Motivation – Self and Selftranscendence

It has been presumed for many years that satisfying lower order needs of workers ‐ adequate food,
clothing and shelter, etc. are key factors in motivation. However, it is a common experience that the
dissatisfaction of the clerk and of the Director is identical ‐ only their scales and composition vary. It
should be true that once the lower‐order needs are more than satisfied, the Director should have
little problem in optimizing his contribution to the organization and society. But more often than
not, it does not happen like that. ("The eagle soars high but keeps its eyes firmly fixed on the dead
animal below.") On the contrary, a lowly paid schoolteacher, or a self‐employed artisan, may well
demonstrate higher levels of self‐actualization despite poorer satisfaction of their lower‐order
needs.
This situation is explained by the theory of self‐transcendence propounded in the Gita. Selftranscendence
involves renouncing egoism, putting others before oneself, emphasizing team work,
dignity, co‐operation, harmony and trust – and, indeed potentially sacrificing lower needs for higher
goals, the opposite of Maslow.
"Work must be done with detachment." It is the ego that spoils work and the ego is the centerpiece
of most theories of motivation. We need not merely a theory of motivation but a theory of
inspiration.
The Great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore (1861‐1941, known as "Gurudev") says working for love
is freedom in action. A concept which is described as "disinterested work" in the Gita where Sri
Krishna says,
"He who shares the wealth generated only after serving the people, through work done as a sacrifice
for them, is freed from all sins. On the contrary those who earn wealth only for themselves, eat sins
that lead to frustration and failure."
Disinterested work finds expression in devotion, surrender and equipoise. The former two are
psychological while the third is determination to keep the mind free of the dualistic (usually taken to
mean "materialistic") pulls of daily experiences. Detached involvement in work is the key to mental
equanimity or the state of "nirdwanda." This attitude leads to a stage where the worker begins to
feel the presence of the Supreme Intelligence guiding the embodied individual intelligence. Such depersonified
intelligence is best suited for those who sincerely believe in the supremacy of
organizational goals as compared to narrow personal success and achievement.

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