Business to the Buddha

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  • Education, religion and spirituality

    Adviti showing sketch

    Adviti is attending school now, this started off with thoughts on education, religion, and spirituality. She is three years and we opted for online schooling finally. We avoided it initially, but the Chinese virus (Covid-19) gave us no option of formal school for her. It has been only two weeks. This time around the questions were more than just why do we educate kids? and also the race we start with our kid’s schooling.

    During our primary education, we read this story in our syllabus. This is apt for our life in general and I take a parallel from this story in religion and spirituality as well. Let me first narrate the story to you.

    Hunter and the parrots

    A jungle was famous for its species of parrots. One day a hunter crossed by this jungle. He was mighty impressed with these different types and colors of parrots. The hunter put his net and no wonder he could catch a lot of parrots. He sold those in the market and made a lot of money. He started visiting this jungle often.

    Brighter-day

    A sage lived in this jungle too. He observed that the number of parrots was drastically reducing. Sage being sage, compassionate, and friendly to every animal of the jungle, started teaching these parrots.

    The sage taught these parrots –

    The hunter comes, spreads his net,
    puts some grains, we should avoid this trap

    The exact words we learnt in the Hindi version was 

    शिकारी आता है. जाल फैलता है.
    दाना डालता है. हमें जाल में नहीं फ़सना चाहिए।

    The parrots learned it quickly. They started singing it all the time. When the hunter came he was taken aback. He was fearful now he won’t get these parrots. With a heavy heart, he put his net again. To his surprise, all the parrots were in the net and singing the same song

    The hunter comes, spreads his net,
    puts some grains, we should avoid this trap

    With immense pleasure, he took his prized possession. This time he had value-added parrots – parrots who spoke language!

    When the hunter crossed sage’s hut, sage was smiling. He saw all the parrots singing the song inside the trap that they had to avoid.

    The moral of the story

    We must learn instead of rote memorization. we must learn instead so that conceptual learning can be applied in many walks of life.

    Additionally, there are chances that someone says one thing but does another. We must learn two things – first, we must walk the talk, and second, identify people who do not walk the talk and be cautious.

    Education

    When Adiviti sits for her school sessions, I sit with her. Initially, I was frustrated (at times now too) with her slow response. She knows the things but does not respond, at times she does not understand – because she predominantly understands Marathi and Hindi and not English. She does not follow instructions.

    We learn a lot of very basic and important things in our schools. How much do we apply in our life? Be it learning instead of rote method or the basics – do not steal, do not tell lie, etc.

    Religion

    Another thought triggered in my mind. We learn almost all the ten commandments of Abrahamic religions in School, isn’t it? Most of the religion teach such basic things in our life. If this is the only lesson of religion our school or syllabus of school education is no less than a religious book. In fact, in this case, the schools and education are much more than many of the religions of the world.

    Though I know I have made this comparison on a very high level. In whatever case, what more the religions teach? Follow what is taught, in some cases do not use your brain. Do not question the authority, isn’t it?

    Religions that do not allow questioning is far lesser than school education. At least school education allows asking questions!

    I am a born Hindu (a Lingayat), I have questioned almost everyone and everything religious since childhood. When I was unconvinced I stopped going to temples. When I started understanding few things about Hinduism and started reading few scriptures, I realized many scriptures are dialogs. On the battlefield, Arjun asked questions, Janaka asked questions to Ashtavakra, and Vashisth and Rama discussed multiple things. When someone wrote Upnishad no one asked to believe those by force.

    The Buddha or Mahavir (and other Tirthankaras of Jainism) also gave the point of view without forcing others to accept those as gospel truth.

    Spirituality

    I have written on religion vs spirituality earlier. In that blog, I had given an analogy between religion and spirituality to sex and love. Since now I am looking at education, I created another analogy between education and learning to religion and spirituality. You can learn without formal education. I have heard of a past CM of Maharashtra – Vasant Dada Patil He was educated to only 4th grade. However, he was the harbinger of the robust canal and irrigation system of Maharashtra.

    If we look at multiple definitions of spirituality what best comes to my mind is – “search for meaning in life”. I can connect to the Indic religion (Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism) to a large extent. Spirituality is beyond any geography, religious rituals, and believing in a single book alone. Spirituality includes every living being – I can write more on that however that is for some other day.

    In fact, if I take the freedom to extrapolate the story, the hunter (शिकारी) is our false sense of self, net (जाल) greed, lust, ego etc and the grains – bait – (दाना) is our false sense of satisfaction or pleasure. We should not get in the net (जाल), here WE is the SELF.

    Education, religion, and spirituality

    What I have observed is that education and religion are like parrots in the cage. They know what they are saying but they do not understand the meaning of what they are saying. It is with many people and religions worldwide. In fact just because of that either we see terrorism or atheism in the world. People have either lost trust in religion or they are so faithful that they see killing those who do not comply with the point of view of the killer.

    At the same time, learning and spirituality are conceptualizing, synthesizing, and questioning, and exploring. Learning involves a sense of experience similar to spirituality. Look at religion you would get a lot of people who can reiterate books word by word without knowing and experiencing. This is what differentiates religion and spirituality.

    I saw a tweet from Elon Musk once – “I hate when people confuse education with intelligence, you can have a bachelor’s degree and still be an idiot.”

    Education, intelligence Elon Musk tweet

    The corollary, in this case, is – one can be known for religion and religious knowledge without actually being a spiritual master. Whereas Spiritual masters many times are against the dogmas and are more practical and clear about what they say, do, and mean.

    Adviti’s schooling is a learning experience for me. I have to get off the showjumping thing we have observed. I have to let her learn at her own pace. What matters is how intelligent she becomes with the education not how much she scores in school. What is more important is she becomes a virtuous person who walks the talk – not like the parrots who are in the cage reiterating the lesson –

    The hunter comes, spreads his net,
    puts some grains, we should avoid this trap

    The exact words we learnt in the Hindi version was 

    शिकारी आता है. जाल फैलता है.
    दाना डालता है. हमें जाल में नहीं फ़सना चाहिए।

  • Education

    I and my wife were rushing to our offices on our two wheeler. This a routine happens daily (include Saturday for her). Actually, this race to office is common place in Mumbai. Many go without interest and many others like us go not only with choice but also to make a difference. Yes, sounds strange – what difference one person can make? But this is how I and my wife take our jobs “very seriously”. This race starts in the morning at about 7:30 AM and ends at about 7:30 PM in evening or later. Now, do not ask – how much difference we have made in our respective companies or our own life. When I ask this question to my self – at times I feel as if we both are running on a treadmill. We are running very fast but are not reaching anywhere on a treadmill.

    This day was no different, we were on our two wheeler, it was not raining. Rain had played a lot of games with us recently. Whenever we were wearing raincoat, it didn’t rain. It was bit sunny and therefore we thought its may not rain today, hopefully by we reach office. Suddenly it started raining and raining like anything, yes this was shocking but happens. So instead of rushing I stopped our vehicle at a bus stop shed and we both wore our raincoat, besides we waited for rain to subdue – it was not very cloudy so we knew it wont rain for long. Ten minutes and it stopped, we started our rush to office again, this time we did not take off our coats.

    In these ten minutes I learnt something interesting – some times, “it is ok to stop in life instead of rushing.” On the contrary it was good to take that break in this particular situation rain stopped.

    When are we going to teach such things to our coming generation? I thought that we teach many things to our children however most of the time, it is for economics returns and not necessarily for living a fulfilling life, just an example – instead of rushing and running just being. An after thought of this question is this – education is a very formal approach, whereas learning is informal. Learning is – stop somewhere instead of rushing; on the contrary education – that is a formal one – makes one assuming rushing to the destination is the solution. Before anyone makes any opinion about my thoughts – I am not trying to undermine education (certificate based formal teaching), it is required to help an individual to be economically better off and help the society take an example of Kashmiri stonepelters – if they get a regular job they wont unnecessarily go out to support terrorists.

    Education was last week’s LBC topic where Maria, Rummuser, Ashok, Shackman and I write weekly. You can visit their blogs and read their thoughts on the topic.

  • Leadership and education

    Election results of couple of Indian states are out and largely there are clear mandates in all states. So, there are not many permutations and combinations happening for forming governments. I was wondering about the elections, results and post results – five years. The long term thoughts (five years after results) were hampered by a news of rabble rousing activities in UP. Does the confidence of victory create so much defiance that people do not mind taking law in their hands or crossing the limits?

    This question lets me ask myself – what do we need? Politicians or leaders? Are politicians really leaders? I was thinking about this and on LinkedIn I read a question. IF YOU HAVE GOOD STRATEGY, DO YOU STILL NEED A LEADER?

    Can a good strategy create a leader or leaders can create effective strategies? My answer is leaders can create effective strategies. Also, I heard someone say – An army of sheep led by a lion are more to be feared than an army of lions led by a sheep.

    I was talking to Prof Ramanathan, he told me “…Pravin I see there is a lack of leadership at various levels, be it corporate or others…”

    The fact of the matter is the crisis is wide spread are we creating leaders? Are we creating excel, power point and ivory tower experts of solutions? When I read the book – I have a dream I realized that there are people who took initiatives, who rolled their sleeves and got down to work. There may be many more not covered in the book, yet how many of us have become leaders after studying at Ivy league?

    Recently, I met Prof Mankad, we discussed Greek crisis and the visible solutions to it. He made a good observation on the economic power of China that made me think – having and managing power requires a sense of responsibility and ability to be fair. This ability requires courage and confidence to say – ‘yes I erred’ when one did commit mistake. Does our education teach kids to have these qualities?

  • Value for Money: From Balloons to the Breath of Life

    In the rush of boarding school bus, after the Delhi blasts in of early November 2025, a simple conversation with my seven-year-old daughter Adviti unfolded like a gentle teaching from the Buddha himself. She wondered why I hesitated over certain toys and things she adored. I struggled to convey the essence of “value for money”. A delicate balance where investment yields joy, utility, and lasting worth. My complex mind was thinking in jargons and like the economic principle of optimizing resources for maximum benefit.

    I thought for a while and was failing to get to the concept. Suddenly an idea came to mind to make this real for her young mind. Drawing from our market stroll few weeks ago, I told her about the big balloon we bought from market at 25 rupees: “What if it bursts right away, leaving no play, no laughter? Those 25 rupees vanish like mist, offering nothing in return.” Her eyes lit up with understanding, grasping in an instant what eludes many adults.​

    Value: in professional sense

    This conversation happened with Adviti as I lit the diya in our home temple. My thoughts moved to a parallel world. The balloon transformed in my mind into the fragile vessel of life itself; our prana (or life), fleeting human form, so easily burst by carelessness or violence.

    Yet this shift does not diminish the drive of daily dharma; my thoughts move to the spirituality. Though, it does not mean that professionally, I take life easily. I am competitive compared to many I see. I always strive to do things that make a difference, with a simple life goal that people remember me as a professional who punched above his weight. This is an ambition of leaving legacy, yet it naturally flows into deeper inquiry. But after that, the next step always is spirituality.

    Thus, weaving the threads of marketplace and mandir, I tried balancing these thoughts. In business, value for money demands efficiency, quality, and impact; in spirituality, it calls us to question the true return on our life’s investment. Hinduism’s karma and Buddhism’s Right Livelihood urge us to create positive ripples – for self, family, society – turning every action into Dhyan and Dana, selfless giving that endures beyond the transaction.

    Shadows of Wasted Value

    These positive waves can quickly turn into chaos when bad events disrupt our peace. I was thinking all these things and at the back of my mind, the recent Delhi blasts brought back painful memories of the Mumbai attacks I saw in 2006, 2008, and 2011, making me think how ignoring life’s value affects everyone around us.

    Terrorists squander their own lives and others’, blind to the sanctity of existence. A doctor, trained to heal, choosing instead to destroy, was completely beyond my comprehension. At the same time, I was angry, no one holds the right to burst another’s balloon, for in ahimsa (non-violence) lies true value addition for generations. Imagine channelling that education into service, not harm; this is enlightened management, where economic prudence meets spiritual awakening, fostering communities of compassion over chaos.​

    Child’s Wisdom, Adult Awakening

    Adviti, at seven, embraced value for money through play; when will the learned among us awaken to the same concept to “value of life”, the life’s greater worth?

    Invest mindfully, act ethically, live purposefully. In blending business acumen with Buddha’s wisdom, we ensure no burst leaves us empty, only enriched, connected, eternal.
    Let this simple lesson from the balloon stay with us all, like a quiet reminder during our morning aarti. It shows us how to move from everyday buying-selling to real, lasting change in life; the kind that touches our atma and stays forever.

  • Is Curiosity a Lost Art?

    Is Curiosity a Lost Art?

    Remember the days of limited educational choices? Back then, the state board was the only option, a true “choiceless choice.” This “choiceless choice” reminded me of a concept in Indian spirituality – but that’s a conversation for another time!

    Fast forward to today, not only there are so many boards but also they are USPs of each. Recently, in one session in my daughter’s school where they were introducing parents to different boards, the presenter emphasized the importance of asking questions as a core value. This sparked a thought: isn’t this very principle a cornerstone of both business success and spiritual exploration?

    Inquisitiveness, they argued, was a core value of their educational philosophy. It got me thinking – I actually did the same thing with my daughter, Adviti, from a young age. I instilled in her the habit of asking “why” whenever something wasn’t clear. Though she is too young still and was even younger at that time to understand the meaning of asking questions.

    Questioning Your Assumptions (Even in Business)

    I have written on questioning your assumptions earlier as well. Here is an interesting story – I’ve been into management consulting. In such service business we do have tailored solutions yet the solutions have similar framework. We’re presenting to a potential client, during the discussions prospects and we were asking insightful questions to each other simultaneously learning about needs and challenges.  By actively listening, engaging and asking for clarification, we tailor our solution as per their needs and secure a happy client.

    The learning is – Asking questions demonstrates genuine interest, builds trust, and leads to better outcomes.

    The Art of the Question (and When Not to Take Offense)

    However, there are times when asking questions can be misconstrued. Imagine being added to a group by a senior colleague, only to discover a highly charged political atmosphere. When someone questions a post and you provide factual references to support it, you might expect a discussion, right? Wrong. Suddenly, you’re removed without explanation. This frustrating experience begs the question: When does a simple “why” or “what are the rules” become offensive?

    It happened with me twice. A very senior person of my institute added me in his group of institute alumni. I did not know the rules of the group and later on came to know he is highly politically motivated. One fine day someone posted something and the admin questioned the varsity of the post. To bolster the original post, I shared news article links. Admin removed the person who had posted the message.

    I replied, why have you removed him, I gave you references of sources, what the person wrote is correct. He did not respond. I asked – “what are the rules of the group?” What constitute a valid datapoint? “I was removed”.

    This person is very senior retired officer of a PSU. I wondered if government offices in India worked like that few decades back. There were no set of rules and still you have to follow some rules? This is an inference from this individual’s stupidity, I may be wrong about the functioning of Govt offices in the past though.

    So, when I asked some other alumni, I was told “Lunatic hai”, “even after retirement PSU mindset not gone”. I said, I want to know the rules of the group. I never got a response from him nor others in the group. I wish he gets a ticket to contest an election from his favourite pollical party, he would have a reality check ????

    Is Curiosity a Lost Art?

    Perhaps it’s a self-esteem issue. Could a fear of being challenged lead someone to shut down curiosity? It certainly makes you wonder what happens to those who can’t tolerate a healthy exchange of ideas. (This is a great discussion point in the comments! What are your thoughts?)

    The Power of Curiosity in Spirituality

    Now, let’s explore the spiritual angle. Indian spirituality often emphasizes the importance of inquiry. I have written on it earlier as well – there is no other religion of country where so many people have asked so many authorities. I am pretty sure if Indians will see God in human form, they will not spare him/her and ask umpteen questions to him/her. Take an example of Arjuna asking Krishna!

    The Buddha travelled from one monastery to the other and had many teachers in his quest to Nirvana. He too had many questions, some answered by each of the teachers and some he learnt himself. Isn’t the entire concept of seeking enlightenment fueled by a deep-seated curiosity about the nature of reality and our place within it? Just like in business and education, asking questions paves the way for deeper understanding.

    So, Let’s All Be Curious!

    Here’s the takeaway: There are no bad questions! Asking questions demonstrates your engagement, your eagerness to learn, and your openness to new information. It helps you grasp information better, challenge assumptions, and ultimately, find better solutions. So next time you have a question, don’t hold back! Your curiosity might just unlock a world of possibilities, both personally and professionally. After all, life is short. Let’s embrace open discussions and learn from each other, just like my daughter is learning at her school!

    Image source – Photo by willsantt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/child-holding-clear-glass-jar-with-yellow-light-2026960/

  • Mindful or Involuntary action, are you spiritual or religious?

    Mindful or Involuntary action, are you spiritual or religious?

    I lived in Dhar, a small district headquarters in Madhya Pradesh. It is a small city or say a town. It is a peaceful city with low crime rates. I hope it is still like that. This small place taught me how to handle your fears, it does not include the Fear of the God. Those days there was no fear kidnapping or children lost in the city. So, we kids used to go from one place to the other alone unquestioned.

    Dog of our area

    In Dhar, like any other city in India, you could see domestic animals on road. Stray dogs were no surprise either. There was a stray dog in our area. We walked that place multiple times daily. This dog was tough to handle. It used to bark, run behind, fight with other dogs, and occasionally bite. We kids were scared to cross the place when we learnt about the dog. In fact, we were “dog fearing”.

    Fear of dog

    We could not stop going to school because of the dog. We devised a plan, we started keeping stones in our hands. Whenever we saw the dog, we threw stones at him and ran away from that area. This dog-fear gave us a solution to scare the dog away rather than be scared.

    But why am I telling this story to you? This story has a very nasty relation and question to you – How can you “respect” someone as scary as a mad dog? I know when you read further you may hate me or be disappointed because I am questioning your beliefs. But I must pose this question to you. How can you be “God fearing”? If God is such fearful entity, it must be called a demon, isn’t it? If God is good, we should have a healthy relation with him/her and not a fearful one.

    God fearing

    If you have followed my blog for past few years you must have read about my marriage alliances. In my matrimony profile I had written “I am spiritual but not necessarily religious”. Some of the prospective alliances confused it with “religious”. So, prospective bride or bride’s family told multiple types of stories around their being religious.

    At some of the interactions I smiled and explained to a few that I rarely go to a traditional temple. I may call few places as places for my worship such as my art of living center where I go for weekly sadhana or meditation practices.

    After a few attempts, I started ignoring it – spirituality does not necessarily mean religious. I had lost interest to explain it to people. Why? Because I met about two dozen families or alliances for the alliance discussion.

    Once, I heard a very interesting new term. “I am god fearing”. I had never heard it earlier, I was impressed and surprised too. Probably I was less educated about religion. I had to ask around what does this mean? Is it “religious?”

    Spiritual not necessarily religious

    Fortunately, I have some great mentors, one is Ramana uncleji. I shared this profile with him and asked him what does “God fearing” mean?

    Uncleji told me – “None of the Indian religion teaches you fear. In fact, none teaches you fearing from God in specifics.”

    I added – yes, I understand – Krishna is embodiment of love.

    Spiritual mindful lotus

    Uncleji continued – “Yes, the concept of fear of God is from Abrahamic religion (religions that started from the Central Asia). The girl is from a convent school.”

    I was shocked, how could he figure it out? He was correct, though the profile did not have specifics of primary education. He said I understand it because mostly this is where you may learn the concept of fear from the Gods. Regular Indian family may hardly teach “Fear the Gods” at home.

    He further added, the concept of fear from the God works when you must keep people in check and let them follow you “unquestionably”. Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism etc) hardly force you to follow the diktat without questioning.

    I further mumbled – that’s correct, Arjuna asks questions to Krishna in Bhagvad Geeta. Vashishtha answers to Rama in Yog Vashishtha. In Ashtavakra Geeta, Ashtavakra discusses with Janaka and Shiva Sutra is full of questions from Parvati. We Indians have argued with almost every God.

    Spiritual vs religious the difference

    I have met many people who keep on bowing whenever they see a temple. It happens at times when the closing of eyes and folding of hands looks like an involuntary action. Involuntary action means something that happens without your conscious choice; examples are breathing, digestion and closing of eye in case of sudden light.

    Namaste on the back

    If you are just folding your hands without even your knowledge or without any deeper respect in your heart what is the meaning? It is like you closed your eyes when you saw a danger.

    The idea of bowing down is not necessarily incorrect. Devotion makes you bow. This comes out of reverence and not fear. Bowing down can be a great mindful act and not an involuntary action, isn’t it?

    Rarely, I saw that bowing down out of devotion or reverence. Mostly people bow down crossing any place of worship because of two reasons either they have some demand, or they are scared.

    Fearing the God

    In fact, I am amazed, the convent educated are a step ahead in the confusion. I saw these convent educated to make a cross on their face (similar to a Christian would do while crossing a church). I asked to one – what is that? She said we passed by the temple.

    I smiled and said shouldn’t you be folding your hand?

    Fear of the God

    I further inquired, why did you do that? The response was – it has become a habit. Really? A habit? Did you not learn something known as “respect”?

    Fear created this habit. It is like an involuntary action, as a kid we used to keep stone when we saw fearsome dog in Dhar. How can you be a God-fearing person? How can you call yourself religious if you fear God?

    At best the creature who gives you fear can be a fearsome villain, a monster or demon, if I say in Hindi an Asur or Rakshasa. You can fear a stray dog not the God. If you fear the God, it simply means you are taught incorrectly, there is likely a problem in your religious learning.

    Next time, when you bow down remember – the temple or the Murti in the temple is just a representation. The God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. You would know soon if you are religious – as conditioned in childhood – or spiritual. It is better the bowing down happens due to reverence and mindfulness rather than fear and involuntary.

    Image source – Husky dog by Ilya Shishikhin on Unsplash, Lotus by Jay Castor on Unsplash, Yoga pose by Avrielle Suleiman on Unsplash, Love and fear quote frame by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

  • Half knowledge

    We learn things slowly. Slow learning is ok, however continuous learning is important otherwise the knowledge becomes half knowledge. The baby steps we take make us learn, yet at the same time, if we stick to the only what is written in the book without using our brain, we may get constricted and end up knowing only what we read – result – half knowledge. It is detrimental.

    Half knowledge is lie goat eating a piece of paper
    Source Flickr

    Half knowledge is equivalent to goat eating a piece of paper that had information. Goat would digest the paper but not the knowledge on that paper. I will share some examples.

    H for Hen ‘and much more’

    My daughter – Adviti – is learning alphabets – both Hindi and English. She has difficulty in saying ‘R’ and few other Hindi alphabets so she mixes up few things. In alphabets, she says E for Hathi. Because she knows the photo and she knows the name of the animal in Hindi. She used to say H for Tap tap (for horse). She found pronouncing Horse difficult so she said tap tap because horse runs with that kind of sound. We found it funny, but we wanted to correct it. Now we teach her H for Hen. Once we were teaching her and for something I said Hand. She got confused H for Hand or H for Hen! This is a learning process, we slowly understand that H for Hen was just for us to learn the alphabet H. H has many more alphabets be it a noun or otherwise. Imagine Adviti restricting herself to H for Hen alone! She will miss a multitude of things in life (more than 33000 words starting with H included). Half knowledge can restrict one’s horizons.

    Knowing book by page number is not knowledge

    The second incident is about half-knowledge but knowing some stuff to the T. I loved Chemistry subject, in standard 12, and especially a textbook ‘Comprehensive Chemistry’ the most. My special liking was Organic chemistry. I read the book multiple times such that I remembered the page number, the image of the page, and the content of the pages. Even after a year, when someone asked me a question, I responded – open Comprehensive Chemistry, go to page 236, it is on the left side of the book, in the center, there is a picture just below the picture read 2nd para (say the last para) you will get the concept. The answer to your question is – “XYZ”. Do not search for the book and pages now – I am talking about 1998, many things might have changed by now in the textbook :).

    Knowing such details of the book (One book precisely) did not make me an expert in Chemistry for sure. Because all that was mostly bookish knowledge with few experiments in Chemistry lab of School. At best, I had a photographic memory – not expertise in Chemistry, isn’t it? Even a Ph.D. may not say (s)he knows the fundamental subject line Chemistry / Physics completely.

    Hathiphant

    The other incident happened with my cousin brother and my eldest sister. They were talking about the education system of India. My cousin brother said there are downsides to teaching kids a medium (language) that is not the mother tongue. He recalled a neighbor who used to call an elephant – ‘Hathiphant’. This coined word is a mix of two words; Hathi a Hindi word for Elephant and part of Elephant – Phant. Merge these words and you will get Hathiphant. This confused toddler learned both words at home and in confusion made the Elephant a Hathiphant. Half knowledge can make one jumble multiple things and make a conclusion that may be incorrect.

    This has happened to me too when I was a student. We learned something and later that something became another thing (Hathi to Elephant). Let me tell you how can q kid get confused. I learned – I live in Dhar (a small city in India). Later, I learned- I live in Madhya Pradesh, lastly, I learned- I live in India. How is that possible? A 6-year-old cannot understand why and how can one person be in three different places? Later it was clear what living in three docent paves meant?. In 3rd we had nine planets, later Pluto was removed from the list, funny isn’t it?

    Half-knowledge

    Well, no it is not funny. We keep on learning. If we stop learning and improving our knowledge becomes half knowledge. This half-knowledge is harmful. Our learning makes us understand that our knowledge is limited and we are consistently adding to our body of knowledge. Alas! Some people, knowing one book, feel as if they’ve known everything. Reciting few books by page number and chapter plus paragraph didn’t make us intelligent or omniscient.

    I had a photographic memory of the Chemistry book, but I wasn’t fully aware of the field of Chemistry, isn’t it? Well, but why am I talking about it here? This applies to spirituality too, have you heard people reciting verses from books? Do they have the knowledge, mostly no? They at best have a photographic memory to vomit words from a reference book. Knowledge and experience on the spiritual path are pristine, once you hear those enlightened masters you quickly get connected. I have met a few of such masters in person, I have that first-hand experience of witnessing the presence.

    Similarly, in businesses too, not all business grads become successful managers or entrepreneurs. Becoming a successful business person requires more than the degree, knowledge, isn’t it?

    The point is, be it the path of spirituality or business, or a toddler learning language, we keep on learning and experiencing new things. Every experience is unique and thus, if we assume that photographic memory of any certain book is the knowing everything; it is – in effect – detrimental to not just one person but everyone around. On the path of spirituality and religion it a disaster for sure.

    Every situation demands a unique set of tools. I think that is why Krishna was needed on Pandavas’s side during the Mahabharat war. Yudhisthir – and all Pandava brothers were – (was) predictable. They went by the book, defeating Pandava’s won’t have been tough for Kaurava’s because they knew Pandava’s would go by the books all the time, besides having a bigger army. That is where unpredictability and Krishna’s intelligence came in handy. Experience of bending the rules could play in the hands of those who understand the situation and learn from experience. Those who learn from and are ready to learn from the experiences do not have half the knowledge. Be ready for learning, implementing, experiencing, and continuing it lifelong.

    Image source – Flickr

  • Spirituality and Science

    Mahavir – the Jain Tirthankar – was traveling – walking – for his rainy season retreat (Chaumasa). As is the case with any enlightened master in India, Mahavir too had followers traveling with him. One of his followers – named Gaushalak – was mischievous and wanted to have Proof of his enlightenment.

    While they were crossing a rivulet. Gaushalak asked Mahavir, do you see that plant? Mahavir responded in the affirmative. He further asked Mahavir, would this plant grow into a tree? You know all, you can see the future, and you are enlightened can you please confirm this?

    It is said that enlightened people can talk to even the non-living, or in other words, they can understand beyond the perceived too. In fact, someone told me that in Indian Ayurveda, Rishi’s came to know about some of the herbs when they asked the plant for a cure.

    So, Mahavir reached to the plant, apparently, he asked the plant would you grow into a tree? The plant responded to Mahavir in a Yes. Only Mahavir was at the consciousness level to hear the plant, none of the others. He continued his walk and responded in another affirmative to this follower.

    As this follower wanted to test Mahavir, he went to the plant, pulled it off the ground, and threw it aside. Further, he said – I have removed the plant; I am proving you wrong right now itself. Mahavir continued his walk.

    The rain retreat was over. Mahavir and his followers walked back, cross the same rivulet. Mahavir pointed to a plant and told Gaushalak – do you see the plant? This is the same one, it has not only found another ground but also grown within the past few months. Gaushalak was ashamed of his deeds and doubting the master.

    If I related this story to us as professionals, it is the will to cross the hurdles and blossom in adversities when you have been uprooted.

    My experience

    What makes enlightened masters different than the others? They have a consciousness level of super-consciousness. Super-consciousness can be defined as omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. It may sound a bit off from the spirituality where God is not a matter of discussion. The Buddha did not answer the question of the existence of God. Consciousness has a higher level that is beyond the manifested world.

    I attended a meditation silence retreat of the art of living foundation during the new year’s weekend. It was a wonderful experience. It helped me to understand and experience some unique things. Many experiences cannot be expressed in words. However, the concept of spirituality connected to present-day physics (quantum mechanics) was very easy to grasp and experience. We are all wave functions. Hinduism states that we are made of five elements – Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Space. Space is omnipresent. All the other elements according to the Mass Energy equation of Einstein are interchangeable to mass (I would call it manifestation) to energy and vice versa.

    The Indian sages have achieved multiple manifestations and changes of form. Read Autobiography of a yogi or At the 11th hour for some examples. Basically, we believe in things that we can comprehend or think are possible. We call things as miracles that are incomprehensible or beyond our perception “as possible”. Slowly science and spirituality seem to be merging. Now our experience can connect the dots to scientific proofs. Slowly our perception of miracle, manifest and unmanifest will be even more blur.

    Two miracles

    In a place named Agar Malwa in MP, there is a Samadhi of Swami Jaynarayan Ji Upadhyay. He was a lawyer and a meditation practitioner. It is an incident of July 1931. Once he was in deep meditation (Samadhi) and missed attending the final hearing of one of his clients. When he came out of meditation, he ran to the court. There he came to know that his final arguments were unbeatable, and his client is acquitted. He was physically in meditation at a temple and there he was in the court too. He knew he missed the session. People say that after hearing this about himself, he left everything and became a monk. Recently, in the same city a law college started and it is named after him.

    Similarly, there is another incident of Guru Nanak dev’s manifestation. It is said that when Guru Nanak dev Ji died, His mortal remains turned into flowers. There was a dispute about his last rites. His Muslim followers wanted to bury, Hindu and Sikh devotees wanted to cremate the remains. Guru Nanak dev Ji avoided this dispute by suggesting the followers bring flowers and keep the same on either side of his. Whichever side’s flowers remain fresh, that sect’s custom should be followed with mortal remains. After his death, only flowers remained, the body could not be found. It is documented as well.

    Spirituality and science

    Some things are beyond comprehension – at least as of now. However, those things can be possible. Science is able to provide an explanation for some, during and after the silence meditation retreat course, I could connect some dots relate to some experiences. Earlier I used to dismiss such stories as fiction. Now, I feel that there is something unexplained for science – call it the ether or Space element – that can be experienced with deeper meditations.

    The point I want to drive home is, we are spiritual beings in physical forms. The idea is not to discuss miracles but the possibilities. Finally, each one is a wave function condensed into a manifestation. In some cases those who are evolved can make change manifestation too. Probably, the self-realization spirituality talks about is the realization and experience of the wave function – that is the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.

    Image source – https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/introduction-quantum-mechanics

  • Competing with ourselves

    Learning is learning, what is the scope or meaning of competition in that? Everyone has his or her level of comprehension and skillset. Some take more time to learn math but are wonderful at poetry others take less time but not good with creativity. Isn’t it common? So life is good when we try to be a better version of ourselves, competing with ourselves rather than trying to compete with everyone out there. I hope the new education policy, keeps this at its core rather than making kids slog to get more marks.

    https://business2buddha.com/2018/10/i-want-to-be-the-winner/
    Now, when I look back I feel most of the times, it is about collective growth rather than me over you. After reading about interdependent co-arising I have always believed in collective growth.
    https://business2buddha.com/2017/07/education/
     some times, “it is ok to stop in life instead of rushing.”
    https://business2buddha.com/2020/02/interdependent-co-arising-in-long-run/
    We at times miss the power of small things and ignore them. This understanding of sensitivity of impact of one thing on a larger scale makes a person compassionate.

    Inspiration for competing to improve myself

    I was an (above) average Joe in school days, used to do a lot of extracurricular. This happened when I was in grade 11. In 11th, we all took admission in this school from different schools. I started sitting with my colony friend Sumit and his friend Nikhil. Both of them were far more intelligent, toppers, and NTSE (National Talent Search Examination) scholars. At the beginning of grade 11, I wasn’t very serious about studies. I wanted to be an engineer however I was still in many extracurricular kind of lacking focus. I found the focus on studies after an interesting incident, and yet continued with extracurricular.

    school

    One day, Nikhil was sitting with his Mathematics “book” and thinking something. Because this book was kept below the desk and there was no notebook. I asked, “what are you reading”? He replied, “I am solving a problem”. I said there is no notebook and you seem to be reading a book. He said “trying to solve it mentally”. I asked again – what problem is it. It was 2 or 3 chapters ahead of our school math classes chapter.

    It made me serious about studies and made me think about how can I solve problems mentally rather than on just pen papers. When I look back, I realized that Nikhil was an inspiration for me. There was no competition for me with him or anyone else in the class. I just wanted to be better than what I was earlier. In fact on a serious note, Nikhil always scored a perfect 100 in Math that I could never. It seems like if I take the Math exam again, there will be still room for improvement. Effectively, he helped me be a better version of myself, I could never become like him in Math though. 🙂

    What better recognition one can expect? Within a year I had improved myself a lot. Once in grade 12, he said “Computer ko lekar Brahma ne banaya kya?” (Did God make you with a computer?) for solving either probability or integration/differentiation problem in class – I used to do it in the head without touching pen paper. This, coming from the same person was a testimony that I had achieved what I set as a goal. Nikhil did not know that he was eventually praising himself because he had motivated me to do something like this.

    Competing with ourselves

    There are inspirations as Nikhil was for me – how can I be like him, solve problems in mind itself. However, when we limit ourselves we either have envy or competition. The world is too big to compete with everyone – currently about 7 billion. It’d be endless and completely outwards journey as Alexander (the great) had. He kept on trying to win the world and died too young learning “I’ll die empty-handed“.

    The endless competition with “self” is better because the goal is to improve oneself daily. Nikhil had been a positive influencer who became an inspiration, not a competition. In fact, Sumit and Nikhil both became an influencer for me (read another incident from the same school here), Sumit was the state topper in 12th. A lot later in my life, I came to understand and relate to these learnings with both of them as interdependent co-arising. I wonder what they learned from me but I improved a lot. The word “competition” must be looked at with a positive perspective, it should help one improve oneself rather than becoming a race. A perspective and an approach make a huge difference in one’s life. Thank you, Nikhil for inspiring me and eventually helping me learn that one has to compete with ourselves rather than the endless world.

    https://business2buddha.com/2019/06/societal-impact-of-interdependent-co-arising/
    We all grow when we help each other to grow whether it is our subordinates or our competitors.

    Competing with ourselves in business

    I understand it becomes difficult to digest the concept of competition in academics, professional life, and business. I shall share more thoughts on that in some future blogs. Here is a pointer until that blog, I am reading a book by my MBA professor – The new rules of business. This book also gives a perspective on competition. A wonderful lesson from that can be paraphrased as – if you compete with your competitors you may end up being a copy of them in fact one may end up doing the mistakes your industry is doing.

  • Bright day on the other side

    Some of us met each other more than 30 years ago. However most of us met 25 years back when we took admission in Technical school. We studied together for 2 years had a wonderful bond, competition, cultural events, and sports besides education in the school. After 12th, many lost contact because we all took different paths. Thanks to lockdown, a blessing in disguise, my childhood friend Abhishek created our school’s group on WhatsApp. This close to quarter of a century old disconnection made Vinee – another of my school friends – ask an interesting question. What if everyone can share what they did post our 12th till now? It would be great to know the journey of everyone. In fact, in some cases, we have forgotten some of the batchmates. Everyone has a story and these stories become life lessons for others isn’t it? Whatever experience we have good or bad, shape us. The darkest of the night has a bright day on the other side.

    Brighter-day

    We connected after a long time we all are rejoicing in these discussions. Some have shared their stories, others are yet to share. I am in the former category. I did introspection and then shared about how my life moved on from there. It was an interesting exercise, thanks to Vinee for asking the question that made me introspect and Abhishek for creating the group. On a lighter note, I feel we have grown old. About 8 years back, I used to ask Saxena Sir, Ramana uncle about what and how life has been for them and what would they want to tell me as some of the lessons in hindsight. Their thoughts are share in different blogs earlier

    http://www.business2buddha.com/2019/10/situations-how-this-one-word-sentence-made-me-spiritual/
    There are shocks and failures that teach you biggest lessons in life than any success does.
    https://business2buddha.com/2016/08/happiness-how/
    It is true that owning cattle, jewels or kingdoms is mine of wealth
    But when you own wealth of contentment (satisfaction) those mines (cattle, jewels etc) of wealth become worthless (like dust)
    https://business2buddha.com/2015/09/work-is-worship/
    Work and spirituality live in backyard of each other
    https://business2buddha.com/2013/01/chinu-and-the-pebbles/
    When I was a kid, I used to pick up stones the way Chinu does now. Now, I am grown up (may be!) and now I care for different kind of stones
    https://business2buddha.com/2013/08/race-never-ending/
    We are running on a treadmill, we do not reach anywhere but still get tired. At times, it becomes purpose of our life!
    https://business2buddha.com/2014/01/entanglement-of-a-langot-undergarment/
    This is an interesting story, how a small article – undergarment in this case – brings the whole world with it.

    Bright day on the other side

    When I look back, I realize that I had been blessed with some awesome experience and faced some tough times too. When I was going through bad phases I felt worthless and worst to be walking on the face of the earth. Now when I analyze life in hindsight it looks everything was great. I know that at times I had been sulking, getting frustrated, and looking for better things in life or thought that I deserve better than what I got. It might be that sometimes I did not deserve something, yet I got it.

    Generally, we think like this – what I got I deserved it or I deserved better than what I got. In the present moment it is the best that we accept what we have got in life. Otherwise we end up muddling our present too. All years when I see the ups and downs of my life I realize that it’s good that I had gone through these ups and downs otherwise, a straight line life without ups and downs would have resembled a cardiogram of a dead person’s heartbeat.

    Life is made-up of the sum total of the situations we face, how we respond to those situations, learn from those and the decisions we make. At times we get in trouble, at times we make wrong decisions and at times we come out victorious even out of the worst of the situations that we are facing. This has been lessons from my introspection.

    This pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has put everyone in tough situations. The times are troubled – no doubt about it – however the decisions we make and the way we respond to the situation is going to define us, how we are going to go ahead from this point to the future. The decisions we make are going to be far-reaching for us and generations, be it business owners or working professionals. The darkest of the night has a bright day on the other side.

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