Possessions, Attachment, Problems

 

PAP can be the acronym that when unscrambled becomes the above three words Possessions, Attachment and Problems. PAP incidentally is a standard acronym used in developmental literature to describe the people who are displaced by new projects. It is used copiously as a standard term to denote project affected people and is often expressed by the acronym PAPs. There are a lot of problems being faced by industries due to stringent requirements of R&R that is Rehabilitation and Resettlement stipulations laid down by both Union and State Governments. Incidentally, there is a lot of commonality between this PAPs that is project affected people and our PAP. In fact, Possession and Attachment are common to both. And that is the reason why the number of PAPs is increasing in our country. There is yet another interesting thing about PAP. If Pronounced in Hindi it becomes PAAP that can be translated into English as Sin. What are sins, of course, is a matter of much larger discussion but the fact is that most of the worldly sins arise out of desire to possess and then getting attached to those possessions. And problems arise due to the fear of losing those attachments. Even perceived fears lead to problems. Mental conditions of Neurotics and Psychotics are results of this perceived fear. It is basic to human nature that has remained fairly stable over centuries. But the problem is that with more information, awareness and experience the human nature that should have changed. It has, but for the worse. The reason is that the deluge of information has failed to reform humanity. This is the issue. Information does not reform. Only knowledge can. And knowledge is not information as is presently supposed to be. The result -craving for possessions have grown. So has grown the attachment to those possessions. And so also have grown the problems. Desires beyond needs, to the degree of a disease have been the curse of this information age. People want more and more. Not just more than what they need. But in fact, more than what they can possess. The fascination for possession and the attachment to those possessions have become intense and even a slight fear of losing those possessions creates serious physical and mental health problems. The whole ethos has changed. People are driven by the desire to possess. Unfortunately this desire never gets satiated. Wants go on changing as you now want to possess something else. The desired possession has lost its value once it is possessed. This creates a mirage that remains ever elusive and can never be reached. The result is that rather than giving satisfaction possessions become a cause for dissatisfaction creating a desire for something more. However, this possession has another problematic dimension. It loses its value because you have already possessed it. But if there are indications that you may lose it, you once again start feeling the pain. It is a strange kind of problem – the continuous cycle of possession, attachment and problem. Is there a way out? Yes, of course. The answer lies in changing this attitude. Pursue the path of detachment. Remember, you came to this world empty handed. You will return empty handed. That is the universal rule. Then why the attachment. To quote Job “Naked did I come hither; naked shall I return thither. God gave and God hath taken away; blessed be the name of Lord.”

RELEVANCE OF VIVEKANANDA

As we prepare for Swami Vivekananda’s birthday, that falls on January 12, there is a need to recapitulate his ideas and ideals that are very much needed today for reinventing India. It was over a century ago that this young monk presented a different India to the Western world for whom till then this country was a nation of thugs, snake charmers and sanyasis.

Here was the sanyasi with a difference who mesmerised the audience at the World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in September 1893. Vivekananda spoke about Hinduism in a new light, raising it to a new height. He, in fact, showcased Hinduism, packaging it as a world religion, the religion of entire humanity. Prior to this discourse of his, Hinduism was seen in a poor light by the West, which thought it was only about rituals and superstitions that was followed by illiterate people.

Vivekananda restored the pride of Hinduism. His words are worth reiterating. “I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true.” It was Vivekananda who talked about Hinduism as a truly Catholic religion in spirit and practice. A religion for all faiths.

He said, “As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men may take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, they all lead to thee.” He presented the world with the universal view of Vedanta that said ekamsatamviprabahudhavadanti or the truth is one, the people call it by many names, which was the famous doctrine of Vedanta. He also introduced the world to the Gita by reciting the eternal wisdom of Lord Krishna: “Whosoever comes to me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.”

Swami Vivekananda spoke at six sessions during that World Parliament of Religions and his words touched the hearts of all those who listened to him. Vivekananda’s message was loud and clear, and the world needs to once again be given the same message. The message that holiness, purity and charity are not exclusive possessions of any church or religions institution in the world, that every system has produced men and women of the highest character. He very rightly pointed out that if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of others, he is to be pitied.

Just like a seed planted in the ground develops into a plant following law of its own growth assimilating the air, the earth and the water, similarly is the case with religions. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, or a Hindu or Buddhist is not to become a Christian. Each must assimilate the spirit of the other and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth. In the world so badly regimented in sectarianism where a new form of terrorism threatens to pit classes of humanity against one another, Swamiji’s idea of a universal religion needs to be propagated. The onus lies on India, which was the spiritual leader of the world once upon a time.

THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL

The ancient Greeks had a finely developed sense of pathos, particularly of the somewhat futile posturing of man, in the face of nature. Nothing illustrates this better than the myth of Prometheus who gave fire to man and was consequently put to torture for long ages of time. Scientists and technologists the world over seem to share much in common with Prometheus. Rebelling against nature, ostensibly dedicated to mankind, we are nevertheless chained to a particular notion of science and its application. And what we endeavour to build by conquering nature is undone again and yet again by forces we do not yet understand. This race for supremacy goes on.

God created the earth and designed it as a self supportive system. The eco-system is perfectly balanced and it is ideal to support life. If man, in his quest for more and more material resources, did not interfere with nature, the earth would go on sustaining life for millions of years to come.

In his greed for possessing more and more, man has started the irreversible process of environmental degradation. The greed of a few ‘haves’ causes untold misery in the form of environmental degradation as also economic deprivation for the majority, who comprise the have-nots. Gandhiji had rightly said: “Nature has enough for the need of the people but not for their greed.” Environmental degradation directly stems from uncontrolled deforestation, the emission of pollutants, excessive use of toxic products, and the destructive exploitation of non-renewable natural resources.

Pollution of land takes place due to the increasing use of chemical fertilisers as well as the disposal of a large amount of plastic and other non-biodegradable matter. All these affect the quality of the soil.

The environment is seriously affected by the population explosion also. Forest cover in India has declined significantly and India’s tropical forests are expected to virtually disappear. In India, vast arid and semi-arid areas are converted into deserts. It has been estimated that one per cent of India’s cultivable land is lost annually by desertification. Fresh water resources of the earth are continuously used for domestic purposes, cultivation and industries. But there is colossal wastage of water in the domestic and industrial spheres. Increasing flow of effluents from various factories into the rivers increases water pollution. Effluents reach water sources without being treated. It is harmful for all forms of living organisms.

Air pollution is one of the more visible forms of environmental degradation. With the felling of trees, the oxygen level in the atmosphere is being lowered. Further, with more and more vehicles on the road pollution in the air increases. Exhaust gases from automobile contain unburnt fuel (hydrocarbons), partly burnt fuel (carbon monoxides), and nitrogen oxides — all of which severely pollute the air. Roughly 60 per cent of pollution in major cities is due to automobile engines.

Thus from remote islands in the Pacific to the peak of Himalayas, environmental degradation has spread its tentacles everywhere, and man appears to be the principal sinner as also the main victim. It is high time this is realised. Deliberations in Paris may be related to global issues and strategies to make the world a better place to live, but that apart involving masses at the local level may be a more useful and prudent strategy. Particularly in view of the fact that by simple human action of conservation and concern, acceleration of environmental degradation can be arrested.

OBSERVING DHARMA IN POLITICS

A recent observation by Wipro founder Azim Premji at one of the Indian Institute of Management needs to be paid attention to in light of what is happening in politics. Premji’s contention was that in politics the first requirement is to be unresponsive or compassionless.

He was, of course, talking about what is apparent in present day politics. We have seen how Parliament proceedings are getting disrupted and how this important institution of the country is held to ransom. Interestingly it is not political party X or Y that can be blamed. The whole political culture has become like that and what Premji has observed is based on sound logic.

We often hear the words ‘raj dharma’ that is the ideal conduct of the ruler. But raj dharma cannot be observed without praja dharma. However, that was when the rulers were kings. These are different times and rulers are not kings but elected representatives. The basic issue is that democracies can function effectively when the two sides, that is the ruling side and the opposition side, cooperate to make governance right. It is important therefore, that there is need for both raj dharma or the dharma of the ruling party, and vipaksha dharma or dharma of the Opposition party or parties. Unfortunately, the Opposition in our democracy has become opposition for the sake of opposition. This has been the trend discernible in the recent past. The fact remains that both the ruling party and the Opposition party have to observe their dharma or righteous conduct, without which democracy becomes ineffective.

What needs to be done is a difficult question to answer. But if we closely observe politics we can come to the conclusion that the teachings from Vedanta can offer clues.

In the section on  ‘Shiksha Valli’ of Taittiriya Upanishad, the crux of all teachings is mentioned as satyamvada, dharma chara, the English equivalent of this Sanskrit lesson is “Always tell the truth and follow righteous conduct.”

This was the lesson given to the students by their guru when they completed their education in the ashram of their teacher and were ready to face the world. It was like the modern day convocation ceremony or the dikshanta, that is completion of gurukul education. After given the exhaustive training in the educational system of those days, the final instruction in the form of how to lead life was given by the teacher through the phrase satyamvada, dharmam chara, his convocation message addressed to the disciples which meant that the disciples should always be truthful and follow the path of righteousness. These two, that is satya or truthfulness and dharma or righteousness, were also central of the teaching of Gautam Buddha.

Against this backdrop let us examine what is happening in politics. Even a casual observer will find out that satya and dharma are largely missing from the political scene. The answer certainly lies in the lesson satyamvada, dharman chara. We often talk of cleansing the political system, but without emphasising truthfulness and righteousness how politics can be transformed? Obviously, making the political class adhere to the vedic tenet Satyamvada, dharmam chara is a tall order. But there is no way out. If a democracy is to function effectively, the ruling party has to follow raj dharma and the Opposition the vipaksha dharma.

SOME THOUGHTS FOR NEW YEAR

The countdown has already begun. Soon the present year will fade away into oblivion. People have started making resolutions for the New Year. Year-end resolutions for the coming year are rather fashionable. From stray thoughts to concrete targets all find a place in the road map for the New Year.

Of course, how many of those actually get translated into results is a different matter altogether. Well, there is nothing apparently wrong with resolutions. Only they should not be too ambitious. But most resolutions fall in that category. Results certainly are none too happy as resolutions fail. Year after year this cycle gets repeated.

Why resolutions fail may not be easy to find out. Maybe the effort was not right. Maybe the commitment was lacking. Maybe the target itself was not right. Anything can go wrong. And if a thing is to go wrong, it will go wrong. That is Murphy’s Law. There are many things that go into making a thing right or wrong, and most of them are uncontrollable. What to do?

For a change this year do not rush into resolutions. However, this is certainly not the best of the suggestions for the ambitious, energetic and speeding people of the present generation, the Millennials, whose Bluetooth dependence has made them believe that speed is the essence and data is the reality. Wait a moment. Another and probably a more realistic view is that speed is dangerous and data can be cooked. As big data with big speed brings bigger confusion, life gets embroiled like a swimmer caught in seaweed. The more he tries to wriggle out, the more he gets entangled.

Someone once said — the more things change, the more they remain the same. This idea needs to be modified. Things do not remain the same as they change. They get worse. That is what has happened. Too many ambitions. Too many targets. Too many aspirations. All backed by big data. The whole mindset has become kinked. Let us rethink speed. Let us rethink data, which is often called information, considered as knowledge and fired as the Baconion canon -knowledge is power.

But which knowledge is power? It is not knowledge per se that is power. Relevant knowledge is power. Irrelevant knowledge is as dangerous as little knowledge. Both are dangerous. While spurious information is being disseminated as knowledge, confusion gets confounded. Take the case of religion. Knowledge should have made it eclectic. But today religion has become more dogmatic. This is happening in all spheres. Illogic is doing rounds as logic as we all become victims of ‘the winner takes all syndrome’.  This is an impossibility if everyone thinks in the same fashion.

However, mindsets of more and more people are getting afflicted with this syndrome. Time to introspect. Let us recapitulate the dialogue between Alice and the Queen in Alice in Wonderland. Alice tells the Queen that one has to run at the top of his speed to excel in a competitive race. The Queen disagrees and says: “Here it takes all the running you can do to retain your position. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run twice as fast as that.” This is fallacious. Alice may or may not be there in that wonderland but there certainly is a lot of malice in the blunderland that the world has become.

The Essence of Leadership

 

In Management theory the search for essential leadership qualities continues to baffle practitioners and researchers of Management alike, as they all know that identifying the essence of leadership may solve many a leadership related issues. But the difficulty in that while it is well known that what leaders do, the qualities that make them to do what they do is a fudgy issue. One of the first leadership theories was the Great Man theory or the traits approach that suggested that there are certain inborn traits that gives people leadership ability. But the problem was to find out those traits. Which traits would make a great leader was the question that never got answered. There was lack of consistency and persons with contradictory characteristics made equally effective leaders. From Alexander to Chengis Khan, from Akbar to Aurangzeb, from Churchill to Roosevelt, the list is unending. If Alexander is was handsome, Chengis Khan was not all that good looking. If Akbar was diplomatic Aurangzeb was a hard liner. Both Churchill and Roosevelt had their failings yet both proved effective. Naturally, it was an intriguing issue and it was concluded that rather than the traits it was the behavior that made leaders effective or in other words it was the leadership style that become the touch stone of effective leadership. But another question cropped up. What was that style? Or in the other words was there a one – best style of leadership. There were researchers carried out that proved that different and mutually contradictory styles were equally effective, given the situation in which those styles were practiced. Thus, there was a situation in which autocratic style gave batter results, whereas there were situations in which the democratic style proved more effective. This finding led to yet another approach that is, the effectiveness of leadership style depends on the situation. Thus in certain situations there was need for one particular style but in certain other situations the opposite style would work. The question as to what was the essence of leadership remained unanswered. With context becoming an important determinant of leadership effectiveness leader qualities took a back seat. It is against this back drop that we need to find out if there are certain leadership qualities that have withstood the test of times. Or, in other words are there certain universal qualities that transcend cultures, time and religion. More so, in view of the fact that societies and organizations are becoming global, that is, multi-cultured and multi-religious. People from different cultures, religions and regions living together have to be led in such a way that the diversities are managed effectively. The leaders thus have to address the inherent contradictions. Be it the United States or India. Be it Canada or Venezuela. Be it Bihar or Uttar Pradesh. As homogeneity gives way to heterogeneity, the search for essential leadership qualities has to be carried out. Interestingly, despite contextual differences and accentuated diversities there have been leadership styles that have worked. Across ages, across cultures. The basics do not change. If Abraham Lincoln could find that in 19^th century “Mercy always bears richer fruits than strict justice, Prince Siddhartha (Buddha) way back in 5^th century BC had proved through his experience that the person who saves someone’s life is always greater than the person who tries to kill. Compassion and consideration have proved to be leadership qualities that have transcended time and space.