A note on the word "YOGA"

Yoga has two different meanings ‐ a general meaning and a technical meaning. The general meaning
is the joining together or union of any two or more things. The technical meaning is "a state of
stability and peace and the means or practices which lead to that state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the
word with both meanings.

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Management needs those who practice what they preach

"Whatever the excellent and best ones do, the commoners follow," says Sri Krishna in the Gita. The
visionary leader must be a missionary, extremely practical, intensively dynamic and capable of
translating dreams into reality. This dynamism and strength of a true leader flows from an inspired
and spontaneous motivation to help others. "I am the strength of those who are devoid of personal
desire and attachment. O Arjuna, I am the legitimate desire in those, who are not opposed to
righteousness," says Sri Krishna in the 10th Chapter of the Gita.

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Manager's Mental Health

Sound mental health is the very goal of any human activity ‐ more so management. Sound mental
health is that state of mind which can maintain a calm, positive poise, or regain it when unsettled, in
the midst of all the external vagaries of work life and social existence. Internal constancy and peace
are the pre‐requisites for a healthy stress‐free mind.
Some of the impediments to sound mental health are:
• Greed ‐ for power, position, prestige and money.
• Envy ‐ regarding others' achievements, success, rewards.
• Egotism ‐ about one's own accomplishments.
• Suspicion, anger and frustration.
• Anguish through comparisons.
The driving forces in today's businesses are speed and competition. There is a distinct danger that
these forces cause erosion of the moral fiber, that in seeking the end, one permits oneself immoral
means ‐ tax evasion, illegitimate financial holdings, being "economical with the truth", deliberate
oversight in the audit, too‐clever financial reporting and so on. This phenomenon may be called as
"yayati syndrome".
In the book, the Mahabharata, we come across a king by the name of Yayati who, in order to revel in
the endless enjoyment of flesh exchanged his old age with the youth of his obliging youngest son for
a thousand years. However, he found the pursuit of sensual enjoyments ultimately unsatisfying and
came back to his son pleading him to take back his youth. This "yayati syndrome" shows the conflict
between externally directed acquisitions (extrinsic motivation) and inner value and conscience
(intrinsic motivation.)

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Work Results

The Gita further explains the theory of "detachment" from the extrinsic rewards of work in saying:
If the result of sincere effort is a success, the entire credit should not be appropriated by the doer
alone.
If the result of sincere effort is a failure, then too the entire blame does not accrue to the doer.
The former attitude mollifies arrogance and conceit while the latter prevents excessive
despondency, de‐motivation and self‐pity. Thus both these dispositions safeguard the doer against
psychological vulnerability, the cause of the modem managers' companions of diabetes, high blood
pressure and ulcers.
Assimilation of the ideas of the Gita leads us to the wider spectrum of "lokasamgraha" (general
welfare) but there is also another dimension to the work ethic ‐ if the "karmayoga" (service) is
blended with "bhaktiyoga" (devotion), then the work itself becomes worship, a "sevayoga" (service
for its own sake.)
Along with bhakti yoga as a means of liberation, the Gita espouses the doctrine of nishkamya karma
or pure action untainted by hankering after the fruits resulting from that action. Modern scientists
have now understood the intuitive wisdom of that action in a new light.
Scientists at the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda found that laboratory monkeys
that started out as procrastinators became efficient workers after they received brain injections that
suppressed a gene linked to their ability to anticipate a reward. The scientists reported that the work
ethic of rhesus macaques wasn't all that different from that of many people: "If the reward is not
immediate, you procrastinate", Dr Richmond told LA Times.
(This may sound a peculiarly religious idea but it has a wider application. It could be taken to mean
doing something because it is worthwhile, to serve others, to make the world a better place – Ed.)

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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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Utilization of available resources

The first lesson of management science is to choose wisely and utilize scarce resources optimally.
During the curtain raiser before the Mahabharata War, Duryodhana chose Sri Krishna's large army
for his help while Arjuna selected Sri Krishna's wisdom for his support. This episode gives us a clue as
to the nature of the effective manager ‐ the former chose numbers, the latter, wisdom.

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Work Culture

An effective work culture is about vigorous and arduous efforts in pursuit of given or chosen tasks.
Sri Krishna elaborates on two types of work culture – "daivi sampat" or divine work culture and
"asuri sampat" or demonic work culture.
Daivi work culture ‐ involves fearlessness, purity, self‐control, sacrifice, straightforwardness, selfdenial,
calmness, absence of fault‐finding, absence of greed, gentleness, modesty, absence of envy
and pride.
Asuri work culture ‐ involves egoism, delusion, personal desires, improper performance, work not
oriented towards service.
Mere work ethic is not enough. The hardened criminal exhibits an excellent work ethic. What is
needed is a work ethic conditioned by ethics in work.
It is in this light that the counsel, "yogah karmasu kaushalam" should be understood. "Kaushalam"
means skill or technique of work which is an indispensable component of a work ethic. “Yogah" is
defined in the Gita itself as "samatvam yogah uchyate" meaning an unchanging equipoise of mind
(detachment.) Tilak tells us that acting with an equable mind is Yoga.
(Bal Gangadhar Tilak, 1856‐1920, the precursor of Gandhiji, hailed by the people of India as
"Lokmanya," probably the most learned among the country's political leaders. For a description of
the meanings of the word "Yoga".)
By making the equable mind the bed‐rock of all actions, the Gita evolved the goal of unification of
work ethic with ethics in work, for without ethical process no mind can attain equipoise. The guru,
Adi Sankara (born circa 800 AD), says that the skill necessary in the performance of one's duty is that
of maintaining an evenness of mind in face of success and failure. The calm mind in the face of
failure will lead to deeper introspection and see clearly where the process went wrong so that
corrective steps could be taken to avoid shortcomings in future.
The principle of reducing our attachment to personal gains from the work done is the Gita's
prescription for attaining equanimity. It has been held that this principle leads to lack of incentive for
effort, striking at the very root of work ethic. To the contrary, concentration on the task for its own
sake leads to the achievement of excellence – and indeed to the true mental happiness of the
worker. Thus, while commonplace theories of motivation may be said to lead us to the bondage or
extrinsic rewards, the Gita's principle leads us to the intrinsic rewards of mental, and indeed moral,
satisfaction.

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Work Commitment

A popular verse of the Gita advises "detachment" from the fruits or results of actions performed in
the course of one's duty. Being dedicated work has to mean "working for the sake of work,
generating excellence for its own sake." If we are always calculating the date of promotion or the
rate of commission before putting in our efforts, then such work is not detached. It is not
"generating excellence for its own sake" but working only for the extrinsic reward that may (or may
not) result.
Working only with an eye to the anticipated benefits, means that the quality of performance of the
current job or duty suffers ‐ through mental agitation of anxiety for the future. In fact, the way the
world works means that events do not always respond positively to our calculations and hence
expected fruits may not always be forthcoming. So, the Gita tells us not to mortgage present
commitment to an uncertain future.
Some people might argue that not seeking the business result of work and actions makes one
unaccountable. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita is full of advice on the theory of cause and effect, making
the doer responsible for the consequences of his deeds. While advising detachment from the avarice
of selfish gains in discharging one's accepted duty, the Gita does not absolve anybody of the
consequences arising from discharge of his or her responsibilities.
Thus the best means of effective performance management is the work itself. Attaining this state of
mind (called "nishkama karma") is the right attitude to work because it prevents the ego, the mind,
from dissipation of attention through speculation on future gains or losses.

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The source of the problem

The reasons for this sorry state of affairs are not far to seek. The Western idea of management
centers on making the worker (and the manager) more efficient and more productive. Companies
offer workers more to work more, produce more, sell more and to stick to the organization without
looking for alternatives. The sole aim of extracting better and more work from the worker is to
improve the bottom‐line of the enterprise. The worker has become a hirable commodity, which can
be used, replaced and discarded at will.
Thus, workers have been reduced to the state of a mercantile product. In such a state, it should
come as no surprise to us that workers start using strikes (gheraos) sit‐ins, (dharnas) go‐slows, workto‐
rule etc. to get maximum benefit for themselves from the organizations. Society‐at‐large is
damaged. Thus we reach a situation in which management and workers become separate and
contradictory entities with conflicting interests. There is no common goal or understanding. This,
predictably, leads to suspicion, friction, disillusion and mistrust, with managers and workers at cross
purposes. The absence of human values and erosion of human touch in the organizational structure
has resulted in a crisis of confidence.
Western management philosophy may have created prosperity – for some people some of the time
at least ‐ but it has failed in the aim of ensuring betterment of individual life and social welfare. It has
remained by and large a soulless edifice and an oasis of plenty for a few in the midst of poor quality
of life for many.
Hence, there is an urgent need to re‐examine prevailing management disciplines ‐ their objectives,
scope and content. Management should be redefined to underline the development of the worker
as a person, as a human being, and not as a mere wage‐earner. With this changed perspective,
management can become an instrument in the process of social, and indeed national, development.
Now let us re‐examine some of the modern management concepts in the light of the Bhagavad Gita
which is a primer of management‐by‐values.

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Old truths in a new context

The Bhagavad Gita, written thousands of years ago, enlightens us on all managerial techniques
leading us towards a harmonious and blissful state of affairs in place of the conflict, tensions, poor
productivity, absence of motivation and so on, common in most of Indian enterprises today – and
probably in enterprises in many other countries.
The modern (Western) management concepts of vision, leadership, motivation, excellence in work,
achieving goals, giving work meaning, decision making and planning, are all discussed in the
Bhagavad Gita. There is one major difference. While Western management thought too often deals
with problems at material, external and peripheral levels, the Bhagavad Gita tackles the issues from
the grass roots level of human thinking. Once the basic thinking of man is improved, it will
automatically enhance the quality of his actions and their results.
The management philosophy emanating from the West is based on the lure of materialism and on a
perennial thirst for profit, irrespective of the quality of the means adopted to achieve that goal. This
phenomenon has its source in the abundant wealth of the West and so 'management by
materialism' has caught the fancy of all the countries the world over, India being no exception to this
trend. My country, India, has been in the forefront in importing these ideas mainly because of its
centuries old indoctrination by colonial rulers, which has inculcated in us a feeling that anything
Western is good and anything Indian, is inferior.
The result is that, while huge funds have been invested in building temples of modem management
education, no perceptible changes are visible in the improvement of the general quality of life ‐
although the standards of living of a few has gone up. The same old struggles in almost all sectors of
the economy, criminalization of institutions, social violence, exploitation and other vices are seen
deep in the body politic.

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Gita Saar for Management Gurus (In Short)

One of the greatest contributions of India to the world is Holy Gita which is considered to be one of the first revelations from God.
Bhagavad‐Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical
life. It provides "all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level."
Arjuna got mentally depressed when he saw his relatives with whom he has to fight.
(Mental health has become a major international public health concern now). To motivate him the
Bhagavad Gita is preached in the battle field Kurukshetra by Lord Krishna to Arjuna as counseling to
do his duty while multitudes of men stood by waiting. It has got all the management tactics to
achieve the mental equilibrium and to overcome any crisis situation. The Bhagavad Gita can be
experienced as a powerful catalyst for transformation. Bhagavad Gita means song of the Spirit, song
of the Lord. The Holy Gita has become a secret driving force behind the unfoldment of one's life. In
the days of doubt this divine book will support all spiritual searches. This divine book will contribute
to self reflection, finer feeling and deepen one's inner process. Then life in the world can become a
real education—dynamic, full and joyful—no matter what the circumstance. May the wisdom of
loving consciousness ever guide us on our journey? What makes the Holy Gita a practical psychology
of transformation is that it offers us the tools to connect with our deepest intangible essence and we
must learn to participate in the battle of life with right knowledge?
The Holy Gita is the essence of the Vedas, Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable to people
of all temperaments and for all times. It is a book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on
Yoga, Devotion, Vedanta and Action. It is profound in thought and sublime in heights of vision. It
brings peace and solace to souls that are afflicted by the three fires of mortal existence, namely,
afflictions caused by one's own body (disease etc), those caused by beings around one (e.g. wild
animals, snakes etc.), and those caused by the gods (natural disasters, earth‐quakes, floods etc).
Mind can be one's friend or enemy. Mind is the cause for both bondage and liberation. The word
mind is derived from man to think and the word man derived from Manu (Sanskrit word for man).
"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all
living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy."
There is no theory to be internalized and applied in this psychology. Ancient practices spontaneously
induce what each person needs as the individual and the universal coincide. The work proceeds
through intellectual knowledge of the playing field (jnana yoga), emotional devotion to the ideal
(bhakti yoga) and right action that includes both feeling and knowledge (karma yoga). With ongoing
purification we approach wisdom. The Bhagavad Gita is a message addressed to each and every
human individual to help him or her to solve the vexing problem of overcoming the present and
progressing towards a bright future. Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human drama. This is
the experience of everyone in this world, the drama of the ascent of man from a state of utter
dejection, sorrow and total breakdown and hopelessness to a state of perfect understanding, clarity,
renewed strength and triumph.
Mind is very restless, forceful and strong, O Krishna, it is more difficult to control the mind than to
control the wind ~ Arjuna to Sri Krishna

In this modern world the art of Management has become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at
home, in the office or factory and in Government. In all organizations, where a group of human
beings assemble for a common purpose irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, management
principles come into play through the management of resources, finance and planning, priorities,
policies and practice. Management is a systematic way of carrying out activities in any field of
human effort.
Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their weaknesses irrelevant, says
the Management Guru Peter Drucker. It creates harmony in working together ‐ equilibrium in
thoughts and actions, goals and achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It
resolves situations of scarcity, be they in the physical, technical or human fields, through maximum
utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve the goal. Lack of management causes
disorder, confusion, wastage, delay, destruction and even depression. Managing men, money and
materials in the best possible way, according to circumstances and environment, is the most
important and essential factor for a successful management. It should literally transform how people
think and help them finally realize the potential of a truly universal knowledge that is wisdom.

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Finding Love Again

Life partners, lovers, friends, companions – they all have different names through out our lives. No matter which stage of life we find ourselves in, we all seek companionship of one kind or another.

So, the story goes..

You have lost a spouse from a terrible disease or a tragic accident, someone you relied on each and every day for even the smallest of things. Someone who captured your heart and made it go pitter patter. Someone who was the peanut butter to your jelly.

I imagine you wonder if you would ever be happy again.

Some years later, along comes someone, an old friend, someone reliable, kind and someone you are comfortable with. It’s like your batteries have been put on a charger and zap… you smile, not just a simple smile, but one of those curling toes and goose bump smiles.

You feel alive again, you feel needed, wanted and loved in a way you questioned if it was possible ever again.

A beautiful story – finding love again.

What is being replaced is emptiness & lonliness, what’s being replaced is a tear of sadness for one of joy.

Peace

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