the Goal | Chandra Schuett

Chandra is an exceptionally talented, well-spoken freelance type of guy; yet incredibly humble and reflective. The words we used the most in this episode was Fun, followed by Skiing – Chanting – Feel – Nice – Friends – Smoothies – Biking. Tells you something about the guy.

Only 23 years old, he has already been invited to go to the Olympic Games as part of the Canadian Taekwondo team (an invitation he declined, thinking “there are so many other things you can do”), had a brief career as a model/actor, built a 630m2 retreat center together with his father, and traveled all over the world. In winter it’s all about skiing, in summer all about BMX and mountain biking.

Chandra’s parents are old-time friends of Balakhilya’s, and Chandra grew up with the Bhakti-yoga lifestyle. He is all about having fun, but thanks to his upbringing always understood that the pleasures of this world are fleeting and always mixed with some degree of pain. One second you ski in the most amazing powder, the next you are in total anguish due to a dislocated shoulder;

“My parents have always been able to give me an answer, or a solution, with this process, and always shown me that there’s a way to be happy while you’re in this material world. The process shows it, and you can feel it in your heart. When you apply it, it speaks for itself. You feel it.”

Highlights

– 0:00 Intro: Breaking Trail means finding out where real fun can be found
– 3:08 Balakhilya introduces you to Chandra; a talented yet humble freelance fun-seeker
– 14:43 The story of how Chandra was selected to join the Canadian Taekwondo team for the Olympic Games in 2012
– 22:45 Everyone is trying to have fun. The lifestyle of meditation gives a genuine, heart-felt fun to carry us through the ups and downs of the worldly fun.
– 32:12 The importance of having to work for what you’re getting, and how chanting brings us together; Chandra’s feelings around his upbringing, with parents that both follow a Bhakti-yoga lifestyle
– 42:36 How Chandra and his family made it possible to build a 630m2 retreat center and run a smoothie business together: “Working with each other and finding a happy means to chant with each other, and finding the higher goal which is more important than arguing with each other.”
– 1:07:27 To Chandra, Breaking Trail means breaking free from the materialistic life, to find what your goal is, to know; “This is what’s going to be important for me to be able to be truly happy and have fun”.