Spirituality Enhances Business

Mantra of Management is Meditation

There was a column in today’s Hindustan Times (14-01-2015) saying, “Personal behavior may dictate your appraisal this year”. This is a study done by Mancer Consultancy, an executive search firm. I realized our personal behavior is a very important factor in dealings of our personal and professional life. Outer polish that we get from our formal education is not enough. As Swami Vivekananda said, “I have experienced even in my insignificant life that good motives, sincerity and infinite love can conquer the world.” (Swami Vivekananda, Swami Vivekananda on himself, page 225).

Our day to day life which includes our personal, professional or business life can flourish much better, if only we empower ourselves with inner development called spirituality.

Spirituality is not a ritual, neither it is a hindrance to our worldly achievements. It is a beautiful art which clarifies truth of life, and teaches us how to manage ourselves better, before we start managing outside events.

Swami Vivekanada said that Vedanta has to be applied to all situations and fields of life. Vedanta’s message of our “Oneness” is very relevant today. Whole creation, we are all Atman, we are all one, one big family on this earth. Realization of this truth is called spirituality. Gita also says, yoga can make us more skillful in actions. Through yoga and meditation, our inner blissful nature can be realized, and our feeling of separateness can be dissolved, which is actually one of the root causes of modern days misery. 

But every idea gets authenticity only when it is tested, and proved right, in the field of action. Same test can be applied in the field of spirituality also, before we accept it in our life whole-heartedly. Its acid test can be done through our daily life’s activities. 

We find spiritually empowered people can handle their own emotions, power of judgment much better. Spirituality teaches us to concentrate, to understand other’s views better, without being judgmental. And then the decision taken by us is correct, ethical and goes well in accordance with God’s will. 

‘Management’ is a very popular word these days, but generally it is referred in terms of business. 

But before we attempt to manage events of life, it is essential; we learn the skill of managing our own attitude, time, and our faculties, through simple spiritual practices. Management is nothing but an organized common sense. 

Now top business organizations are also realizing the importance of self-management. Many corporate executives are adopting spirituality in their personal lives. Some companies are integrating prayer, meditation workshops for their employees benefit also. 

I may end with a quotation from Swami Vivekananda’s saying, “something behind this world of sense, this world of eating and drinking and talking nonsense, this world of false shadows and selfishness. There is that beyond all books, beyond all creeds, beyond the vanities of this world, and it is the realization of God within yourself”. (From The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, (Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2013), 1334-35).