Business to the Buddha

Tag: Ramana Rajgopaul

  • Uncertainties and acceptance

    It has been more than a week, we wake up to the no-water in the overhead tank of our wing of our residential complex. Initially, it was annoying. Daily, I or my wife went downstairs to tell the security to switch on the water pump. We raised the issue to the society manager, secretary, etc. I think it takes about 3 days to form a habit, soon we accepted this challenge as part of our life. The new ritual now is – wake up, open the tap – hoping system is fixed, go downstairs tell security to switch on the pump, come back and proceed as per the available resources. After a week, now security calls me daily to ask “do you have water in your taps now?”

    Uncertainties and acceptance

    Uncertainties make us jittery and annoyed. It depends on the situations, in some cases uncertainties make us anxious too. There was news that Deepika Padukone wanted to face the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) with her Husband because of anxiety; it is just an example. This initial annoyance made way for the acceptance of the situation. Once, we accepted the situation, we started planning our next day before we went off to sleep. The morning started with the acceptance of the unavailability of water and our workflow was changed to accommodate the situation. Once we had figured it out, life was easy, the disappointment of delay in fixing the problem was there but the annoyance and frustration ended. This happens many times in our business too.

    A conversation

    We had figured it out for our daily life. I and my wife were talking about it in the morning, the same evening I received a call from my ex-colleagues – Deepak Taunk. By chance, we happened to speak about the certainties of the outcome. The discussion started with analytics, human intelligence, AI, and business processes. It was an interesting discussion on how our brain connects the dots from analytics and business processes to our daily lives. He is a creative person who questions assumptions. So, when we spoke about some business processes he shared his displeasure with the templatization of work. When I say templatization, I mean making work process-driven and asking others to follow the guidelines. It is not that he is not process-driven – he is a very successful project manager. His point was the templatization results in blindly “follow the guidelines”. People are discouraged to ask questions.

    It is a very valid objection. His point of view was – educated people must be allowed to understand “the why”, freedom to figure it out, otherwise what is the need of highly educated people when they have to always follow the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). I personally have seen this issue that even intelligent people follow things blindly or are asked to follow blindly. In case some ask questions they are termed as “unfit” or non-cooperative. This becomes the responsibility of the team leader or the leadership, in general, to figure out the best course of action. There is no right or wrong in being templatized for few things and creative for others. We need both the ways to run a business well – follow the process and question the assumptions.

    World of possibilities

    In business, personal life as well as in spiritual path too both the approaches are required. I had been an inquisitive person, including on my small journey of spirituality. I asked a lot of questions to many of my guides – Dr Saxena, Ramana uncle ji, my father, Sai Kaka, Dada ji, and Dr Agashe, my art of living teacher. Dr Agashe told me – “…for a few things you need to trust the predecessors/process for others ask questions, do not stop any of these. Indian spirituality offers you both the ways…” Interesting isn’t it?

    Following the process brings certainty of outcome whereas questioning assumptions bring opportunities. Uncertainty many times brings opportunities. One has to be aware of the uncertainties, accept the situation, and find out options. When we look at situations, accept the situation(instead of fighting it), look for options, and be creative we have a whole world of possibilities.

  • 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.

  • Guru poornima

    I have had privilege of meeting at least three enlightened masters in my life (until now), mentors and coaches. Some of the mentors may be enlightened masters and I am not aware about those. However, rest three I am sure – Sai Kaka, Dada ji and Guruji. It is difficult to have very close day-to-day meeting with the enlightened masters. The mentors have a special place they guide, encourage, handhold, and challenge, I have been fortunate that I have a long list of mentors.

    I received a wonderful story on whatsapp “Importance of Guru” or mentor or coach in life.  Without much ado here is this wonderful story on Guru Poornima.

    ——————

    Once upon a time, a cow went out to graze in the jungle. Suddenly, she noticed a lion racing towards her. She turned and fled, fearing that at any moment the lion would sink his claws into her. The cow desperately looked for someplace to escape and at last, saw a shallow pond. Barely evading the lion’s reach, she jumped into the pond, and in the heat of the chase, the lion blindly leaped after her.

    Sai KakaTo the surprise of them both, the pond was extremely shallow yet filled with deep recesses of mud. After toppling over each other, the cow and the lion found themselves a short distance apart, stuck in the mud up to their necks. Both had their heads above water but were unable to free themselves no matter how much they writhDada Gavanded.

    The lion repeatedly snarled at the cow and roared, “I am going to enjoy the sound of crunching your bones between my teeth!”

    He thrashed about in fury but soon became fretful as he found no prospect of escape.

    The cow thoughtfully laughed as the lion struggled to free himself and asked him, “Do you have a master?”

    The lion disdainfully replied, “I am the king of the jungle. Why do you ask me if I have a master? I myself am the master!”

    The cow said, “You may be the king of the jungle, but here all your power has failed to save your life.”

    “And what about you?” Retorted the lion. “You are going to die here in this mud too!”’

    The cow smiled mildly and said, “No, I am not.”

    “If even I, the king of the jungle cannot free myself from this mud”, snapped the lion, “Then how can you, an ordinary cow?”

    The cow gently replied, “I cannot free myself from this mud, but my master can. When the sun sets and he finds me absent at home, he will come looking for me. Once he finds me, he will raise me up and escort me home sweet home.”

    The lion fell silent and coldly glared at the cow.

    Soon enough, the sunset and the cow’s master arrived. He immediately recognized the plight she was in and lifted her to safety. As they walked home, the cow and the master both felt renewed gratitude for one another and pitied the lion they both would have been happy to save if only the lion had allowed them.

    The cow represents a surrendered heart, the lion represents an egoistic mind, and the master represents the Guru. The mud represents the world, and the chase represents the struggle for existence therein.

    —————————————–

    Its good to be independent and not rely on anyone. But don’t take it to an extreme, you always need a partner/coach/mentor who will be always on the lookout for you.

    Having them does not mean you are weak, it’s just that you can be stronger with their help.

  • Start the new year by giving

    Capitalism has specially fascinated me in recent past. The fascination had been such that I have believed that capitalism is an approach where we realize futility of running behind all the comforts and all the need hierarchies. If there are other economic models too that help you approach this realization, than capitalism seems to work faster. My feeling had been that the possibility of realizing that need hierarchy under a socialistic and other type of economic systems is lower compared to capitalism. This impression is based on visits to certain cities of developed – mostly – capitalistic economies.

    My opinions may be incorrect, as repeatedly pointed out in comments by Ramana uncleji. I am still analyzing why I may be incorrect in the sense that capitalism a better approach to move towards spirituality compared to other systems.

    Image result for donateOne recent incident helped me evaluate my premise bit more. I was collecting donations for an NGO – DSY. The plan was to collect about 1 lac Indian rupee within 5 days before 25th Dec. Some unexpected mail, call and chats resulted in donations. I was confident of other close friends to donate – they did not! It was utter surprise to me. I am not asking money for myself, I am giving financial details of the organization and I am also showing the work the organization has done, yet the closest of my friends are uncomfortable to donate. Impact of two of the projects are below –

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCOY-IAt5X0

    Some of my friends are MBAs and others are Engineers working in respectable organizations. They are well to do, yet they were unwilling to donate. What was the problem with them to even commit INR 1000 or say INR 5000? In fact I told a few of them if you donate INR 5000 or more you will get tax deduction under section 80G of Income tax too. The question I had in my mind was – if someone can spend few thousands on New Year eve, cannot someone commit that much or lesser for someone else? The money can help a farmer stay alive, not commit suicide or a tribal child study. Why so? Have we become so callous? Are we less compassionate in the influence of capitalism?

    Answer to the question and my recent analysis was – in many cases today’s capitalism is a constant feeling of “having less” and “willingness to have more”. I’ve been writing about this desire for more, constant running behind many things in past. I felt that it’ll get subdued over period of time under capitalism. Prosperity will help a person view futility of this constant race to get more. Because over a period of time an individual will start questioning own’s running – why? What more? Resulting in realizing futility of this rat race sooner rather than later.

    Abundance possibly is based on our sense that “I already have things in abundant supply”. Possibly, we’ll have some different economic model in future, not exactly capitalism; where contentment will be primary and give will be preferred over feeling of paucity depravity and wanting for more.

    Last not the least – I’ve extended my targets to 2 lac. By 31st March 2018 you can donate at https://www.dsyindia.org/login.php. Once you donate please share the acknowledgement with me so that I know how far I’m from my targets.

    Start the new year by giving. Wish you a Very Happy New Year. I hope few of you will think of donating besides wonderful celebration of the coming year.

    Image source – http://mike-ward.net/donate/

    Related blogs – Education, Chicken in the “poultry farm of economy”, Race – never ending, What more you need?, When will we stop?, Swasthay – dwelling in oneself, Money worth earning, A cup of tea

  • My Favorite Fictional Character

    Have you ever thought about fiction and reality? Fiction is something untrue, made-up or imaginary. How can I say that the Buddha or Krishna or Jesus was someone who actually walked the face of earth. Is it a possibility that these were imagination of someone? This thought puts me to another thought, what if I myself am is some imagination and a reality is somewhere, something else.

    Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? Morpheus The Matrix

    What makes something real? Is it because I think, see, feel (perhaps smell or hear) and my mind makes me feel that this is something real because I can sense it? Or something is real because it exist without someone’s ability to sense it or no. Take an example of light – we cannot see light beyond a certain frequency range. Does it make the light non-existent?

    These questions remind me of a very interesting movie – The Matrix.

    “…The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth…”

    I have had a couple of Morpheus in my life to teach me. I have written about almost everyone on this blog. I would want to be Morpheus too, for someone or few in future. I love the character of Morpheus from The Matrix the most. Morpheus is a believer, he courageous. The best part is, the kind of confidence Morpheus has in Neo, it makes me feel that I want to be Neo too. Laurence Fishburne played the role so well that I keep on watching his teachings (dialogs) whenever I feel I should. There are a lot of learnings in those dialogs – “Do not think you are, KNOW you are.” I have written on the movie (red pill) earlier too. I was so fascinated with the movie that I used to tell people that I am fine being a spot-boy for the movie – alas I am in India :(. The movie is so philosophical and spiritual to me that I repeatedly watch it.

    Instead of me talking (writing), I would want to share some videos of the movie (Youtube), not sure about the copyright permissions there.

    I see many of my teachers in Morpheus – they are indeed my Favorite (they are real) human beings, this blog post is dedicated to all of them. This was the title of this weeks Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium. Con You can read other LBC bloggers thoughts here – Rummuser and Shackman.

  • I always wondered why?

    “I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth, then I ask myself the same question.”  – Harun Yahya

    Adnan Oktar (born Ankara, 1956), also known by his pen name Harun Yahya, is advocate of Islamic creationism in the creation-evolution debate. He is considered to be the leading Muslim advocate of creationism.

    I have wondered about many things in life. It includes creationism, economics and war. Many of the thoughts are posted in the blogs here. Recently, Ramana uncleji commented on my blog post – Free will and Fate.

    Sitting quietly. doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself. Zen Meditation

    How often we looked at growing grass as the Zen saying states. I’ve a difference of opinion though. The growing grass does not do anything on the surface, but inside it, below the surface too there are a lot of things going on. Struggle of survival, isnt it?

    The other thing I wonder a lot about is economics and our interdependence. I know many people do not consider economics as a play of interdependence however they see it has how do I improve my marginal utility. Most of the times this thinking of these smart people is based on “how do I… at the cost of other”. This needs to change. The discourse of economic value has to change. It needs to include everyone. If there is inequality we would not achieve peace.

    On the debate of creationism and evolution – I wonder why people keep on fighting about creationism but accept – and use too – scientific discoveries? I liked the way The Buddha kept silent on the question of existence of God.

    There are many more things I’ve wondered, why? The most regular point I cogitate is economics and spirituality – interdependent co-arising. This blog is an outcome of the same wandering of mind.

    It was topic of Loose Bloggers Consortium for this Friday. Others who have written this week are – Shackman, Ramana Uncleji and Dunnasead.

  • This and That

    When you see me as different from you, you get into the idea of “This” and “That”. When there is an “Me” and “other” there is a question of “This” and “That”. In Indian philosophy we call it dvait (द्वैत) or duality. There is a whole philosophy in India on duality – Adwait Vedanta. I am neither an expert nor have I read much about the vedanta so I wont be commenting on those lines.

    crossroadsWhen Maria suggested this topic, I felt this is a unique and interesting topic. However, my line of thought did not go beyond the Indian philosophy of Adwait Vedanta. The mind suddenly moved to “free will” and choices when This Vs that came to my mind.

    Are we really free to make choices? Science may suggests now that our perception of free will is a kind of illusion. Perhaps, in future we would prove with big data analytics that there is no free will. I am sure we can do this with analytics as I have been involved with analytics on various levels and have personally seen what decision and output we may get when it is rightly done. So how a person would react in given situation may be predictable and the choice of “This and That” may not be the “choice” actually. Our choices are influenced by what we have been exposed to, how our mind is conditioned. I think a game of chess can explain how we make decisions – we make one decision and if that works we may say this was right. If that decision fails we may say the other option we skipped would have been better. [relevant blog here]. So the free will of This and That makes us rational individuals but that rationality is also under question.

    I love how the Buddha has put things across for such kind of situations. Free will seems to be an illusion – “Go meditation”. Free will is not concerned with you. Does God exist? “Go meditation” that question is irrelevant. Though I am not Buddhist (This) nor I am staunch Hindu (That) or follower of any other religion as such but somehow I love the way The Buddha has explained his line of thought. It is “This” and “That” together – Interdependent co-arising.

    This topic was suggested by Maria, for the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where currently nine of us write on the same topic every Friday.  I hope that you enjoyed my contribution to that effort.  The seven other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order – Ashok, gaelikaa, Lin, Maxi, Padmum, Ramana Uncleji, Shackman and The Old Fossil. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, or not at all this week, do give some allowance for that too!

    Image source – https://pixabay.com/en/crossroads-signpost-directions-wood-303896/

  • Gratitude

    This blog is dedicated to my adopted uncle – Mr Ramana Rajgopaul. Actually, he is kind enough to adopt me as RR-at-weddinghis nephew. Uncleji writes daily on his blog website – www.rummuser.com

    I got connected with uncleji in 2011, when inadvertently I reached his blog site, read blogs and read “about me” section. We started communication through mails and later over phone. I met him the same year and of course have been seeing him often. He has been a go to person for anything in my life starting 2011. I have requested for his guidance in personal, professional and virtual life (Facebook/twitter/blog). I think I had deleted a Facebook comment when he suggested negatively on the same.

    Our communication started with his about me sentence – “I stopped doing a long time ago.” and I asked him – this sounds like Ashtavakra Geeta and kind of meditation et al. So, we started talking about spirituality and in his humors he added every aspect of life – from sex to super-consciousness. He can turn any serious topic (life & death) to a joke and vice versa. I had been awestruck when he answered one of my questions with a Sanskrit Verse from some Veda! He did that occasionally. What surprises me is this – Remembering meanings of somethings, remembering context of few things and remembering many verse of Vedas and referring to it at right occasions (that too in the language) is unique. [actually he has good command on a lot of languages – starting English, Tamil to Sanskrit.]

    The most interesting thing about him is “everything”! He is playful, he is serious, he is well read and most interestingly he enjoys his life to the fullest. I am changed from 2011 to now. My friends and colleagues know me as “no nonsense guy”, however starting 2011 when I started meeting girls for my (arrange) marriage couple of girls told me that I have “good sense of humor” and I am “interesting”! I was shocked when I heard this for the first time. Later on when I heard this from a couple of other girls I said ok! there are two possibilities

    1. either that is a joke or
    2. I have, at last, learnt the trick 😉

    Generally, 2nd had been the case and credit goes to uncleji. In relation with marriage, most of my Lingayat bashing was shared with him, before it came on blogs. He was (and has been always) a great support during that time too. I bothered him a lot on (apparently) “my community”, where I don’t belong anyways.

    Once I wrote to him this – earlier I didnt understand you because you were humorous and witty (used to take lot of time to understand the jokes) now you are talking more profound that I can understand. Though, I follow the “art of living” and Guruji says God loves fun, I am learning it with uncleji.

  • Reaction and response

    RR-at-weddingI have an adopted uncleji (Uncle – for Hindi is father’s brother) – Ramana Rajgopaul (picture on the left side). Question should not be asked whether I adopted him or he did, ;). What is important is he has been a great support to me always. He writes almost daily at www.rummuser.com the first question I asked him when I contacted him was is it Rum User or R-Musser or r-muser. A gratitude blog on him in future. Here is a story he shared with me recently.

    The cockroach theory for self development.

    At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.  She started screaming out of fear.  With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

    Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.  The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but it landed on another lady in the group.  Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

    The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.  In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.  The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.  When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

    Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior?  If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?  He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

    It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.  I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.  It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.  More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.  Lessons learnt from the story:  I understood, I should not react in life.

    I should always respond.

    The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.  Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of.

    Reminds me of a story in the life of the Buddha. That story some time in future.

    Disclaimer – Author neither owns copyright on the photo of Mr Rajgopaul nor on the story.

  • Entanglement of a langot (undergarment)

    I heard/read a story when I was a kid, I think in some Osho discourse or book. Well, I have been thinking about writing this for a long time, but I didn’t remember the whole story so I called my gateway of last resort (Ramana Rajgopaul uncleji – he blogs here). “Gateway of last resort” is a Computer Networks term, when every other link fails send data packets to gateway of last resort, is how any router is configured.

    Actually, he is very different person – you (I mean, I) can speak with him on any subject matter (from Sex to Super-consciousness). He guides with different points of views and references (he speaks great sanskrit, speaks Shlokas of different scriptures and mind you – he is an MBA from IIMA OK!). By the way he is 70 year young; young because when I talk to him I feel as if I am an old man, he is full of life as young as a 15 year old can be. Coming back to the story…

    Entanglement

    There was a saint, ascetic. He used to live outside of a village as used to happen in old day India. He owned only 2 langots (Nappies, or undergarments), nothing else. One he used to wear while other is washed. As any Indian saint could be – he was fed by villagers. Once, one of his langot was nibbled by a mouse. So villagers gave him cat to shoo away mouse/mice. In some days our saint realized that he needed to take care of the cat and to feed her he needs something. Villagers gave him a cow for feeding milk to the cat.

    Well, now he needed someone to take care of his cow, he hired someone to take care. The story goes something like this – this hired person needed monthly salary so saint started teaching as well. Slowly, this saint – an ascetic – becomes a family man. This langot converts an ascetic to a family man…

    This is how (may be not because of your undergarment) all worldly entanglements are woven around our life.

    Life is like this, we try to do something and end up doing something else. May be to take care of a langot (business, family, self) your whole focus changes. So, take care of your purpose otherwise you would be entangled such that you would run around in paraphernalia than the focus.

    Oh yes, this story reminded me of Novel by Herman Hesse – Siddharth. Ramana uncleji has also written a story on similar lines here.

    Related blogs –

    What more you need?

    Why are you doing what are you doing?

    Race – never ending