Bhagawan’s Gift to Corporate World: Man Management
Vidya Dadhathi Vinayam. This simple, but deeply significant, statement often stated by Bhagawan is the distinguishing trait characterized by our University. Education should confer humility. This finds very profound expression through our wonderful education system in Bhagawan’s educational institutions.
Worldly knowledge should be based strongly on spiritual values and practices as done in our institutions right from kindergarten to Ph.D. One esteemed educational stream that is extremely fortunate to be graced by Bhagawan’s attention is the Department of Management Studies (DMS). Bhagawan foresaw the essential requirement of values-based management and spiritual leadership in modern man management. In an epoch making moment, our beloved Bhagawan clearly explained the fundamental principles of management, which he succinctly summarized as ‘Man Management’.
In June 1989, Bhagawan revealed to all Management teachers and students the real meaning of the organizational function, Manager. Since then, the department has churned out students of sterling character and dignity who are now leaders who integrate spirituality and business and who have set an ideal for the society to look upon. This is only possible by having been recipients of Management education firmly integrated in spirituality. It has always been a constant endeavour for the teachers and students of the department to delve deeply into Bhagawan’s message. Bhagawan delivered ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ on management concepts for many years. Thirty five were recorded; many more couldn’t be recorded as they were delivered in Trayee Brindavan, Kodai and during interview sessions.
Today, to keep the fire of inspiration alive forever, the department undertakes Man Management workshops on an yearly basis. The motivational preamble of this workshop is “to re-orient the students, research scholars and faculty of the Department of Management Studies to Bhagawan’s message and guidelines with reference to Man Management, based on His Divine Discourses given to students and faculty on various occasions right from the inception of the MBA department at SSSIHL”.
This year, the workshop was held on 15 September 2012. The lamp was lit by the Director of the Prasanthi Nilayam campus, Prof. A. Sudhir Bhaskar. The head of DMS, Prof. Kumar Bhaskar delivered the introductory talk. The latter reminded the audience to remember with gratitude, the immense blessings enjoyed in being guided personally by Bhagawan. This lays strong responsibility on us to uphold the values taught by the Divine Master.
There was significant Alumni contribution to the proceedings of the workshop. Four brothers shared their work life experiences on the application of Bhagawan’s teachings in their daily lives. Two of the Alumni in turn stressed on minimal focus of Man Management education elsewhere and the real need of managers who feel sensitized to the needs of society. There was next a video presentation of the landmark June 1989 discourse of Bhagawan. One brother who is presently doing his research in Department of Management Studies walked the audience through the video presentation of the discourse by Bhagawan. Bhagawan gave an entirely new definition to the word Manager nearly two and half decades ago!
Bhagawan states that M stands for the ‘Mind of Man’ which is being researched today as the emerging field of behavioural finance and consumer psychology. A stands for ‘Awareness of Atma’. Recently evolving value-based management, spiritual leadership, spirit at work research conducted for meeting challenges of free markets bears an uncanny resemblance to this. N stands for ‘Nature of Nations’ – an inspiration for investigating emerging markets and institutional economics. A stands for ‘Aspects of Environment’, which is reflected in concepts such as sustainable development, triple bottom line and Green initiatives. G stands for ‘Guidelines of Goodness’ – which has inspired recent developments in corporate governance. E stands for ‘Enquiry into Ethos’ – the inspiration in the recent spurt in cultural studies and diversity in modern market economics. R stands for ‘Role of Rules’ – the basis of policy research and the changing role of regulatory bodies.
In the discourse, Bhagawan gave deeper imports of the three words, ‘Master’, ‘Business’ and ‘Administration’ which forms the acronym, MBA. Bhagawan very beautifully explained that Business is very narrowly being defined as trading of goods and services. It is in fact all the activities that one undertakes throughout one’s life. Administration refers to all work that entails right and responsibility. Master refers to the mastery over philosophical principles of ‘Business’ and ‘Administration’.
Bhagawan explained that prior to becoming a Master, one must become a Manager. Bhagawan explained that if one understood the essence of these seven letters, one can not only manage resources, but anything in the entire universe. Subsequently, there was a panel of discussion moderated by the Controller of Examinations, Sri Srinivas Rangarajan. There was a heart-to-heart revelation of ethical dilemmas faced by Alumni and their successful dealing with the same. Students of Prasanthi Nilayam campus posed questions. Technology played an important role by way of video conferencing, which had students of Anantpur campus too asking questions. Several important points emerged from the panel of discussion.
– Greatest incentive for following Values in life is Self Realization, which is the ultimate outcome of following Bhagawan’s words.
– False notion exists that following Values is an easy undertaking. The actuality is that following ‘Dharma’ is the difficult path. Bhagawan emphasized that choice is very important in choosing between ‘Shreyas’ (Light) and ‘Preyas’ (Pleasant and Convenient).
– Work–Life balance could be achieved by prioritizing.
– There must be self-definition of the parameters for success. One must not get carried away with the herd mentality defining Success based on materialistic terms.
– Seva is not helping someone else – it is for one’s own growth.
– The difference between Seva and office work is artificial. One must strive to develop the ‘Seva’ attitude in every work that one undertakes.
– Seva can also be woven into one’s corporate work, opening up avenues for colleagues to participate in Seva activities.
– Benchmark oneself against one’s capabilities and not with others.
– Work passionately without any expectation of reward. This is the essence of selfless service.
Dr. Shashank Shah, quoted the ‘Hippocratic Oath for Managers’ prepared by the Harvard University. This serves as a professional credo for managers. He drew parallels between what recently started in Harvard and many other B-Schools across the world in terms of focus on values for managers in contrast to the Divine foundation building of path breaking management exposition two and half decades ago. The Divine story was scripted at SSSIHL well before the world awoke to such a need. Bhagawan started this programme to equip a generation of managers with essential spiritual skills to handle management solutions and decision making situations with a balance of head, hand and heart. Money, Minutes, Methods, Material, Machine and Man are the 6 Ms of Management. Man is the most important M in this as he gives value to the other five Ms. Dr. Shah mentioned that Man Management book is available on amazon.com from Dec 2012.
The workshop concluded with Mangala Arathi.
Divine Program Organized by Chembur Samithi, Mumbai
The Chembur Samithi had conducted a Diwali program in Mankhurd Remand home. Alumni played an important role in conducting the proceedings. They sang songs and Bhajans learnt in Prasanthi Nilayam. The power of Divine transformation is such that the children too picked up some of the devotional songs.
The inmates of the remand home received more than 200 uniforms from the Samithi members and alumni. The staff were given new clothing. Fruits were distributed as Prasadam.
Many years ago, one of the alumni got an opportunity to show the photograph of this activity. Bhagawan was pleased with the Seva done by His students. By Bhagawan’s grace, Chembur Samithi (whose convener is an alumnus) has been doing this Seva successfully for a decade.
Talaash – A Search for Harmony in Humanity
Rhythmic Energy (RE) is a fusion orchestral ensemble which comprises of the students of Bhagawan’s Institute and devotees. The band spreads Bhagawan’s message of Universal Love through music. This year, on September 30, the band performed a musical drama programme, called Talaash – A Search for Harmony in Humanity, in Pune.
This was the band’s debut in the city and, in fact, a type of programme it was putting up for the first time – a musical drama.
The programme was part of a regal evening – a tribute to the legacy of our beloved Bhagawan – at Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch at Swargate, Pune. The programme included talks by the Pune district president and the state president, Sri Ramesh Sawant.
Prof. Anil Kumar was the guest speaker who spoke on the topic – Unity is Divinity. There was also a video presentation on Bhagawan’s projects and various eminent devotees expressing their gratitude to the Lord.
The thematic musical presentation, Talaash, was RE’s attempt to present a collage of three forms of art: music, drama and dance. And what transpired was a kaleidoscope of message, music and dramatics. In line with Prof. Anil Kumar’s talk, the drama was on patriotism.
But that was not all. At the end of the long evening, the members of the band were invited to play a few numbers – a musical crescendo. Rhythmic Energy concluded its debut in the beautiful city of Pune playing Gopala Radha Lola, Why fear I am here, Antharanga Sai, Heal the World, and the popular Brass explosion amongst other numbers. It was the moment when everyone who had assembled there understood His words:
“ When there is rhythm in your mind and you are in sync with ME, energy will automatically flow. Adi Rhythmic Energy…”
SAI NAAM : Two-Day Sai Alumni Conclave in Boston
‘Yatra Yatra Gaayanthi, Thathra Thishtanthi Narada’. Wherever God’s name is sung, God manifests himself. Indeed this sacred adage holds true across all continents. Bhagawan was remembered by His children, the alumni of our institution, by the spoken word as well as by Bhajan. SAI NAAM (North American Alumni Meet) took place on 18 and 19 September 2012 at the Holiday Inn in Boston, USA. The agenda of the meet was to explore further areas of rendering service by the alumni residing in USA and Canada.
SESSION 1
The 2-day Alumni meet commenced with sacred Vedic chants charging the atmosphere. There was an ice breaker session called ‘Let the games begin’. The brother anchoring the session asked each participant to tell two facts about themselves – a fact and a fabricated one. The audience had to guess the fact. This generated a lot of buzz and excitement also helping alumni to get to know each other.
Another brother walked the participants through various alumni initiatives in a session called, ‘Supporting Swami and Educational Institutions’. Several Seva opportunities were identified such as Guest lectures, Collaborative research, and donation of books and equipments. Actual participation in SSV Corpus Fund initiative was also discussed.
The second presentation by a brother was titled ‘Serve or Die Trying’. This presentation highlighted the enormous number of service projects that are currently done in North America and passionate involvement of alumni in Seva activities. The following activities were mentioned:
Activities of North American Region
– Disaster relief in Haiti and Pakistan
– Healthcare – Nursing home visit and medical camps
– Bone marrow donation projects
– Food preparation and distribution (Soup kitchens and sandwich projects)
Activities in Sai Centres
– Teaching SSV classes (Bal Vikas classes)
– Mentor SSV (Bal Vikas) students to achieve higher grades
Active Service by Alumni
– Service towards Eshwaramma Trust, Sri Sathya Sai Corpus Fund and Africa Project
Sri Sathya Sai Technology E-Media Group
– Alumni participation in leveraging technology to provide innovative solutions to various social issues such as water purification, sanitation and solar lighting, etc.
Value education in Atlanta, USA
– One hour per week in public (government) schools to teach human values
Pathway to Success – Program for Disadvantaged Youth
– Tutoring, anger management, anti-drug education, sports activities, etc.
Room to Read
– Worldwide literacy program that collects books and distributes it to the poor schools around the world
– Bhajan workshops and workshops spreading Bhagawan’s message through music in various organization conferences
SESSION 2
The afternoon session started with a presentation called, ‘Leaders Wanted’ two brothers. The presentation highlighted that several students already held local and regional office bearer responsibilities in the Sai organization. Existing activities which were participated upon were soup kitchen, clothes donation to the homeless, medical camps, etc. An interactive discussion followed on way to increase alumni participation in the Sai organization.
Next there was a narration by the second brother regarding their moving experiences with Swami.
The third presentation, ‘Where Have All the (Krishna’s) Cowboys Gone?’ highlighted some of the Seva opportunities utilized by alumni during the 85th birthday such as management of information kiosks, donation of clothes for Swami to distribute amongst current students and staff of the SSSIHL campuses and a commemorative music album. There was an overwhelming response from the North American alumni.
The presentation, ‘Does Alma Matter’ was made by a brother on the Sai Student portal. The brother mentioned that an impressive 17605 articles were contributed by 1634 registered members at that time.
There was a concluding presentation by a brother on how the alumni in North America should organize themselves to be more effective. There was a call to action to various alumni teams to present plan of action for Seva activities.
The evening session began with a soul stirring Bhajan session. After dinner, a two-hour experience sharing session was conducted where divine experiences with Bhagawan were narrated.
Heartfelt thanks were conveyed by the students to the Sai Centres in making the 2-day event a success.
The next day, 19 September 2012, the Boston alumni arranged a tour of the city. All the participant alumni visited popular landmarks such as Harvard, MIT, Fenway Park, etc.
With Bhagawan’s blessings, the 2-day conclave concluded on a Divine note with all participants leaving with blissful memories. They also resolved to carry forward the identified service projects.
