Excellence
through Spirituality
Swami
Bhoomananda Tirtha
PART
- I
[Talk
given by Poojya Swamiji on 29th November 2004 at the Institute
of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, U.P.]
Yam shaivaassamupaasate shiva iti
brahmeti vedaantino
Bauddhaa buddha iti pramaana-patavah
karteti naiyaayikaah
Arhan-nityatha jaina-shaasanarataah karmeti
meemaamsakaah
Soyam vo vidadhaatu vaanchita-phalam
trailokya-naatho harih
As
usual, I shall recite the auspicious and invigorating
monosyllable ‘Om’. We are now occupied with the subject
of generating excellence. But the very source of excellence
is right within your body. From that spiritual source, the
one effective and creative way of tapping excellence is by
generating this beautiful sound Om. I would like you to join
me in this recitation, so that all your anxieties will be
eliminated. Keep company with me. Sit erect and preferably
close your eyes. Closing the eyes itself will bring about a
great internal strength.
Harih..
O…..M, O…..M, O…..M. Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.
I
heartily
greet all of you, seekers of knowledge. As I understand,
most of you are students and some of you are members of the
faculty who are orienting the students towards whatever they
are aiming at in life. In my own life, knowledge has been my
pursuit. I don’t know of any pursuit other than knowledge.
And as far as I can understand, the only factor that
distinguishes man from the rest of living beings is
knowledge – the potential and possibility of developing
knowledge, gaining it and also expressing it.
Let
All Interactions Enrich Your Mind
After
all, life is interactions between the individual and the
rest of the world. We interact with persons, places and
events. When I say persons, places and events, the entire
world with which we have to interact is covered. In all
these interactions, the interacting individual remains the
same. Whether you are at home or in the office or in the
society at large, are you the least different? The
differences and the variables are always outside you. So,
whenever we think of excellence, it is a quality that we can
ascribe to and also develop with regard to our interactions
and performances.
Excellence
of any kind in any performance whatsoever – tell me
whether the excellence has to come to you from outside or it
is to be generated, developed, preserved, and enhanced from
within. Are we conscious of
this fact? I am sure that many important thinkers are not
even conscious of this.
Right
from ancient ages, has there been any addition to the human
body? No new organ has been added to it. The ancient man had
a pair of eyes, a pair of ears, a nose, two hands, legs and
the other limbs. The present man also has the same. The
human personality has not changed at all physically. So far
as what we have within, we have an emotional, thoughtful
mind and a rational, knowing intelligence. And at the back
of it, as the coordinator, we have an ego.
Tell
me whether anyone born in this world – either in the
corporate world, or in the industrial world or in the
religious world, or in any other world – ever had anything
more than these? So, in what way are you less, I am asking
you. Are you less? Why there is no answer. Are you less? Do
you have any deficiency as a human individual? (There
is a chorus: "No", for an answer from the
audience.) If you don’t
have any deficiency, are you not poised to achieve anything
that you want to achieve in life, provided it is reasonable
and possible for man?
So,
cast aside the sense of inferiority and weakness. Stand
poised to attain anything that is possible. You must embody
this kind of a ‘Himalayan confidence’ – I would like
to call it ‘Spatial
confidence’. You
understand the difference between the two? The Himalayas are
still limited in size. What about space? Unlimited. This is
to be generated from your own mind and intelligence, and not
from outside. If you don’t know, better know it from me
now. You must be an embodiment of confidence.
Animals
and birds also have lived on the surface of this earth. Not
much of civilizational growth
is found in them. But in the human world, everything has
been civilized; everything has progressed. Is it not because
of the human mind? And what is the power of the mind? The
power of the mind is ‘thinking’. It is not enough if we
do something, if we learn something. We must think about
what we have learnt. What is its relevance? How can it be
applied? How can the application be improved? How can I be
effective in any given situation? Constantly, we must aspire
for this growth and advancement. Whatever
be the objective environment, every day of your life
subjectively, personally, inwardly you must have enrichment.
You must have an elevating day – a day of expansion and
improvement. Respectable and enlightened people are here
constituting your faculty and they will tell you about
different subjects so far as your training programme or
educational programme is concerned. I don’t speak about
these at all. But there is one subject, about which perhaps
none of your teachers will speak to you. That is the subject
of the mind – the levels, dimensions, qualities and
excellences that your invisible mind within the body can
visibly bring about.
Externally
you may have many things to complain. There may be denials;
there may be imperfections; there may be failures. These are
all in the object sphere. But
your mind should be flexible enough to get enriched by any
kind of an input coming from any person, place or event.
Many of you will celebrate your birthday. Remember that your
birthday will be meaningful only when you are able to say:
“This one year of life in this world has enriched me,
enhanced my potential and I stand more enlightened and
mature, more effective and creative”. If this inner
enrichment has accrued to you, the birthday celebration is
quite all right. Otherwise, it is not a birthday – it is a
birth-distancing and death approaching day.
Excellence
– A Subjective Dimension
I
think
of excellence not as something to be achieved after the
performance of an action. You may have a programme of say 1
month or 6 months or 2 years. Will the excellence be judged
looking at the result only after the performance of the
task? I think of excellence
as a quality in your personality.
Our excellence is the excellentiality of the mind, the
excellentiality of the intelligence, and of the ego.
Do
you aspire for excellence? Do you stand for excellence?
Then, you have to cultivate excellence every moment in
whatever you do. Your focus should not be on the final
outcome. At each step of performance you have to be
excellent.
I
am
told that many of the students here are anxious. As students
you are anxious! Then as
managers, what are you going to be? Anxious squared? As
students what do you have to do? Sitting in a classroom you
are listening to lectures without any trouble at all. You
are seekers of knowledge. The experts provide you
information. You have only to receive them. You have enough
food to eat. You are not bothered for money. No directors or
bosses are above you to scold you, to intimidate you. In
such a classroom why is it that you are becoming anxious?
What
does the intelligence look for? It looks for knowledge. What
is the mind looking for? Mind is looking for timely memory,
timely orientation, enough of confidence, creativity,
enthusiasm, and all that. None of these is available from
the market or from the books. Your mind alone is available
as the resource for the various qualities you need. If you
want to develop commitment, be committed to your studies
now. Make sure that you learn confidently and assiduously.
And
about the examination, you should never worry at all. By
worrying, will the examinations be better performed? A
worried mind will write better or a worriless mind? (There
was chorus response: "A worriless mind".)
Then, why are you worrying? Whatever you have learnt over a
year, you are writing. After one year of learning, are you
not ashamed to say that you are anxious about answering for
three hours? Suppose you have not been able to acquire
knowledge. Then within the examination hall, can you write
more? So, where is the question of having any anxiety?
I
was
in Malaysia. When we were having Satsang with the hosts, a
call came from London. The host’s wife, while talking over
the phone, suddenly said, “There is a Swamiji who has come
here. Please talk to him”. And she told me, “My son, a
doctor, who is appearing for FRCS, is extremely anxious.”
I took the telephone and asked him what his problem was.
Panting and trembling nervously, he said: “I am very
fearful and anxious about the examination”. From the sound
I could understand that he was almost shattered. I said,
“Will you follow what I say? And after listening to me,
don’t ask me any questions. Simply do what I say.”
“Surrender yourself to the Supreme Reality and write or
speak whatever comes to your mind.”
He
had the viva-voce. And before I left Malaysia in 2 or 3
days, I got the message that he had won a gold medal! This
is what I have to tell you about anxiety.
In
Jamshedpur, one day I had been to a house for Satsang. I
knew the daughter of the hosts since her young age. After
the Satsang was over, she said, “Swamiji, my husband is
working in the TISCO factory. Very often he comes late.
Whenever he is late, I start getting extremely anxious.” I
said, “My dear daughter,
tell me what you are anxious about. May be he has got into
an accident. May be even the worst has happened. What can
you do about it? So many days have passed and so far no
accident has happened. But, by thinking about the accident,
are you not mentally causing it every day? Is not your mind
thrusting the accident on your husband? Mentally you are
killing him and suffering, although there has been no cause
for it. If at all there is going to be an accident, the
information will come to you only once. Till then, why are
you causing the accident in your mind?” She says,
“Swamiji, from that day onwards the whole anxiety has
disappeared from my mind.”
So,
you can assess matters and can make a self-evaluation. You
can say: “I am a good student. Having prepared well, will
I not be able to write and speak well?” Or, “Will a
little more of preparation be necessary?” All these points
you may consider, I don’t mind. But anxiety you should
never allow. Do you agree or disagree? (Chorus
response from the audience: “Agree”.)
The
Three Qualities for Cultivating Excellence
Suppose
your mind is not prepared to cooperate with you! Then, I
think you have to train your mind properly. If I have a hand
and I am not able to use it in the manner I want, will I
like it or dislike it? I have to give sufficient exercise to
make it usable. In the same manner you must give sufficient timely
exercise to the mind so
that the anxiety element is eliminated. There are exercises
for the mind as well as the intelligence.
The
mind should reflect upon these propositions. As it is
becoming anxious now, you will find that it becomes free of
anxiety and surges with confidence and clarity. That is
possible. So far as the intelligence is concerned, it must
always help the mind in trying to get properly oriented and
cultivating the qualities you like. There are a number of
qualities. I will speak about three of them today. If you
reflect upon them well, you will be able to achieve
excellence in every field of interaction.
Now,
the subject of today’s discussion is “Excellence through
Spirituality”. You may wonder: “Is this Swamiji speaking
‘spirituality’ or something else?” I speak only
spirituality. I am a spiritual person and I tell you that
all of you also are spiritual. But you don’t recognize it.
The
word ‘spiritual’ is misunderstood by people. I know of
only three things in the whole world. One is matter and the
second is energy. What is the third factor? You have a body
consisting of matter and energy. But who knows the body?
After all, our body is a tool. The entire body aggregate has
to be known and employed by the mind. And the mind has to be
directed by the intelligence. I want to raise my hand. The
thought or wish to raise – is it belonging to the hand or
to the mind? Unless the mind is there, it cannot activate
the body. And this mind is neither matter nor energy. Then,
are you primarily a physical being or a spiritual being?
Excellence
belongs to this spiritual constituent in us. I am speaking
to you about the mind and the intelligence. Whatever I speak
about, it is essentially a spiritual discussion.
Unfortunately, you are not recognizing this fact. That is
why all of you are either timid, or non-perseverant. You
lack courage and perseverance only because you don’t
understand that these qualities can be harnessed to any
extent from your own mind.
Now,
accepting that we are all spiritual, and the mind,
intelligence and ego are expressions of our spiritual
content, I shall discuss about the three important qualities
that will help you cultivate excellence as a personality
quotient.
The
first quality is ‘intelligence’.
Is there anybody here who will say, “I am not
intelligent”? May be the degrees of intelligence will
vary. But all of you are intelligent. The only question is
whether you are using your intelligence properly, diligently
and beneficially. Your intelligence must help you
discriminate well and adhere to the righteous ways.
The
second quality is ‘integrity’.
What is this Integrity? It is much more than mere
truthfulness or honesty. Integrity implies a high level of
trustworthiness.
You
know, we held our first Brain Stimulatium (workshop for
Corporate Leaders) in the Centre for Inner Resources
Development (CIRD), Vasundhara, near Ghaziabad. The most
senior person amongst the 14 participants was the MD of
Delhi Metro, Sri E Sreedharan. He had taken us to see the
Delhi Metro system before it was inaugurated. I am
interested in seeing whatever takes place in our country.
Even our visit to this IMT, though not for this purpose, I
would have welcomed. Because I like to know what is taking
place in the country and what is the impact of each
institution or development on our society. I had asked Sri
Sreedharan, “Will you please tell me, what is primarily
responsible for your success?” He said, “Swamiji, I can
summarize the whole thing in one word – Integrity.”
Now,
I am asking you. You are students. The professors and the
others who teach you, they all address you with a certain
expectation or trust. What is that? These are students, who
are recipients of knowledge. They are going to be managers.
They must go from here with sufficient knowledge so that
when they are employed by any institution, they must perform
well. Every one of you should bring to this institute a
definite measure of credit and glory.
If
the students fair well – they occupy senior positions and
perform well – and they are very trustworthy to their
company, then alone their teachers will be happy. What is
the trustworthiness here? You are given the knowledge with
the trust that you will receive it, reflect over it,
assimilate it and make the knowledge your own. Even my
talking to you – I am talking to you with a great degree
of trust. You don’t understand? I look upon every one of
you as a very potent recipient of knowledge. You came here
as a seeker, you must go back from here as a knower – at
least to a reasonable degree.
That
means you must have assiduous application to the task given
to you. Assiduous
application. Do you have
the will? Will you be able to apply your body, mind and
intelligence to a given task with exclusiveness, with
perseverance and commitment? It is a very important point.
Even a rickshaw puller must have trustworthiness. He has to
take his customer to the desired place in time even if there
are some difficulties on the way. So, my dear souls, my dear
students, you can never be lacking in integrity.
I
come
and talk to you. I must also have the integrity. I am
talking to an intelligent group of children and I must tell
them something useful and relevant. It must be a good input
to them, which they will be able to culture and also embody
as their own. And personally, I would like to do so in an
inspiring manner. I can also talk with a moderate voice,
without gesticulations. But I do all these things so that
the wandering minds of the listeners will be wandering at
least to a lesser extent.
Integrity
is not to be bought from anywhere. Any extent of money will
not make it available for you. First of all, you must love
it; aspire to cultivate it as a quality. Be inspired by
integrity and generate it to any degree in your life – as
much your occupation, pursuit and commitment require. Will
you fail in it or will you succeed, is my question. I want
an answer now. (Chorus
response: ‘succeed’).
The
third quality is ‘industry’.
You have to be industrious. In order to become industrious,
what do you want? You already have the hands, ears, legs,
and the like. You also have the mind and the intelligence.
So, with all the instruments and the knowledge you have, you
must always be given to hard work. Perseverance should be
there. Our ancient mothers delivered twelve children. And
they had only two hands and a 24-hour day. Ten or twelve
children they delivered. Physically, they did not have any
more resources. What was their mind that mothered twelve in
place of the present most difficult two? How is it that they
did it?
The
dimension and the growth are in the mind. The 24-hour day is
not going to increase at all. Bodily you will not have any
further development. So, you have to spin and weave all the
qualities and enrichments from your present mind,
intelligence and ego. And this can be had by a two-fold
process: the mindprocess and the intelligence-process.
Integrate
Mind & Intelligence to receive, assimilate and express
Let
the intelligence and the mind be sufficiently harmonized and
integrated so that the intelligence will help the mind
receive, assimilate and express more and more. I am
addressing you taking my stand on the ground of knowledge.
You have come here only to gain knowledge. Do you believe in
the potential and efficacy of knowledge? When something is
exposed to you with clarity, first of all you are to receive
it well. After reception,
you should reflect upon, ruminate over, analyse and finally
make it your own. That is called assimilation.
After it is assimilated, you will find, it begins to express
itself.
You
learnt addition when you were young. Even now when I ask you
12 plus 16, will you not be able to answer me? Or, will you
look into the calculator? When did you learn it? Long long
back. But the knowledge of addition even now remains with
you. Similarly, I have explained to you the concept of
integrity and the importance of this virtue in a life of
excellence. If you have received the exposure and
assimilated it, will you not try to imbibe abundant measure
of integrity in your personality and express it through all
your interactions?
And
you must be industrious, striving. Laziness should never
intrude your life. You should be ready to take up any
responsibility wholesomely. That industriousness is an
important factor. So, intelligence,
integrity, and industry –
cultivating these three qualities, you can always become
excellent. There is no doubt.
Excellence
will verily become your own quality. It is not that we are
trying to achieve excellence in some output. On the other
hand, we should embody and express ‘excellentiality’ as
a quality of ours. The quality belongs to the mind,
intelligence and the ego – the three instruments safely
present within our spiritual being. Love excellence
wholeheartedly and soon you will be a pursuer and promoter
of excellence. Am I clear?
I
am told that you are very good students. Out of 22,000
applications, I understand, less than 1% has been selected.
You should be amongst the best students of our country! Do
you know I developed an affinity for you even before coming
here?
So,
of the three qualities I discussed – intelligence,
industry and integrity – intelligence you don’t lack at
all. Most of
you might be quite industrious as well. But as far as
integrity is concerned, I wonder whether many of you have it
in ample measure! You should try to understand and love this
quality to develop it well. We must be able to trust you
with challenging tasks. This Institute will prove its worth
only when it is able to produce good MBAs who will be sought
by the best companies in the country.
Evenness
of the Mind
See,
you may do many acts. Every act is supposed to bring about
its desired outcome. In fact, we take up an action only for
getting a specific result. If an action is well designed and
well executed, normally the desired result will come. Rarely
due to unpredictable and providential factors, the expected
result may not come.
Now,
in the language of the mind there are only three results: ishtha
(desirable),
anishta (undesirable)
and mishra
(a mixture of the two).
Bhagavadgeeta says, whether it is a desired outcome
or an undesired outcome or a combination of the two, your
mind should remain sufficiently profound and poised to
assimilate it. Instead of taking a preferential and partial
stand, always be prepared to receive any outcome that
arises.
Suppose
two teams are playing. If both of them always play with
equal excellence and always it becomes a draw, will you be
happy? Even if both the teams play their best, finally one
team has to lose and the other has to win. So, if we have
played our best we should be able to accept defeat also in
the right spirit without getting afflicted or disturbed.
The
point is that the multiple physical outcomes do not enter
the mind. They remain outside. In the level of the mind, the
responses are only three – desirable, undesirable and a
mixture of the two. Bhagavadgeeta says: Try to have an even
outlook towards the three. Perform well and never worry
about the results.
Study
well. Prepare well. On the appointed day, go to the
examination hall and write as it comes to you. If you have
not studied well, is it right that you wish to have good
marks? If you have studied well then you will write well;
why should you need to have any desire to score well? If you
have not studied, then you have no reason to worry. If you
have studied well, it is unnecessary and redundant to worry.
So why should you worry at all? In this way, you have to
rationalize and keep your mind resolved.
Now,
this is an orientation you have to develop. And all
activities, including study or appearing for examination,
provide opportunities to bring about this inner orientation,
whereby the preferences and prejudices are eliminated and we
have a uniform, wholesome outlook. You must have a very
broad comprehensive platform in your mind from which you
start looking at things and interacting so that every
interaction and interactional outcome will prove to be an
enrichment. This is possible only because of the fact that
our mind is basically spiritual in nature. Being subtle and
spiritual, its dimensions are unlimited.
Therefore,
be excellent. Ample intelligence you already have.
Supplement and complement it with abundant integrity and
industry. Train your mind not to be disappointed. Remain
confident. Say goodbye to your anxieties and act steadily as
a living embodiment of confidence.
I
wish you well. I also bless you for all these qualities,
so that our nation will have a set of students on whom any
extent of trust can be placed and who will perform
excellently well. You should also let me know how you are
performing. Though from a distance, we all will very much
appreciate your growth. I can certainly expect some of you
at least to rise to the level of global competence so that
the globe will start wooing you for getting your services.
I
am very happy that I have come here. I love you all.
Though I say we must not have any desires, I certainly
desire that you become worthier, more competent and
trustworthy, and occupy very responsible positions in the
country as well as in the world.
...
Continued
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