And even if someone does express their true emotions of gratitude, joy, love etc. openly they are very quickly labeled and bracketed as nut cases. With more and more workplaces becoming spaces where one is supposed to keep our true feelings out, I guess it becomes blasphemy to talk of Love within workplace.

The first time I heard about the usage of word Love within the context of workplace was through the book Nuts. It was way back in ’97 or ’98 that I picked up a copy of Nuts by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg at a whopping price of INR 750 those days. It was and still continues to occupy the top slot in my book shelf. This was around the same time that I was tasked with leading teams and had an outstanding mentor and manager – CSM – to report into. And on his recommendation, I picked up Peopleware – another brilliant book that anyone leading people should read. More so, those who are in IT. And when I reflect back today, I guess a lot of my beliefs towards leading people were shaped by CSM and he truly had a way with people. While I didn’t realize then, he was probably my first exposure to someone practicing Servant Leadership.

And I guess no other book does justice to describing Servant Leadership in action as well as Nuts does.

So, when I stumbled upon Ken Blanchard’s and Colleen Barrett’s “Lead with Luv“, I wanted to get my hands on it and the folks at Blanchard company were quite generous in lending me a copy. This is a small 150 odd pages book that is essentially a dialogue between Ken and Colleen talking about the servant leadership/Love Leadership philosophy that defined SouthWest Airlines. Colleen started as the exec secretary to Herb Kelleher and ended up succeeding him as the president of SouthWest Airlines. That would have been such an amazing corporate journey.

I think where the book does succeed is in establishing the fact that organizations grow only when they put people first and obviously given the title Ken and Colleen weave in the concept of Love at work. However, I would have loved to have seen more concrete examples. Where I did lose the book, despite reading Corinthians earlier in the concept of Servant Leadership, is where Ken asks Colleen to give her definition of each of the terms, did not come across pretty strong.

Despite that, I liked the book, but would recommend this being read in conjunction with Nuts.

As someone who is up pretty early most of the days, here is my take on this. If we observe ourselves, we find that the body has an in-built alarm that wakes us up early in the morning. The minute we wake up naturally is an indicator that the body has had adequate rest and it is ready to get into action. We chose to ingore the signal, turn it off and go back to get additional sleep which isn’t probably required. But why do we do it? Before I answer that, let me point you to an answer someone gave and I quoted in my previous post:

I get up every morning at 5a.m. simply because it is more exciting to start working than to turn around and sleep some more. I do seem to have a lot of energy.

I guess it finally boils down to only one thing – how deeply do we love our life.

If we have a sense of deep reverence towards life and if we are deeply engaged with what is life bringing to our doorsteps, we feel the energy, excitement and passion to meet it more than half way. Those are the days that we are up and awake without the help of alarm. Contrast this to the days when we oversleep, the days we keep on snoozing the alarm, those are probably the days we are avoiding a few things that life wants us to engage in.

And this is where spirituality and associated practices like Yoga, Sudarshan Kriya and Meditation comes in handy. They are tools that enable us to engage with life deeply and allow us to look forward to each day with renewed vigor. The choice is in our hands.

• Attended a sobering conversation between #GeorgeSoros and Anurag Behar at Azim Premji University public lecture.
• But first ‘am an unabashed fan of Anurag’ writing in @livemint ; so it was good to see him in person #georgesoros
• Sometimes its more risky not to take a risk #georgesoros in his talk today.
• #GeorgeSoros - influenced by Karl Popper – shaped his philosophy
• #GeorgeSoros predicted the 2008 financial crisis. Explained the reasons w/o help of PPT or written notes. #brilliant
• #GeorgeSoros the economic crisis now is even MORE SERIOUS than that of 2008.
• #Georgesoros ”the car is still skidding”
• #GeorgeSoros - meltdown of global financial institutions happening is greater in my lifetime
• #GeorgeSoros Germany dictating rules being followed by US treasury. Draconian austerity prgm – deflationary cycle will affect real economy
• #Georgesoros The axioms on which economic theory is based bears little resemblance to the real world. We have to rebuild economics.
• #Georgesoros developing world would be relatively less affected than developed countries.

WSJ has a report out here and NDTV has one here

In meditation, one delves into the depths of the Self. There are many kinds of meditation, though they might seem different most of them are, in essence, the same. The Panchakosha is one such kind of meditation. In Sanskrit, ‘pancha’ means five and ‘kosha’ means sheath. Therefore, Panchakosha literally means five sheaths. Ancient scriptures claim that we a exist in many levels or sheaths –

• The Annamaya Kosha – the sheath of food. This kosha is the level of the gross physical body. It is said that we are what we eat. Our physical body is made of the kind of food we eat!
• The Pranamaya Kosha – the sheath of breath. Prana is the subtle life force energy flowing in us. The nadi, kundalini, chakra and subtle body form a part of this sheath.
• The Manomaya Kosha – the sheath of mind. It is composed of the emotional, mental and perceptual part of our self. Manomaya kosha and the previous koshas are all interlinked. An imbalance in one can cause abnormalities in the other. The unwarranted thoughts that come in the sheath can manifest into diseases in the body. Likewise, any irregularity in the body can affect the mind.
• The Vijnyanamaya Kosha – the sheath of intellect. This sheath allows for insight, growth and transformation. 
• The Anandamaya Kosha – the sheath of bliss. The innermost of the five koshas that masks the Self.

“God is the very core of your being. Like an onion, if you start peeling the layers one by one, when you reach the center, there is nothing. Everything is made up of that space!” says Guruji.

Each sheath is subtler than the previous one. In Panchakosha Meditation we progressively move from one sheath to another, paying gentle attention to each kosha. Gradually, as the koshas are harmonized with one another, we experience Ananda or bliss! The ultimate goal of our journey is to go inwards towards the realization of the Self.

Even a fleeting encounter with the Self can leave us rejuvenated and energized for a substantially long time. Therefore, to lead a gratifying and fulfilling life it is essential to meditate!

If you have never meditated before, this is a meditation, that you can start with. More details at http://www.artofliving.org/pancha-kosha-meditation and one can purchase a CD of the Panchakosha meditation here

This place is a delight for bird watchers – in the few hours I was out of the meditation hall, I could spot a variety of birds from the now very uncommon sparrows to robins, babblers, parakeets, Barbets, Wagtails, Bulbuls, Kingfishers and not to mention the peahen and peacocks.

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30569978@N02/

If you are in and around Vadodara, do spend a couple of days at the Ashram recharging and rejuvenating yourself. And if you are from the corporate world, here is a place that you can probably take your team out and do some team building sessions as well.

Key points

•  ”We need2have a Human Touch … ” n starts His talk
• You need to have an informal touch with each other in your workplace. Greet the one sitting next to you.
• Most of the pleasantries we exchange are dry. Not authentic
• When we lose authenticity, motivation goes down and we manage human resources without a human touch.
• There is a difference between motivation and inspiration. Motivation dies down in time. Inspiration stays.
• Shift from motivation to inspiration – this is the role of HR.
• Once U inspire, that person puts his/her heart n soul in their work n bring success
• Today 30% of Europe is depressed. Depression is prevalent in India too. It’s increasing in the cities
• At IIT-K, chancellor was telling me that highest selling medicine in campus is anti-depressant.
• You need to take care of the depression. That’s why we have an HR dept. HR addresses all that is human
• Mental & physical health, communication skills have to be developed. That’s where we need a HR dept
• “Transforming the human mind is the key to bringing a sense of belongingness within an organisation,
• Krishna was the first HR manager. When arjuna was depressed on the battlefield, Krishna used many ways to get him to do his job.
• why would an entrepreneur do well more than an employee? You have to put your heart. Transform.
• There are 3 types of doership. Satvik, Rajasik & Tamasik
• Sattvic doer: whether success or failure, continuing to uphold the enthusiasm
• Breath can change the doer, who is agitated, not motivated to someone who is energetic, creative, clears conflicts.
• 1.5 lakhs of workshops we have done in 2009-10. Commitment, level of happiness, enthusiasm increases in those people
• AOL has done 120 million hours of training in this country, transforming ppl.
• If we can train people to withstand criticism and give constructive criticism, we can bring a sea change in people.
• Life cannot be compartmentalised – personal and professional life. We need to have a holistic outlook.

Q&A

• What do we keep and what do we let go in this world? A) We keep our commitment and let go of our bickering.
• What should be the approach of the HR with the Generation Y? A: don’t feel old. Be part of them. Bridge the gap.
• How to manage ppl with -ve attitude at work place? A: send them to the AOL courses. You’ll see a transformation.

Misc

• Happiness factor is something that we need to really address. Sermons don’t impact, we need tools to effect the change.
• All org should introduce a Meditation&Meals at workplaces and see how productivity improves after lunch

Q: How to be free from fear?

Sri Sri: Don’t try to be free from it, meditate and it will go by itself. Fear is nothing but love standing upside down.  So you cannot get rid of fear, the energy that is fear becomes compassion and love spontaneously.

Q: I am afraid of so many things especially death. How to overcome fear?

Sri Sri: Meditation, and Meditation. Meditation, and Knowledge: only two things will help you overcome this fear.

If we can discover the rhythm of our own lives, that rhythm in turn will create a harmony and balance that will give birth to a deep and abiding peace. And it is that peace, the fruit of harmony, that allows the highest level of effective and abundant living. ~ Matthew Kelly

Whenever I lose it, I go back to the beautiful Sudarshan Kriya to find the Rhythm back and it works every time.

It is our job to hold on to the One—to be directed to one aim, using one Name, one meditation, one contemplation. Firm faith is needed. If one simply goes on repeating the Divine Name, unmindful of any other things, he is freed from the all previously required tendencies and attains a new life. As one gets to the foot of the tree by walking up its shadow, in the same way one can attain God through the performance of worldly duties, if he has an unwavering eye on God. — Anandmayi ma

Talking of Anandamayi Ma, I heard a very beautiful story of her interaction with Guruji that I won’t be able to share on this blog, but would leave you with another one, here is what she said when she first saw Guruji:

“Ah, Baba, you’ve brought me the river Ganges,” proclaimed India’s beloved saint, Anandamayi Ma, as His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi presented the shy young Ravi Shankar.

The river Ganges? The boy pondered her meaning. Rivers are considered feminine. Was she referring to his long flowing hair and soft beardless face?

Anandamayi Ma continued.

“You have brought me the One. The One who will wash away the ignorance of the world.”

Blessed, delighted and grateful to The One for having shown the path and for unlimited Grace.

Dates: 11 – 13 November 2011

Language of Instruction: English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu

Register to learn Sudarshan Kriya directly from Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

For Indian residents - click here

For Non – Indian residents - click here

For any other details contact: 080-67262626 OR courses@vvmvp.org or info@vvmvp.org