Business to the Buddha

Tag: How I met your mother

  • Dependent co-arising

    Interdependent co-arising is a very key concept of The Buddha’s teachings. The other interesting names of this concept are dependent co-arising and dependent origination. Dependent co-arising is a deep concept. The depth requires an understanding of the concepts of Buddhism. So, I keep writing at a very shallow level examples to drive home the point. Whenever I read the book – Old path white clouds by Thich Nhat Hanh I get itched to this very concept. He explains this concept in easy words – “From interdependent origins, all things arise and all things pass away.”

    Thich Nhat Hanh

    I have shared multiple examples specifically for dependent co-arising on my blog. These examples were shallow yet practical relationship between the teachings of the Buddha and the present-day Business.

    Here are some examples

    Vaccination and interdependence (pulse polio elimination initiate of Govt of India)
    Societal impact
    Interdependent co-arising a farmers example
    Entrepreneurship
    Intra-country example and macro-economic example

    Whenever I try to interpret this concept; besides the interdependence, this concept touches on another concept of Hinduism (or Indic religions) – the concept of Karma. Karma gives us a guiding principle of cause and effect. It is easy to understand with the help of an English proverb – as you sow; so shall you reap. A very easy example of the cycle of Karma can be seen in an episode – Lucky penny – of How I met your mother.

    However small we think we’re as an individual, we’ve the power to make an immense impact on the world. You may have heard – if a butterfly flutters its wings in Amazon forest, it may cause a hurricane in Japan. I came across this interesting Domino effect video. I could relate it to the butterfly effect and thus to dependent origination.

    Watch this and relate the accumulated energy of the bar to Karma, the first piece as the butterfly fluttering wing and in effect interdependence of everything as a cycle.

  • As you sow, so shall you reap







    In Science we have studied – every action has equal and opposite reaction. We never take that seriously for life, that if we hurt someone that may be compensated. Here is an interesting idiom in English language (many other languages as well) – As you sow, so shall you reap.

    Long before science could establish this fact as “the fact”, The Buddha and Hinduism had given the concept of Karma. Well, I cannot vouch for rebirth so here is what I have written earlier –cause_fx

    Heaven and Hell are ‘here and now’
    The way you pass each moment
    You define whether you are in Heaven or a Hell. Blog here

    Don’t rely on next birth, do good in this life time itself.

    Heaven and Hell are ‘here and now’
    The way you pass each moment
    You define whether you are in Heaven or a Hell. – See more at: http://business2buddha.com/2011/07/21/this-is-how-i-remember-it/#sthash.Aykwean2.dpuf
    Heaven and Hell are ‘here and now’
    The way you pass each moment
    You define whether you are in Heaven or a Hell. – See more at: http://business2buddha.com/2011/07/21/this-is-how-i-remember-it/#sthash.Aykwean2.dpuf

    This blog post is less inspired by the concept of Karma and the English idiom but is inspired by a SitCom I have watched long back – “How I met your mother“. This is/was a series just like previous famous sit-com “Friends”. In How I met your mother (HIMYM) there are five characters – Ted (lead character, who is telling this story to his kids), Barney, Marshal, Marshal’s girl friend (later wife) Lily and Robin (confusing to describe her – she is friend – with each one. She is girl friend of Barney and Ted in some series. She is wife of Barney once and in the end she marries Ted). In one particular episode season 2 Episode 15 – Lucky Penny, the concept of cause and effect is described with ease.

    Ted finds a penny and in the 22 minute episode, everyone is involved with the penny and the associated event result in Ted missing a flight to Chicago. In Hindi there is a saying – बात निकलेगी तो दूर तलक जाएगी it means – “If we start this discussion, it will go long back in the history”. Just to give you a perspective we may conclude on this question – “Why did Adam eat the Apple?” You know what I am saying?

    You must watch that 22 min episode of How I Met Your Mother to know in brief how causation might work?

    The Author does not claim any rights on the Youtube link and video. This link is attached here for reference and does not make the author liable for any copyrights violations. It is advised to the reader that if you want to watch the series please purchase it from any retailer where the media drives are available such as FlipKart Link.

    Image source – Cause and Effect – http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/railrd/cause_fx.gif