Being an avid news hound, I’m quite aware of the number of stories in the media these days that center on issues of wealth, greed, power, addictions and self-centeredness. Politicians, clergy, and business leaders all over the world – no one seems to be immune. And what we hear about in the news is just the tip of the iceberg. Who has not been affected by this in one way or another? Having been involved in businesses in various management and contributor roles over the last 28+ years, I’ve found many of the same issues, well out of the media spotlight, but alive and flourishing. Not as big a story, but affecting the lives and careers of many.
I’m beginning a dialog here on these topics to share my related thoughts and experiences from my business, personal and spiritual life. I hope they inspire reflection and responses on your part – whoever might be reading this – so that we all might benefit.
I thought I would begin by writing about the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, as he is very much on my mind right now. Our Colorado state chapter (of the foundation) just finished hosting two public events in Denver and Boulder. Being in the presence of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar reminds me of the importance of leaders ‘walking their talk’. Watching him interact with the public, the media, with government and business leaders, with Art of Living members and with those that could best be described as followers or students, is a lesson in understanding service and humility. I’ll note here that I'm teacher of the foundation’s programs, so I can’t claim to be unbiased. It was 1 A.M. of the morning that Sri Sri was scheduled to depart Denver. After a day full of meetings and public talks which had stretched until midnight, he was packing for an early flight the next morning and was ready for bed. Outside in the hall a young boy waited with his mother to give Sri Sri a gift, and when he was told that Sri Sri was no longer seeing people he persisted and began to cry... When I informed Sri Sri what all the noise in the hall was about, he welcomed the boy into his room, received the gift and sent him on his way with a hug. A simple expression of selflessness but one which I have seen repeated again and again in my twenty years with Sri Sri. This was not a public event. There was no media and few people in the hall that night, but that one gesture symbolized the reason that I'm still volunteering for this foundation several decades after I began this work. Someone famous once said "character is made up of those things that we do when no one is watching..."
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s is a life visibly lived for others. Whether speaking with a child or a head of state, Sri Sri is constantly giving knowledge, encouragement and love in a natural way. He embodies the qualities that I aspire to in my life. The purpose of this post is not to extol the qualities of Sri Sri as there are more appropriate forums for that, but rather to suggest that his life and work is a model that we ourselves and our leaders can look to for living fundamental human values in our personal lives, businesses and organizations.
We don’t all need to be spiritually uplifting public figures, but isn’t it worth modeling our personal lives, and the way we conduct businesses and governments affairs after someone whom we look up to? Someone who lives the values and qualities we aspire to? For me that person is Sri Sri. For you it may be someone else. With so much being driven in the world today by the need for wealth, power, success and status, wouldn’t we all be a bit better off if we came back to the core values of compassion, honesty and integrity?
-Jim
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Good beginning Jim :).
ReplyDeleteWith Sri Sri, i believe (and have witnessed) "Walk the Talk" is synonymous and exactly identical with "Talk the Walk".
In an incident that occured several years ago at the Mumbai international airport. Sri Sri's flight from (Europe, i think) had landed and most passengers had exited. All of us waiting outside began to wonder what could have possibly happened.
At that time, i used to work for a media firm and possessed a PRESS identity card that allowed me unfettered access to 'restricted areas' in the airport.
I walked in and realised that the delay was because a Customs official was (to put in simple terms) harassing Sri Sri. We all know how irritating it can be. However Sri Sri was not the least bit perturbed/hassled and patiently answered all questions, opened up all suitcases...finally the customs official gave up... then Sri Sri , as though nothing had happened, with HIs hands together in a 'pranam', smiled at the custom official and calmly wheeled his suitcases out. I was stunned and inspired - from any logical angle it would have been natural to smirk/ throw some directed sarcasm at the official for wasting one's time... but Sri Sri was evidently operating from a much higher plane full of wisdom and compassion
True, there's dire need to create awareness on human values in today's times. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim, for sharing. We are so looking forward to these beautiful incidents from all of you who have been with him for all these years. I have some of my own- will share them as we o along.
ReplyDeleteJim, I enjoyed very much reading your post. I sense a sincerity in your words, just as i sensed in those who post in the art of living free blog.
ReplyDeleteI've taken the Yes+ course in Canada, and had a very positive experience, yet my research into the AOL organization shed light on a few issues of concern, mainly a lack of financial transparency. I'm glad to see that AOL and IAHV financial records for the U.S. can be obtained online @guidestar. It may be prudent for the organization to also make annual reports and financial statements, for all regions of the world available on the organizations own website in addition to guidestar. Most large western organizations such as the United Way, or various cancer society's do so. This may quite the naysayers - fiscal transparency is key for a non-profit organization to flourish.
Good point Singh- I hope that we can put in a system that will make it easy across the board to update financial information. Only now, after almost a decade of working with volunteers we have some web portals and databases figured out. We should be tackling finances next with qualified people rather than just "volunteers".
ReplyDeleteYou must have noticed from the figures on guidestar how little as an organization we make, given how old we are. We express abundance of spirit that makes it come across like a "fancy", upmarket financially rich organization.
I think the mistake Guruji made was starting it as a non-profit. Instead, had he started a for profit business of Yoga and meditation he would have made millions rather than the paltry sums we "make" as an organization and he need not even have to "explain" his riches to others. Rather than creating a network of volunteers who find service as an expression of love, he should have run a money-making franchise where all his franchisees would have made money too- that would have made a whole load of people happy and he would have been nominated the forbes Business man of the year, Time man of the year etc. 28 years too late to change business model!
I suppose the frailty of human greed cannot imagine how a person can be so detached to material wealth and continue to serve humanity with a smile and compassion.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has already been recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the top 5 most powerful people in India, is this not an indicator of the measure of success he has achieved?
ReplyDeleteI think it's quite easy to imagine that Sri Sri is not driven by the frailty of human greed and material wealth. I know many who have rejected the materialism and consumerist culture of the west. Sri Sri is driven by something entirely different.
Until there are checks and balances in place, it is possible that others in a position of power within the organization, not as noble as Sri Sri, may have abused there power. This is an issue prevalent in the non-profit sector (just as it is in society as a whole)
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/is-the-non-profit-world-teeming-with-fraud/
I'm glad to hear that the board is taking this issue seriously.
Thank you for starting this blog. I have seen a lot of good things, for many years, with my own two eyes.
ReplyDeleteI have an honest question related to values that I'd like to pose to everyone who has written on this blog so far:
I have been involved for a long time (though I am not writing from my own email account). I have respect for Sri Sri and for Art of Living.
question:
What would u think or do if u came to know that one of the very senior, very esteemed teachers in Art of Living had inappropriately touched someone you knew - and that Sri Sri learned about it after the fact?
Would you trust that Sri Sri had taken precautions behind the scenes to make sure that it never happened again? What if this senior teacher was still very active and was put on a very high pedestal by Art of Living members? and that he even was given a special honored name by Sri Sri?
Do you think that Sri Sri has any moral responsibility towards the person who was affected? Do you think he has any responsibility towards other women who might idolize this particular teacher?
Or do you think that his responsibility only is to spread knowledge and bring peace to people's hearts, and that each teacher is solely responsible for their own behavior?
Hi Doreen,
ReplyDeleteSorry for my delay in responding. I got caught up in our kitchen remodeling and didn't see your question until tonight. Its a very good question and very delicate. I haven't heard of the situation and not knowing the details it's difficult to comment specifically. In a corporate environment, there is a process for reporting and dealing with issues such as these. I think everyone who has been informed has some responsibility, commensurate with their place in the organization. I know Sri Sri would not tolerate such behavior and would ask that it stop immediately. In the case of something happening in Canada, it should be the Canadian officers and/or board of directors that follows through with corrective action.
Each teacher is of course responsible for their own behavior, but the organization must not turn a blind eye.