Soundarya Lahiri And Inner Beauty TOI-ST

3 Jun 2003, 0001 hrs IST, Sri Sri Ravishankar

Consciousness is beauty and Creation is an expression of
consciousness. Beauty is present in all creation. Eastern philosophy
believes beauty is the nature of things, while western thought sees it
as perception. Perhaps beauty is both subjective and objective.

The East emphasises subjectivity; it sees beauty as the nature of
existence — as Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, an objective phenomenon. In
the West, where objectivity is emphasised, beauty is seen as a
subjective phenomenon. But as the old proverb goes, beauty lies in the
eyes of the beholder. Beauty bridges the subject-object divide.

Be calm and serene; turn within and you can get a glimpse of beauty.
Every experience of beauty is happening within, and is superimposed on
the object outside. Beauty is a state of mind. If your mind is calm
and collected, it perceives beauty everywhere. If agitated, even the
most beautiful things can annoy. Perception of beauty varies with the
level of intelligence. For an average person, garments and accessories
are the symbols of beauty. For the more sensitive, the sparkle in your
eyes or a smile on your face is beautiful. Others see beauty in
innocence. A child captivates your attention with its innocence and
smile.

For the intellectually inclined, beauty lies in intelligence. However
good looking a person is, she will not be found attractive for long if
she lacks wit and intelligence. Whenever the mind is captivated, it is
close to the Self or pure consciousness. That's why temple idols are
decorated with clothes and jewellery and the room is enhanced with
incense, flowers and food is offered to lure the mind away from the
five senses and make it still.
Dispassion to one's Self, dedication to society and devotion to God is
the secret of undying beauty. Without dispassion, beauty is
short-lived. But possessiveness turns beauty into a mirage. Devotion
and wonderment is simply appreciating beauty without possessiveness.
You see a beautiful painting and you want to own it, you want to take
it home with you, but then you hang it on your wall and after a while
you don't even look at it.

Adi Shankara in the Soundarya Lahiri — 'Waves of Beauty', speaks of
the god of love, Kama, aiming at you with five flower arrows which aim
to awaken the five senses, giving rise to a 'wave' of beauty which
creates bliss — you start appreciating everything from a thorn to a
snail to even a sea urchin. The rishis have always adored beauty and
made it a characteristic of the Divine. Satyam or truth, Shivam or
benevolence, tranquillity and divinity, and Sundaram or beauty.

Shyness enhances beauty while shame kills it. Valour enhances beauty;
arrogance des-troys it. There is a certain beauty in maturity — so
looking beautiful is not the sole prerogative of the young. Often
beauty is recognised only when it is uncommon. But to nature lovers,
everything in nature is beautiful. Beauty is not just in the flowers;
it is in the thorns of a cactus, too.

Beauty creates a thrill, it wakes up the sleeping consciousness.
Beauty can also bring ecstasy and draw you into deep meditation.
Beauty is not limited to excitement and activity, it also permeates
sleep. Look at a sleeping baby, Buddha or Vishnu. There is un-
fathomable beauty there. Not just knowledge but even ignorance,
foolishness has a certain beauty.
To be able to perceive truth or beauty in creation, calmness is
essential. An agitated mind can neither see the truth nor appreciate
beauty. That's why Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram always go together. The
whole of Creation is nothing but 'Waves of Beauty'.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1962.cms

Waves of divine beauty TOI-SE

BHANUMATI NARASIMHAN

The nature of the Self is described as Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram:
Truth, Tranquillity and Innocence, and Beauty.

Spirituality is a journey from the outer world of names and forms to
the subtle world of energies, to the innermost core of our being, the
Self.

Satyam or Truth is multidimensional, unchanging in time and space. It
is the substratum, the basis of entire creation. Shivam is the
embodiment of calmness and tranquillity, innocence and benevolence.
Shiva is always mentioned along with Shakti. Shakti is the primordial
energy responsible for entire creation. Energy is the feminine aspect
and is addressed as Mother Divine, the Devi. Like the sea and the
waves, though seemingly separate, they are essentially the same. Like
the light and the lamp, dancer and the dance, Shiva and Shakti, the
creation and the creative impulse are inseparable.

Sundaram is beauty. We move from recognising beauty outside to beauty
within. Adi Shankaracharya in his composition Saundarya Lahiri (Waves
of Beauty), glorifies the incomparable beauty of the Divine Mother.
Here he speaks of Apangat or Kama, the god of love, an archer with a
bow and five flower arrows. When Apangat hits you with his arrow of
flowers, a wave of beauty is created inside you.

The five flowers represent the five senses through which you
experience something that is beyond the senses. You experience a wave
of beauty rising deep inside you; you have dissolved into the
formless. Rather, you are formless. You have come back to your nature.

When you look at beautiful scenery, your eyes shut and you sink into
that ocean of beauty. When you smell a fragrant flower, the flower
remains outside, the fragrance disappears in a void, and you drop into
being. That is beauty. When you hear beautiful music, you become fully
immersed in it and you no longer know what is being played. You are
lost in the formless divinity within.

In this way, Adi Shankara has described the beautiful journey from the
gross to the subtle, the outer to the inner, the form to the formless,
and the limited to the infinite, non-dual consciousness.

Established in such a state, you start appreciating everything from a
thorn to a snail and a sea urchin. Dispassion to one's Self,
dedication to society and devotion to God is the secret of undying
beauty. Without dispassion, beauty is short-lived. Possessiveness
turns beauty into a mirage. Devotion and wonderment is simply
appreciating beauty without possessiveness. You see a beautiful
painting and you want to own it, you want to take it home with you,
but then you hang it on your wall and after a while you don't even
look at it. Adi Shankaracharya was an embodiment of dispassion. He
could fully cognise and experience beauty in entire creation.

Beauty creates a thrill; it wakes up the sleeping consciousness.
Beauty can also bring ecstasy and draw you into deep meditation.
Meditation is complete relaxation, like a cool shower for the mind. It
is the act of getting in touch with your own divinity, getting back to
your nature. Your nature is truth, innocence and beauty.

To be able to perceive truth or beauty in creation, calmness is
essential. An agitated mind can neither see the truth nor appreciate
beauty. That's why Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram always go together. The
whole of Creation is nothing but 'Waves of Beauty'.

(The writer is director, Women & Child Welfare Programmes, The Art of
Living Foundation.)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4335256,prtpage-1.cms

Vande Mataram : Aurobindo's Interpretation

Translation by Shree Aurobindo

Mother, I bow to thee!   
Rich with thy hurrying streams,   
bright with orchard gleams,   
Cool with thy winds of delight,   
Dark fields waving Mother of might,   
Mother free.   

Glory of moonlight dreams,   
Over thy branches and lordly streams,   
 Clad in thy blossoming trees,   
Mother, giver of ease   
Laughing low and sweet!   
Mother I kiss thy feet,   
Speaker sweet and low!   
Mother, to thee I bow.   
   

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands   
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands   
And seventy million voices roar   
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?   
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,   
To thee I call Mother and Lord!   
Though who savest, arise and save!   
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove   
Back from plain and Sea   
And shook herself free.   
 

Thou art wisdom, thou art law,  
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath  
Though art love divine, the awe  
In our hearts that conquers death.  
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,  
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.  
Every image made divine  
In our temples is but thine.  

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,  
With her hands that strike and her  
swords of sheen,  
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,  
And the Muse a hundred-toned,  
Pure and perfect without peer,  
Mother lend thine ear,  
Rich with thy hurrying streams,  
Bright with thy orchard gleems,  
Dark of hue O candid-fair  

In thy soul, with jewelled hair  
And thy glorious smile divine,  
Lovilest of all earthly lands,  
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!  
Mother, mother  mine!  
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,  
Mother great and free!  

 http://www.indianchild.com/vande_mataram.htm

I Have a Dream - Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvellous new militancy which has engulfed our community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realise that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realise that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And... even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character... I have a dream that one day... right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together." This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day ^ this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing./ Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,/ From every mountainside, let freedom ring!/ And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true... And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! Excerpted from the `I Have a Dream' speech delivered on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3677641,prtpage-1.cms

Start singing, dancing and rejoicing, Speaking Tree, TOI 11 Dec 08

Time is short. Dance, sing, be joyous! If there were no nuclear destruction possible, no threat, you could have postponed.

You could have said, "Tomorrow we will dance." But now there may be no tomorrow; you cannot postpone. This is for the first time that tomorrow is absolutely doubtful for all. Individually it is always doubtful: tomorrow may never come, even the next breath may not come in. Individually death is always imminent, but this time it is something global, universal. The whole earth may disappear, may explode.

You can cry and weep and you can beat your head against the wall; that will not stop nuclear destruction and its threat. In fact, it may bring it closer and faster because sad people, miserable people, are dangerous people. Misery creates destructiveness. Politicians have enough atomic energy piled up to destroy this earth not only once but several hundred times.

If the whole of humanity can start dancing, rejoicing, feasting ^ seeing that the threat is very close by... If the whole earth can become full of joy it will be less possible to destroy, because who is going to destroy it?

We are the people; it is up to us to decide that we want to live or that we want to commit suicide. If we start a new climate in the world ^ of rejoicing, of dancing, of singing, of meditation, of prayer ^ and if people become full of bliss, cheerfulness, laughter... there is every possibility we can avoid destruction, because joyous people don't want to destroy, they want to create.

If destruction has become global, we have to make laughter and dancing also global, in the same proportion, to counteract it. Why be sad? And what are you going to gain by sadness? Yes, i know the world is facing a danger, but each individual has always faced the danger of death. If universal death is really close by, don't postpone. I say rejoice ^ because if you can die rejoicing, you will transcend death, you will go beyond death.

One who can die blissfully never dies, because in death he comes to know immortality.

If the time is short, then you have to spread this orange laughter all over the world. Then it is time that we should make people more and more joyous. Tell them that death can take over this earth any moment, because... politicians have so much power now... Just push a button and the process can be triggered, the whole earth can explode. You don't have time to waste.

Remember, meditation will give you many joys, many blessings; many gifts will descend on you. The Buddha says: do not turn away what is given to you... because if you turn it away you will miss the opportunity, and it may not knock on your door again for a long time. One never knows when the moment will come again. So whenever something happens to you in meditation, open your heart. And go dancing, go joyously, because in meditation nothing wrong can ever happen to you.

The more alert you are, you find new ways of doing things, you find new styles of living your life. The more alert you are, the more creative you are, and only creative people know what happiness is. What you create is not the point ^ just be creative. It may be poetry, it may be music, it may be sculpture, it can be anything, but just the process of being creative brings you to the point where you meet the Divine.

(Excerpted from `Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha'. Courtesy: Osho International Foundation. www.osho.com. Today is Osho's birth anniversary.)

Yoga to fight stress!

Shavasana

 

Lie on your back, both legs straight and apart by about one foot. keep your arms on the floor, slightly away from your torso, the palms facing upwards. Make sure that there is no tension in your body.

 

Let your limbs loose. close your eyes and focus all your attention on your breathing. Focus on inhaling and exhaling in arythmic pattern. Rest in this position for five minutes.

 

BENEFITS

 

Helps overcome physical and mental fatigue; is the simplest way to fight depression, tension and insomnia; has a calming influence on entire body and one of the best ways to relax.

 

 

Aum Chanting

 

This is the perfect way to begin and end all exercise sessions. Sit in a comfortable postion, like padmasana or sukhasana, breathing normally. Inhale to your lungs' capacity. Open your mouth and say 'aaa' first. Then close your mouth slightly and say 'o'  and then close your mouth fully, saying 'mmm' and exhaling all the while. Repeat this cycle a few times.

 

BENEFITS

 

Boosts energy circulation in your body

 

The aum sound reverberates throughout the universe, as well as our bodies. it contains within itself the powers of the trinity; Vishnu, Brahma, Mahesh. When you chant in the meditative fashion, all your energy gets refreshed. You feel recharged, ready to take on anything.

 

Hasayasana

 

Sit in sukhasana and close your eyes. Now, smile, feel happy and think that you are free from all mental tensions. Tell yourself that you are free of all the ailments. gradually, start laughiing, louder and louder. Let yourself free and laugh out as much as you can. Raise your hands as well. Slowly lower the volume, reduce your tempo and return to the calm, smiling position.

 

BENEFITS

 

Helps develop a healthy mindset; takes the mind completely off all physical ailments or mental tensions; helps get rid of any anger, irritation or depression.

 

Courtesy:  Dr. Surakshit Goswami, Times Wellness, Delhi Times, with TOI March 7

Six qualities every great leader needs

By Sarah Lourie, Assistant Editor
SearchCIO.com

American Airlines Executive Chairman Ed Brennan knows about corporate leaders. He's had a seat on a dozen corporate boards -- he's sitting on four right now. Addressing attendees at the Society for Information Management's SIMposium 2004, Brennan said leadership is one of those things you know when you see it. It's a subtle quality a friend of his described thusly: "I don't know if I can define leadership, but I know when I've been led."

Brennan said he believes that great technology leadership is imperative for businesses. "As an example, on the fateful day of 9/11, American Airlines had many important decisions to make," he said. "On average, at any time during the day, we have 900 to 1,000 planes airborne. The decision was made to ground the fleet, and all planes landed within one hour.

"IT was critical to making and implementing this decision; it would have been impossible without it," he stressed.

So what makes a great corporate leader? According to Brennan, six qualities separate the leaders from the followers:

Integrity: This is a deal breaker if you don't have it completely. When it comes to governance, Brennan said, he "never did anything or asked anyone to do anything he couldn't go home and explain to his kids."

A deep understanding of the business: "You can't fake it. People will know." While you don't need to know every detail, you do have to have a good grasp of the business.

Consistency: While keeping things fresh is important, leaders cannot change direction frequently. They will lose people's confidence.

Willingness to admit a mistake: Everyone makes mistakes. If you're not making any, you're not doing your job right. But Brennan emphasized the importance of admitting your missteps -- otherwise people will not respect you.

The ability to listen: Good leaders must be willing to handle opinions contrary to their own and absorb as much as they can.

Decisiveness: While you should listen to others' opinions, the final decision is yours to make. Brennan said when CEOs fail, very often it's because they are not decisive. Average tenure for a CEO has fallen from more than a decade to three years because people lose confidence in leaders whose indecision results in failure.

So where does the CIO fit into Brennan's framework? The perception of senior management is that IT over-promises and underachieves, he said. Just remember that a good leader will know that results don't happen overnight, and being patient is important, too.

Mumukshu Musings 180208

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others - Mahatma Gandhi

Indian Wisdom for Management - Book by Sw. Someshwarananda

by Suma Varughese

What if we were to approach work, any work, from the point of view of service, rather than profit? What are the consequences of this approach? And how practical is it? So, for whose sake are you performing service? You are doing service for your own sake… You do not serve others, you serve yourselves; You do not serve the world, you serve your own best interest. —Sathya Sai Baba

Medha Patkar was just another social science student, unknown to the world, when she went to the villages of Madhya Pradesh for a project among the tribal. That was when she came across the Narmada Dam project. Fired by the injustice of a system that sacrificed tribal welfare for the sake of the urban elite, she took up their cause.

In the process, this pretty young woman became the grandee dame of the alternative movement, the symbol of the gritty underdog challenging the powerful and the mighty. Dr Madan Kataria was an anonymous medical practitioner looking for money and fame until the day he decided to put into practice his knowledge that laughter healed.

Through his ‘laughter clubs’, of which there are 1,300 in India and 700 abroad, he unleashed a revolution that brought together people socially, helped them combat ailments, and re-engineered attitudes.

Today, the doctor has jettisoned his practice in favor of spreading his mission, is happy and has forged a spiritual path for himself through laughter therapy. Dr Shilu Srinivasan was an academic working with the prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences when she decided to start a magazine for the elderly. Today, Dignity Dialogue is a movement that caters to the needs of senior citizens through a spectrum of services that include help lines, succor for those undergoing harassment, jobs for the active, and security for the helpless, company for the lonely and other special privileges. She is a spokesperson for a constituency that didn’t exist until she gave it a voice and an identity.

Three people whose lives telescoped in breadth and dimension when they aligned themselves to a cause larger than themselves. They catapulted above the common herd to a domain of success, immense inner satisfaction, quantum growth, the realization of precious insights into the nature of life and the unadulterated bliss of crafting their unique contribution to the world. In the process, they also garnered the worldly rewards of money, influence and power. How has this trio contrived to have it all?

Is there a method to their madness, a plan of action we can emulate, an easy, straightforward, three-step strategy to lasting corporate fulfillment? Perhaps. But ‘easy’ would hardly be the operative word. Nor would ‘straightforward’. Here, as anywhere in the spiritual world, paradox rules. The first step to having it all is not to want it. The second step is to step outside the narrow framework of our desires and needs and focus on the needs of others. All three got where they are because of their concern for others.

Swami Someswarananda, a former monk with the Ramakrishna Mission and an advocate of Indian Ethos in Management (IEM) says in his remarkable book, Indian Wisdom for Management: “Caring for others leads you to help them solve their problems, which makes you popular, influential, gives you social prominence and power, makes you more independent, leading to security.” ‘I-centeredness’, as he calls the narrow focus on individual needs, may or may not help us achieve material rewards.

And it will rarely offer the intangible joys of self-expression and job satisfaction. So, should we quit our jobs and trample en masse down the road less taken? Not quite. Not all of us can afford to let go of our jobs. Many of us may not even want to. But we can shift the attitude with which we approach work. Suresh Pandit, who calls himself an organizational transformation coach, says: “When you focus only on your own well-being and that of your family, your vision and approach is small.

But when you move into ‘other-centeredness’, you think big.” He cites the example of Jamshedji Tata who was a trader in steel until he met Swami Vivekananda aboard a ship. Swami Vivekananda asked him why the steel could not be manufactured in India. To which he replied that India did not have a set-up for fundamental research. Why not create one, the Swami suggested.

And thus came into being the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The service approach gives rich dividends wherever it is tried. Pandit feels: “A manager who only works for his salary, perks and image is bound to fail. On the other hand, one who cares for his company and his employees will get spontaneous co-operation.” Rajiv Nambiar, a senior manager at Opal Consultants and an active sevak (selfless worker) in the Sathya Sai Baba movement, cites an example from his previous stint at Sigma. “As administrative manager, I had to maintain the discipline of the organization and yet be humane.

On one occasion, the management recommended the dismissal of a drunken worker. But I told him to go home and that we would discuss his conduct the following day. The next day he threw himself at my feet and thanked me for saving his job. When you become seva-oriented, you start putting yourself in others’ shoes and understand their problems.” “Caring for others leads you to help them solve their problems, which makes you popular... influential, which gives you social prominence and power, making you more independent”

Pandit cites several examples of dramatic increase in productivity when a company adopts a more people-centric attitude. One such Jalandhar-based company witnessed a great leap in their profits. The owners were encouraged to regard themselves as trustees and to empower their employees through the formation of a network of self-managing teams.

Managers were encouraged to relate to their subordinates from a bhakti mode modelled along the lines of the mother-child relationship, of loving, nurturing, generating self-confidence and letting go. The result was an astonishing 27 per cent increase in productivity. Many spiritual organizations are a testimony to the growth and prosperity that the service spirit generates.

The Vipassana International Academy, founded by S.N. Goenka, whose headquarters is based in Igatpuri, Maharashtra, is a classic example. The organization offers a 10-day Buddhist meditation programme, where participants are housed and fed free of charge. At the end of the course, donations are solicited to finance the next batch of mediators. According to Ajit Parikh, secretary of the academy, 20 per cent give more than expected, 50 per cent give on the basis of the estimated cost, and around 30 per cent do not pay.

And yet the organization has grown prolifically, comprising 50 centers in India and about 55 abroad. How did this miracle happen? Parikh explains: “When pious intentions and hard work go together, the results are wonderful. By not charging fees, Guruji wanted to maintain the pristine purity of the practice as it was in Buddha’s time.

There has, however, never been a shortage of funds. Each centre is an independent trust managed by local mediators, but when construction works for accommodation or meditation halls are required, they can be funded by other centers through repayable loans.” Work done in a spirit of sacrifice, focuses on the needs of othersWhen you give, you get. Apart from the huge amounts Goenka, a former businessman, himself put into the academy, the remarkable results of the course have inspired spectacular donations.

One NRI couple, for instance, gave $ 2 million, and Subhash Chandra, head of the Zee network, gave property worth crores at Gorai, a beach in Mumbai where the academy is constructing a giant pagoda. Ambika Yog Kutir, a yoga institute in Thane, runs on similar lines. The humblest as well as the white-collared avail of its excellent free yoga programmes. And yet the lack of funds has not impeded its vigorous growth.

Founded by Pundalik Ramchandra Nikam, (known as Hathayogi Nikam Guruji), a former police officer, the organization has grown from a room in his house to a spacious three-storey building in Thane, with 45 centers in Mumbai alone. No fee is charged, though participants are free to donate what they wish. Their corps of 1,500 teachers are honorary, drawn from former students.

The organization teaches yoga to hospitals, cancer patients, the police force, the Air Force, the Reserve Bank, the Bombay Port Trust and many others. Ramakant Surve, trustee, says: “We are never short of funds. Guruji had told us, ‘money will come. Don’t run after it. You serve’.” Dhirubhai Mehta, president of several Gandhian organizations and a chartered accountant, says: “It is my experience that no good cause suffers from paucity of funds. Everyone, even the much-maligned government, has a soft corner for a good thing. One must reach out and touch it.”

Swami Someswarananda borrows from Vedanta to define the three guiding principles of service:

1. Ahm Brahmasmi: My potential is infinite.

2. Atmano Moksarthan Jagad Hithaya Ka: Work for personal liberation (or growth) and for the good of society.

3. Yajnarthat Karma: Work in a spirit of sacrifice, focusing on the needs of others.

He suggests that we integrate these principles by becoming aware of our unique skills and potentials, by strengthening them and finally looking at what societal needs they could serve. Mehta did just that when, at the age of 50, he decided to yoke his vast managerial and financial acumen to the needs of the society.

He now heads the Kasturba Health Society which runs a hospital, a nursing home and a medical college in Wardha, Maharashtra. The first step to having it all is not to want it. The second step is to step outside the narrow framework of our desires and needs and focus on the needs of othersHe point out: “My shift from corporate work to social work has made me happy.

Whatever few lakhs of money I generate for my causes gives me far more satisfaction than the hundreds of crores I made for my companies.” He adds: “I often tell my corporate friends that had I spent more time with the corporate elite, I would have lost my faith in humanity and become a cynic. When I go to the villages and meet my sevikas, I get my batteries recharged and regain my faith.”

Indeed, while productivity and success are the key benefits of the principle of seva, no less significant are the personal gains in terms of growth, satisfaction and joy. All these are byproducts of an approach that resolves the conflict that is at the root of our present way of functioning.

If we live in conflict with the environment or our fellow creatures; if our best instincts are at war with our need for survival, much of our potential will remain unlocked. The service motive resolves the conflict by revealing that our welfare is linked to the welfare of mankind and that of the universe.

Medha Patkar admits that she is a debtor, not a creditor, to her work. “I have learnt a lot from the tribal about developing a simple and down-to-earth approach to life and cultivating a special relationship with nature. A huge advantage of the work I have done is that I have managed to relate at various levels from the harmless advises to World Bank officials.

One needs to use different strategies and skills but operate from the same value framework. This is a challenge.” She adds: “I have grown in perspective by working on the Narmada project. It did not remain an issue, but became a symbol of struggle against a paradigm of development. One may not be able to realize all ideals in a lifetime, but it is enough to keep moving and doing what you can.”

Dr Radhike Khanna, vice principal of the S.P.J. Sadhana School for the developmentally handicapped, is an outstanding example of the power of service to transform and uplift. The school educates children with IQs of less than 50. Khanna has been instrumental in creating a cookery section, an office skills section and an arts section to help the students create livelihood for themselves.

The creative output from these courses is excellent. Who can believe that these polite, virtually normal youngsters, had to be taught everything from scratch? The rewards, Khanna says, have all been hers. “I struggled for six months to make a child hold a brush in her hands. And when she came back later with a canvas full of colors, I had no words to express my joy.” Another time, when she and her team of teachers had taken the students for a camp at Ranthambore, one of them fell into water.

“He was curled up at the bottom of the pool. We were 45 km away from the nearest hospital. I gave him artificial respiration, and Reiki right through the long ride. I kept saying, ‘Devan, come back, come back’. And he did. He suddenly came alive. That’s when you know how much support you get from the universe.”

Another who has plugged into the creative power of service is Abhishek Thakore, a student and founder of a social organization called Blue Ribbon. Members of his group, most of whom are students, help out at orphanages and old-age homes. On home service day, they go house to house, washing dishes, cleaning, and cooking!

He comments: “I’ve changed. I used to consider it below my dignity to do manual work. At a recent Art of Living course, I did what I hated most—clearing the garbage. There is no satisfaction comparable to that which you get in contributing to people’s lives.” Thakore steers clear of the notorious helpers’ ego by asking for help when he needs it. “Being open to receiving is equally important,” he feels.

He also intuited on an important insight when he discovered that giving triggered off receiving. “When I started sharing knowledge, my own increased. At one time, I decided against sharing it and I found that my own learning foundered.” Srinivasan’s Dignity Dialogue grew from a magazine to a movement in less than four months. “People often asked me about loneliness. So, we made a volunteer team of 100 subscribers and trained them in social counseling.”

But requests kept pouring in—for help in cases of abuse, for jobs, for security, at a time when reports of murders of senior citizens were routinely appearing in newspapers. By taking care of the never before addressed needs of her constituency, Srinivasan’s influence and popularity grew. Government gave funds. Pretty soon, she was running a public trust instead of relying on advertisers.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation chipped in by offering her a spacious office. Eventually, the Ambanis took it over. “Making it a national movement is what I am planning,” she says. The bottom-line in this maelstrom of activity is clear—self-fulfillment. “I am doing all this because it gives me happiness. I am realizing my potential.”

The seva motive can transform the way governments and large organizations work, as Suresh Pundit and N.H. Athreya have proved with the Prabhadevi Special Services and Trunk Booking Exchange of MTNL, Mumbai. When the woes of the operator were handled and they were sensitized to the needs of the public, their performance went up dramatically.

The number of ‘acceptable’ conversations, which customers approved of, went up from 42 per cent to 96 per cent. The service motive has the potential to transform the way we work in India, perhaps even make it that superpower the government dreams of. All it needs is the will and determination.