The Hindu Business Line : <I>Touched by the Sacred </I>

Many people at the highest levels of business these days show an interest in supporting seekers and sages, in a non-denominational sense, driven by a deep faith in discovering a viable and moral way of living. These are not traditionalists by any means, but spurred by a strong awareness of the Great Regulator in the Sky rather than conformism, guilt or sense of any original sin.

The CEO of a large company, for instance, is equally driven by the quest for quality and profit as he is by serious devotion to the right values leading to a good life. He is not peculiar or alone.

Like primitive Man coming to terms with the power and fury of the elements, the post-modern West is looking for something enduring to help us cope with the mounting risk, uncertainty and consequent insecurity which are the overarching characteristics of life today. The emphasis on work-life balance and a return to family values are symptoms of this need.

Dealing with the void

A generally confused state of mind, perplexity and anxiety thus mark many characters including leaders — in real life and in fiction. Stress is not surprisingly the most debated subject in discussions about organisations, next to political and market uncertainties.

The popularity of a variety of religious approaches to the truth and an eclectic interest in everything from Zen meditation to yoga, and cult philosophers peddling mental magic potions of various kinds, the number of specialist TV channels and magazines dealing with alternative ways of living — all point to various attempts to deal with a universally felt void in different ways.

Praying to their favourite Gods and doing penance have always been popular with every type of businessman in India, from the millionaire industrialist to the shopkeeper round the corner. But this phenomenon we are speaking of is not traditional religion at all. Indeed, it is of more recent origin, part of a worldwide interest in scientifically exploring and understanding the elemental sacredness and mystery of life, the force that drives all of us, and all of Nature as well.

Not too different from business

Meanwhile, bookstalls are bursting with both the works of more serious and reflective seekers such as Eckhart Tolle and those of offering ten-minute palliatives (chicken soup?) for the soul. Perhaps the root of the matter lies in the fact that as the technological capability of our society has leapt forward at an enormous pace, we have also come to realise how little we really know or understand about many aspects of life in this expanding, mind-blowing universe.

We continue to make the same blunders in the social, cultural and political arenas, not to mention family lives. So, one has to either fall back on a resigned faith or conclude there is no meaning or purpose to anything. Yet, the mind rebels against the finality of the latter and this might well be the reason for the mushrooming of Godmen, all of whom have now found a fabulous market segment in the corporate world.

As a CEO friend says, the spiritual life is not really all that different from business. If you seek you shall find, but you have to put in the effort.

(Feedback can be sent to srchander23@netscape.net)

S. Ramachander