Management Mantras by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Author:Sri Sri Ravi Shankar [Shankar, Sri Sri Ravi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Art of Living Foundation USA
Published: 2016-02-10T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The ABC of Life

Awareness, Belongingness, Commitment

- the ABC of life -

can enhance human values amongst us today.

What is the ABC of life? It is Awareness, Belongingness and Commitment. These are the three, most vital prerequisites to progress in any field. Today, we need them most in business and industry. Let us understand these, starting from the outermost or universal, moving inwards to the individual or personal.

The first essential is an awareness of sustainable development. We cannot espouse too much consumerism, be too greedy and destroy our planet. We need to hone our awareness on various levels - environmental awareness, awareness of human values, awareness of ethics in our business and awareness of how to achieve sustained development of our planet. And along with this awareness comes the second requisite - a sense of belongingness.

To run a corporation, we need a sense of belongingness that binds its people together. You will see that the success of an institution depends to a great extent on the degree of belongingness among its people. When people go beyond thinking in terms of "I" and view problems and situations collectively, they are better able to find solutions. So, do we create a sense of belongingness in people around us? This is an all-important question we need to ask of ourselves.

The third factor contributing to progress would be a sense of commitment. Of course, where A and B are found, C naturally follows. And if it does not, then we only need to give more encouragement and time for that to happen. Once these three things are in place, D or direction plays a role, enabling us to give a worthwhile direction to our lives.

Are you all here 100%? Do you notice that as I am speaking, you are most likely saying "yes" or "no" in your own mind? This is where awareness comes in. Are we aware of what we are telling ourselves? The important thing is not whether it is a yes or a no, but whether we are conscious of what the mind is saying to itself? This level of awareness alone creates a big transformation in the society, because in this state of mind, with this kind of alertness, a crime cannot take place. It becomes almost impossible for a criminal to do what he otherwise may, if he exercises this extent of awareness.

I would like to tell you a story about a saint. A thief once came to a saint and said, "See, I can't stop stealing. I am a pathological stealer. What do I do?" The saint said, "Look, I'm not going to tell you not to steal, but I am going to advise you to steal with awareness. Whenever you try to steal something, first look at your hand and know what it is going to do, and then with that awareness, go steal something." The man came back to meet the saint after three months, and said, "Swamiji, it was impossible! I could not steal with awareness."

The same happens with anger.

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