This is the secret to how legendary director Martin Scorcese and hedge fund titan Ray Dalio stay grounded

It's no secret that investing magnate Ray Dalio is a big proponent of meditation - after all, he once said it made him feel like a "ninja in a fight."

But you've probably never seen him chatting about it with critically acclaimed film director Martin Scorcese, who has been practicing Transcendental Meditation since 2008. 

The two legends spoke with the executive director of the David Lynch Foundation, Bob Roth, during a private fundraising event back in January, about how transcendental meditation keeps them grounded in their respective fast-paced industries.

"I meditate 20 minutes a day unless I've got a busy day," said the founder of $169 billion Bridewater Associates, Dalio. "Then I meditate 40 minutes."

"I started in 1968 or 69', and it changed my life. I was a very ordinary - sub-ordinary student," Dalio said. At the time, he was studying at Long Island University. "It brought me a clarity, it made me independent, it made me free flowing, it just gave me lots of gifts."

Now Dalio, worth about $15 billion, runs the largest hedge fund in the world.

Scorcese, who is known for many films including the 2013 black comedy "The Wolf of Wall Street," said he practiced transcendental meditation daily - twice a day if possible.

It helped him through the harrowing production of his first 3-D picture, the 2011 children's film, "Hugo." 

"In the morning I would get up 45 minutes earlier to do meditiation before I was able to face that set, with children actors that can only work for like for a minute, a dog that wasn't listening, and Sacha Baron Cohen was improvising everything, and everything in 3-D - and over schedule and over budget!" Scorcese said. "So, God, there's only one thing you can do, is calm it down. Get into it, and deal with the realities."

When he had an unsolvable problem, Scorcese would sit down and meditate.

"And somehow something came out," Scorcese said. "And I was like goddamnit."

"That's it," said Dalio. "That's exactly what it's like."

 

Check out a clip of the interview here.