Spiritual dimension of Sustainability

Writing after a long hiatus ... I felt I needed it, to rejuvenate my views and also find a deeper purpose of life. Will blog on some of my discoveries from my introspection in subsequent posts. But for today, will demystify the spiritual dimension of Sustainability, and how it aids our own sense of well being as individuals.

 Sustainability is typically analyzed from socio-cultural and ecological dimensions. But rarely from spiritual dimension. There are a few who have attempted, but has not yet got the much needed mainstream attention.

 By definition  Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Going by this, we have and are striving to find technologies and means to generate energy, food and other resources without eroding nature. But the balance between demand and supply seems to be eluding us to say the least. A saving made by a change in one place / time / situation is offset by the degeneration triggered by the very same "change" in another place / time / situation. For instance, generating solar energy from solar panels seems to be a sustainable source of energy to the superfluous. But on scratching the surface one finds that the process of manufacturing solar panels by itself is not environment friendly and hence defeats the very purpose of sustainable living.

 I can go on with more such examples. And having gone through many such examples , I have come to believe that the only form of sustainable development that is viable is that of simple / spiritual living, which is what our hindu tradition suggests.

 In a sense, the essence of Hindu tradition is moderation i.e. simple / spiritual living -- Acquire only as much as needed and not as much as you want. Do not hanker after material acquisitions. Eat in moderation and live in moderation, inharmony with nature.

Looking back at the hindu traditional essence as it can be deciphered above, it comes back to basics - This whole problem of sustainability is because man has been in reckless pursuit of hoarding wealth, luxuries, assets and everything material. When the consumption goes down, the balance between the demand and supply is naturally maintained and sustained.

 Well you might ask ... so much for sustainability, but what is my motivation as an individual to follow simple / spiritual living or for that matter even moderate living ? My answer is, it goes much beyond just sustainability. The root of all personal problems is also reckless material acquisition. Adi Sankara (A great philosopher of Advaita) seems to have very aptly summarized it -- if you go after finite material assets, it is bound to be perilous, since they are anyway finite. The finite is bound to get exhausted and hence our perennial mission of hoarding more of the finite. If for instance we set ourselves on to the mission of accumulating enough wealth such that it never diminishes ... the futility of the mission is all too obvious. It might not be as obvious in some cases though. But once we adopt simple / spiritual living , the core principle being not being in pursuit of materialistic acquisition, we can save ourselves from the perils even in the not so obvious cases.

Hence my mantra for sustainability as well as our own well being is -- Simple / Spiritual living.

What are your thoughts and experiences ? What are the experiences of sustainable communities? Would be interested in knowing your views.

When nothing goes right ...

 During our life span, there are occasions when nothing goes right. Problems seem to rain in torrents. I am no exception and have been through these phases of life. It easy to get devoured by negativity in these stages. In hindsight though, these phases seem to be the most fertile periods for self improvement and effectiveness. For one, it helps hone our character as I have blogged in http://spritualitynmanagement.blogspot.in/2011/11/how-to-be-successful.html. Besides, there are other aspects too. This is when a sense of disgust and frustration is aroused, which can be positively channelized into a cathartic process.
 When things are hunky dory, we hardly pause to take stock, to the point where we might be completely off track. For e.g., if in our career, we are on a roll, with hefty hikes and a steep rise up the corporate ladder, we are most unlikely to take stock of our true aspirations, and the larger picture. In my opinion this is the reason that some of the most successful people, who seemingly have everything that it takes, are often left feeling void. On the contrary, if nothing seems to be going right, we are more likely to step back, and take stock of the situation, our current priorities, and our true purpose in life. This in my opinion, will help us connect with our true self, and soak in the joy of success as and when it happens, without feeling bereft. For outwardly success without inner contentment and satisfaction, equates to failure.
 This is not to exalt predicament, and advocate adverse situations as the only path to contentment and effectiveness. This is to raise awareness of the benefits that we can churn out of our quagmire, instead of being overwhelmed by it.
 Easier said than done? Could be. When nothing goes right, it is hard to get out of the whirlpool. But it helps reminiscing our earlier misfortunes, which have been a blessing in disguise.
 Any experiences or thoughts?

What has Self-introspection got to do with effectiveness?

 In my last article, I briefly touched upon Self introspection in the context of emotional intelligence, and that Self introspection is advocated by Hindu scriptures. This is a follow-on to that with a much broader scope. This is because self-introspection touches every aspect of personal and professional effectiveness.
 Active self introspection is the idea of investigating our own emotions, thoughts, behavior and conduct, and meditating on ways to avoid self-deprecating acts. For e.g.: If we are at loggerheads with someone, rather than carp or cavil, Hindu scriptures advises us to self introspect and realize that it is a reflection of our own shortfalls. It might be because of our own selfishness or ego that we are failing to see the other person's point of view, it might be because our own self aggrandizement that we fail to respect the other person, or it might be because we are attached to a desire / goal, that it blinds us of objectivity. If we acknowledge the fact that all of us are creation of God, and that no one is superior to other, and that it is superior in fact for humans to respect and accommodate the other being, it would be easier to break the ice.
 Another example where self-introspection could help enhance our effectiveness is, when we feel we truly deserved the much awaited fat hike / career advancement, but it is awarded to someone else. The immediate instinct is to brood over the partiality, unfairness, and loathe the superiors, peer etc. But if we accede to the the teachings of Hindu scriptures, and introspect, we might unearth hidden gems. Foremost, it will help us attribute the success of the person who obtained it, to the value that the person brings. This then paves ways for us to identify our shortcomings. It might be that the inter-personal skills needs improvement, it might be that a better business acumen is essential, it might be that there is a need to change the role / domain where our strengths shine etc.. This kind of objective evaluation of the situation lends to better decision and improves our chances of landing that prized hike / advancement, or might be even better.
 In essence, self-introspection leads to change that which is in our direct control - our own thoughts, behavior and conduct, which is what will lead to true effectiveness. We can continue blaming others, blaming our misfortune etc. , but that would not help us an ounce.

Emotional Intelligence

 Emotional Intelligence of late has gained lot of importance. Emotional intelligence as per one of the definitions is the ability to identify, assess and manage emotion of self and others. Psychology has also identified measurements of emotional intelligence. In this blog I would like to look at emotional intelligence through a spiritual lens. Hindu scriptures have also emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence needed for self-advancement.
 Core to emotional intelligence as construed by Hindu scriptures is "awareness " and "self introspection". Awareness of the fact that the soul or athma as we call it, is transient. Awareness that this life and body is just a garb. The soul transcends the garb. And hence it is dissipative to be attached to the body and the emotions attached with it. Armed with this awareness, we will be equipped to not let the emotions control the intellect. We will learn to not let emotions like love, desire, hatred, anger, jealousy control our thoughts and action. As I have time and again emphasized in my articles, attachment induces a multitude of emotions.Introspection helps us get to the crux of the trigger and address it. Hindu scriptures never talk about assessing or managing others' emotion. It is rather self introspecting. It recommends introspecting on what triggers our own emotions and how can we manage them. Beware that "manage" does not mean suppression, but rather introspection.
For e.g: When we are deeply desirous of a particular goal, we tend to be lopsided. For the desire of reaching the pinnacle of our career, we might de-prioritize our personal life, and lose out on the most important phases of our own life and others. At the same time being attached to our personal life and kin, can be stifling. This is where the awareness and introspection as prescribed by spiritual texts come in handy. Realize the fact that what transpires now is just a passing phase of your soul and it is wasteful to expend our time and energy fondling the emotions of this phase.
This is the mantra of emotional intelligence as construed by Hindu scriptures

What gets in the way of our judgment?

 Impeccable judgment has been hailed as what differentiates an effective person from others, be it in personal life or professional life. Successful leaders have historically been those who have taken the right decision at the right time, guided by their judgment. Hence I will delineate what what gets in the way of good judgment, and how we can avoid falling prey to it.
 How do we generally judge a situation or person? We go by our past experiences and prejudices. The "knowledge" that we have built over the years. If we are too entrenched in our notions, if we are puffed up with the pride of the so called knowledge and experience, we will quite often fail to be objective in our judgment. For e.g., when embarking on a new initiative / project, we are expected to evaluate the pros, cons and risks involved. It is quite humane then to lean on our past experience to evaluate the initiative. But if we obstinately stick to only our biases and experiences, we are likely to fail seeing the possible new avenues that lie ahead of us. While it is prudent to learn from our past mistakes and experiences, it is also sagacious to open up our ears and mind to current situation, to other opinions which might be quite contradictory to ours, to diverse perspectives, in order to take advantage of the new opportunities ahead of us.
 Good judgment comes from not getting cocooned in our familiar patterns and prejudices. If we are attached to our self i.e. ego, if we are attached to our intelligence and perspectives, if we are attached to a certain thought or person, we are prone to make bad judgments. Attachment blinds our rational mind. That is what our scriptures teach us, to be detached. If we lead a spiritual life, being detached from person or situation, we are better equipped to make those important judgments and decisions in our life.

Compassion - How can it be cultivated ?

Compassion is one of the characteristics that is unique to us homo sapiens, yet we don't exhibit it all that often. In my opinion, compassion is the hallmark of a good human, a good leader. In many of my earlier posts I have dwelt on empathy and genuine interest, which underpins effective communication, influence and all those other traits of an effective person. But compassion is fundamental to empathy and genuine interest. Not surprisingly, Hindu scriptures place compassion right at the center of spirituality. How compassionate are we? And are there a set of people with whom we are compassionate and those with whom we are not? Do prejudices play their part? Can we cultivate compassion that is bereft of prejudice and ulterior motive. The answer is an emphatic YES.
 Indian scriptures and Bodhisattva lay emphasis on the cycle of births. We are believed to be going through a cycle of rebirths based on our Karmic actions (negative and positive) in our past births. The more good we do in this birth, the better fortunate would we be in our next birth. In each birth, we need to perform good actions, for the benefit of others without any expectation for oneself. In this whole churn of cycles of birth and rebirth, the ones who are our friends, our parents in this birth, might have been our foes in our past birth. And those who are our foes in this birth might have been our near and dear ones, our well wishers in the past births. So then, would it be prudent to be compassionate with our near and dear ones in this birth and disregard or ill-treat our so called foes?
 Even if you were to ignore the cycle of births, have you ever returned a bad deed with compassion? When someone is bent upon spoiling your professional progress for example, instead of confronting that person head-on, have you tried to be compassionate with that person? Have you tried to analyze why this person might want to thwart your progress, and how you can help this person? If you were to reach out to this person, and probably help with this person's progress, would you not end up winning another friend instead of a foe? Would not this person hold you in high regard and consider you a leader as opposed to an adversary? Organizations are always in need of this kind of a leader. And even in your personal life, instead of returning a bad deed with another one, if you were to return with a good deed out of compassion, you would have more friends rather than foes, and that in itself would go a long way in restoring peace and sanity in our life.

All Work and No Play makes Jack a Dull boy

 This is an age old adage that we are all familiar with. Even the Hindu scriptures advocate this in principle. The Bhagawad Gita instructs human beings to neither fondle nor neglect their body, for both can lead to adversity. It is believed that all our organs (sense organs etc.) and the mind must work in co-ordination for effectiveness. Our sense organs are tempted into material needs like food, attire etc. If the mind is not in check, if the mind cannot control these cravings, our body succumbs to the materialistic desires.
 Let us for a moment consider an example of our craving for fame. If our mind gives in to the craving, we end up over exerting and tormenting ourselves. This in turn disrupts the chemical composition of our body like glucose, and in the long term it would affect our health (many of our disease are believed to be emanating from stress). The disease in turn would leave our mind pre-occupied with fear, precluding us from focusing on the larger purpose of life. It would also restrict our physical activity owing to the nature of the disease (depending on how debilitating the disease is ).
 Hence the Bhagawad Gita endorses the importance of disciplining the mind and the body. Yoga, meditation etc. have proved to restore the balance of energy in our body, and help maintain good health. This combined with the training of mind , to not give in to material desires, by being detached, helps in holistic well being. The mind by being detached, restrains our sense organs, and ensures that we do not indulge in debilitating activities. When the mind and the body are sound, when we are not over whelmed by fear or handicaps of any kind, we are better equipped to be effective.

 I would therefore recommend that each of us take up an activity, Yoga, sport anything that helps us maintain a sense of physical well being, in addition to practicing spiritual principles (detachment etc.), to lead an effective life.