This research showed that the breathing exercise of sudarshan kriya and pranayama could eliminate depression, mental tension and stress. Millions of people have been relieved by these techniques. Science has also authenticated it with systematic research.

Chapter 10 - Management & Meditation 

Day 20

5. Yoga and the Breath - Our breath can play a vital role in cleansing us of our negative emotions. We have experimented with this and tested it in many prisons around the world. 

120,000 prisoners around the world practised a few breathing exercises and they were able to get rid of the hatred, anger and vengeance that clogged their minds and hearts. Within every culprit is a victim crying out for help. 

It is stress, the lack of a broad

outlook on life, a lack of understanding and bad communication that foster violence in society.

If we observe a baby, we will find that from the time of birth until the age of three, it does a lot of exercises, exercises which we, as adults, don't do. 

In fact, a baby does a lot of yoga exercises. If you closely follow what a baby does, then you won't even need a yoga teacher. Each of us has practised yoga as a baby. 

For instance, one of the things that a baby does is to lie down on its tummy and lift its legs up. Then, it puts one hand on the floor and raises the other hand. 

Yoga has developed like that. Yoga means making you child like, full of enthusiasm, joy and a sense of belonging with everybody. The way a child breathes is very different from the way adults breathe. 

Our breath is linked to our emotions. We may be upset, unhappy or agitated and may want to get rid of these feelings. But we may not know how to do it. 

And it is in such a situation that our breath offers us a most precious secret. We can get rid of such negative emotions by understanding a few patterns and rhythms of breath. 

Then, we will have a good amount of control over how we feel. Often, we say that we feel bad as though we are a victim of our feelings, as though we can't do anything about our feelings and emotions. 

But our breath gives us the secret to handle them, whether they are anger, frustration, fatigue or stress. We can change, in 5-10 minutes, any tendencies which are not life supporting, by changing our own breathing pattern.

The Art of Living has been very successful in this respect. And these practises are being taught the world over. Currently, 27% of Europe is reeling under depression. 

I was given this statistic a couple of years ago at a meeting of the Psychologists Congress of Europe in Athens, Greece, which I was invited to address. 

And they had projected that in the next eight years, this figure could go up to 48%. They exclaimed that they could not possibly give Prozac to the entire population.

And even if they did, its effectiveness would decline with greater usage. Then they would have to look for alternative solutions. 

They wanted to see the research that we had done at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the All India Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences Institute of the Government of India.

This research showed that the breathing exercise of sudarshan kriya and pranayama could eliminate depression, mental tension and stress.

Millions of people have been relieved by these techniques. Science has also authenticated it with systematic research. Learning about our breath can help us in many ways.

Ultimately, it helps in making society crime-free and violence-free. When the prisoners learn these techniques, they wonder why these were not taught earlier. 

For perhaps, they would never have done anything wrong and been imprisoned in the first place. The ultimate outcome of applying these techniques is a crime-free society, a disease-free body and a quiver-free breath. 

You may have noticed that your breath becomes very shaky sometimes. Many of our problems manifest through irregular breathing patterns. 

The mind is often inhibited. It has an opinion, an image about somebody. But then it changes and many times we are not even aware of how fast it changes. 

You may notice that your opinions about people change all the time, sometimes even in a matter of a few minutes. An intellect free of inhibitions and a memory free of any kind of trauma - these are the birthright of every individual in society. 

We all want a violence-free society. There is so much street violence around the world. The perpetrators of this violence need help. 

Every culprit is a victim too, and if you heal such people and teach them to manage their anger and aggression, they will understand things better. They will become positively dynamic and channelise themselves better.

When we practise breathing exercises and sudarshan kriya, our immune cells multiply many times, making us far less prone to disease. Again, this is scientific research I am speaking about.

A healthy person in a healthy society will be able to achieve all these goals - a disease-free body, a quiver-free breath, a confusion-free mind, an inhibition-free intellect, a trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul. 

But we all have to unite and see how we can bring this about. Today, our society is beset with issues of violence and terrorism and this is because we have not globalised wisdom. 

When a child grows up thinking that people following his religion alone will go to heaven and everybody else will go to hell, then that child is going to create a big problem for everybody when he grows up. 

Instead if every child is educated in an atmosphere of acceptance then he will never grow up to endorse terrorism. He would never come to be a narrow-minded, fanatical fundamentalist.

6. One World Family - Think of everyone around you as a member of the same family. They may be of a different religion, race, culture or nationality. It does not matter. 

They are all a part of you, a part of your own family. This broad vision needs to be promoted in the world today. What is needed most is that we respect and honour each other. 

We live in a global village, even if a small part of the globe is left behind in darkness, the world is not a safe place. We accept food from every part of the world. 

We eat Danish cookies and Chinese food. People everywhere listen to all sorts of music. The technology we use is completely globalised. Even our clothes reflect this global culture. 

In the same way, we must globalise our wisdom. I feel there is a strong need for this. We don't become Chinese just by eating Chinese food. 

In the same way, we don't become Indian just by practicing yoga or meditation. All knowledge that is available in the world belongs to everybody, is common to the whole world. 

Mankind needs to be seen as one global society. It is when this is lacking that there is war, stress and all sorts of tensions.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

It is this breath which gives you life. When we came into the world, the first act of our life was to take a breath, and then we cried. The last act of our life will be to breathe out and make others cry.

Chapter 10 - Management & Meditation

Day 19

For a good manager, it is important to be in the present moment with patience and poise. If you are intelligent, you may not be able to bear the lack of intelligence in others. 

The management profession requires dealing with diverse situations and people. To be able to deal with them justly requires a sharp intellect, patience, endurance and presence of mind.

How can we develop patience? We have never been taught how to handle our mind. The tendency of the mind to be in the present moment needs to be cultivated and nurtured, so that one can develop patience and sharpness. 

This can be done by attending to one's breath and by meditating. Breathing exercises help in improving our perception, observation and expression and this is vital for good management.

Every time you expect some perfection in other’s speech or action, you should take care not to lose the balance or perfection of your own mind and to pay close attention to your own inner feelings.

1. The Mind - We have never taken a close look at our minds. The faculty with which we hear and see is the mind. When you listen to someone, you may continually agree or disagree with what is being said. 

It is your intellect which is doing this. And you remember what is being said because of your memory. There are seven levels to our existence : body, breath, mind, memory, intellect, ego and self. 

When we get to know a little bit about each of these layers, there is a transformation. The sign of true success is the ability to smile at all times. 

You are successful when you are compassionate, cultured and committed. Education needs to provide all these values. We should not see all these values as goals to be achieved in the next 5-10 years of our life, or in the next life.

Let us examine the mind for a moment. Suppose you want me to tell you something about management. And I tell you to go to a library where you will find hundreds of books on the topic. 

Suppose I tell you that I am not a professor and have not gone to any management school. When you hear this, what will be your reaction? What will happen in your mind? 

There will be a state of waiting. Waiting can lead to frustration or to meditation. When you are not waiting, your mind is usually racing with thoughts. 

When your mind is waiting, your mind is stationary. Are you aware of what goes on in your mind when you interact with people - the inner dialogue you have with yourself? 

Being aware of this is very important and helps to keep you healthy. We need to look closely at ourselves, our lives and the roles we are playing at any given time. 

What we expect of others rarely matches how we behave in their situation. Let me give you a simple everyday example. You will not be totally comfortable when you are a guest in somebody's house. 

You will tend to feel inhibited and uncomfortable. But when you have guests coming over to your house, you will not want them to feel uncomfortable. 

You will want them to feel at home and be in complete harmony with their surroundings. Yet you will not feel the same way at somebody else's place. Why do we see ourselves differently from the way we see others?

2. Time For Reflection - We all need time for reflection. I think every human being needs to sit back for a little while and find that inner peace, everyday if possible. 

When our mind is agitated or restless and when we are too active, we are not tapping the source that lies deep within us. That source is our intuition. 

It gives us correct thoughts and confidence. So a few minutes of silence, a few minutes of reflecting on the truth, on our lives, would be extremely beneficial. 

We need the clarity and awareness it brings. What are the ways and means to achieve that inner peace? We need to find an answer for this basic question that crowds our hearts and minds.

Observing that everything is changing, in our world, in our lives, in our society, will give us a clue that there is something that remains unchanged. 

The reference point, by which we observe that things are changing, is something that is not changing in itself. And this non-changing aspect of our consciousness gives us enormous strength, courage and creativity. 

A few minutes of experiencing that still aspect, deep within us all, energises our body, focuses our mind, frees our intellect from inhibitions, frees our memory from trauma and gives a joyful flavour to our disposition. 

We are able to get in touch with the joy that we are seeking. It is not just enough to be able to experience responsibility or peace within us. We need to bring it out in the open in our society. 

This can only be done by educating people in human values, by rejuvenating human values in society. A school or college student will usually have only 4-5 friends. 

If they cannot be friendly with the 30-40 kids in their classrooms, how are they going to be friendly with the 6 billion people in the world? 

Basic values such as friendliness, compassion, understanding and harmony in diversity need to be cultivated in schools, colleges and in every environment that an individual is exposed to. 

Love is the very central force of human life and it overshadows all our stress. So the spiritual knowledge or education contained in human values will help an individual stand up to the demands of the day and help him manage all the problems he faces in daily life.

Man is at a crossroads today. Burdened by his many problems, he becomes violent or frustrated or he feels depressed or suicidal. 

Knowledge about our inner spirit can bring freedom from this frustration and violence. The spirit is all about love, beauty and peace. 

It transcends the boundaries of our acquired concepts, our imagination and our identities. A violence-free society, a disease-free body, a quiver-free breath, an-inhibition free intellect and a trauma-free memory - these are the birth right of every individual. 

And as responsible citizens, we need to make our society and its component communities take this seriously. We need to make every individual take responsibility for himself and for the environment around.

4. Faculties Of Existence - We look at everything outside us but we ignore our own faculties. Just as there are various faculties for various departments in companies and institutions, so too are there many faculties we possess in life.

The first faculty is the body. You become aware of your body only when it aches. Did you know that pain is basically your body asking for attention? 

At home, a child throws tantrums when he is not given attention. Your body behaves in a similar manner, it wouldn't throw tantrums if you paid regular attention to it. 

Being aware of your body is a good thing and this is not just about food and exercise. Ancient people called this awareness Yoga Nidra. 

To practise it, you need to lie down and turn your attention to each part of your body and regard it with love. No doubt, you may do it unconsciously, but doing it consciously is different. 

The closest thing to you is your body. It is the first layer of your

existence. The second faculty is the breath. The breath is what makes the distinction between say, leather and skin. When you are not breathing, your body has no value. 

It is this breath which gives you life. When we came into the world, the first act of our life was to take a breath, and then we cried. The last act of our life will be to breathe out and make others cry. 

But we ignore this primordial function in our life. Our breath contains many secrets. Every emotion has a corresponding rhythm in your breath. 

If you attend to your breath, your emotional disturbances can be removed. The third faculty is our mind, through which we perceive, see and taste. 

Say there are some sounds in the background reaching your eardrums but your mind is elsewhere, you will not be able to hear these sounds. We know very little about our mind. 

If you are paid 10 compliments and insulted once, what will you remember? The 10 compliments will fly away and you will treasure the one insult. 

Our memory functions in a very funny manner. Your memory will hold on very tightly to anything that is of interest to you. You will always absorb something if you are deeply interested in it. 

If you love astronomy, it will be easy to remember the various details involved, which others may find very trying. The fourth faculty is intellect. You continually form opinions on what you see or hear. 

Something is happening in you, some sort of analysis and judgement - accepting, not accepting, questioning etc. All this is due to this particular faculty that is ever active in us.

The fifth faculty is ego. You are caught up in your ego trips so often. When you are happy, something in you expands. Ego brings with it happiness, creativity, shyness and sadness. 

If you are shy and timid, it is because of your ego. Joy and pride too are an outcome of ego and so too, is sadness. There is ego behind every tear we shed. 

We know very little about the function of the ego in our lives. But just imagine, a little knowledge about it would make us so strong. We wouldn't be so vulnerable then.

The sixth faculty is something that is perhaps not so clear to you. Sometimes, when you are very relaxed or when you are in love, you feel that there is more to life than what you see. 

You sense that there is something more mysterious at play. It may happen when you are watching the sky, or reading the Gita, or watching TV, or taking a shower, or when you are sick with fever, or when a baby is born, or when you have fainted. 

That faculty is self consciousness or the Atma. Sometimes, when you see young people, you feel as if you alone have not grown up while everyone else around you has. 

You feel as if you have not changed but everything else around you has. This feeling is so precious. Unfortunately, you let it slip away and hardly take any notice of it. 

Those few seconds would have given you so much peace and tranquillity. Meditation is a conscious experience of that aspect within you that enriches the other six layers.

Neither at home nor at school has anybody ever taught you how to deal with your mind and your emotions, or how to come out of the state of being depressed, angry, jealous or tense.

Nobody taught Thomas Edison how to make a light bulb. He did it on his own. If you learn something yourself, it feels great. Nobody taught me the Art of Living course. 

But you should always be open to learning. If you don't learn from your own intuition, you should take advantage of someone else's intuition.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

An individual sense of commitment to contributing to society is essential to combat corruption. When a person has a goal and a commitment to a higher cause in life, then there is a shift from receiving to giving.

Chapter 9 - Combating Corruption

Day 18 

The big °C' of corruption can be countered by five other C's. Let us look at these other C's.

1. Connectedness - A lack of connectedness or sense of belonging breeds corruption in the society. That is why people often look to form connections, to avoid corruption. 

That explains why corruption is at its lowest in the villages and much greater in the cities where there is, at best, a poor sense of community and minimal interaction between people. 

Creating this sense of belonging is one of the greatest ethical challenges we face as a society. Corruption cannot be rooted out without this bonding.

Today, we do not believe in investing in friendship. We only believe in investing in currency notes. Our security has shifted from friendship to currency. 

Half a century ago, a person would feel very secure when he had a lot of friends. Friends were his constant social support system, so he was not easily corruptible. 

He did not depend on just a l few bills to get by. He said to himself, "There are people around me who are going to help me out." Today, due to a lack of connectedness, you fear whether your own children are going to care for you or not. 

Because of this sense of isolation everywhere, the only feeling of security you find is in telling yourself, "Okay, amass more wealth," and you keep it all in your personal account. 

Money has become the sole source of security. This is not just an individual phenomenon or way of thinking. It has become a collective phenomenon.

Naturally, corruption is on the rise because we do not feel connected with people around us. Basic human values such as spirituality, brotherhood, friendliness, compassion. 

All these have either decreased, or in some cases, dissolved entirely. So the only thing that is there with us any longer is money, money and more money. 

2. Courage - Another reason for corruption is a lack of self-esteem and confidence in one's own abilities. Corruption can be minimised when a person finds a sense of stability and safety in his own abilities and self- confidence. 

It's the fear and insecurity in people which makes them more susceptible to corruption. And then they try to find security in money and this does not really work, as we discussed above. 

They do acquire more money but the sense of insecurity stays on. We must focus on creating courage in a person, courage and confidence in his abilities and skills, and in the laws of nature.

3. Cosmology - An understanding of cosmology is essential - looking at one's own life in the context of extended space and time. A human life span of 80-100 years is so short in the context of the billions of years that have passed since creation. 

Scientists estimate that the earth is 15 billion years old. Everything in this creation is recycled. The air we breathe is old. Every cell in our body is old. The oxygen and hydrogen available is old and this cycle will continue. 

Seeing life in the context of our vast universe and the limitlessness of time will deepen one's perception of life and broaden one's vision and mind. It is sure to enrich one's

heart. 

4. Care & Compassion - These virtues can infuse more dedication into society. A lack of dedication sows the seeds of corruption. 

To give you an example, in 2001, there was a huge spiritual gathering in India where 30 million people participated. On one particular day, there were 3 million people gathered in one place. 

And there was not a single robbery or act of violence. People were staying in tents and mingling with each other, but no crime occurred. 

It was January and bitterly cold. 

I went to volunteer, to take care of the people gathered there, some of whom were very poor and could not bear the cold, as they had come from warmer climates. 

At midnight, the volunteers were distributing blankets. The temperature was close to zero degree Celsius. They offered a blanket to a certain young man in his 20s. 

But he declined it and said that it could be given to some elderly women who stood nearby instead. He assured us that he could handle the cold. That's the kind of compassion I am talking about. 

That kind of care, compassion and understanding that somebody else may be needier than us, can help us root out corruption. When there is a sense of community, especially inspired by a spiritual cause, crime rates come down drastically. 

Somebody asked me, "Gurudev, please address the basic issue of corruption. We are forced to bribe people, if we do not bribe some people, our industries suffer. This is the sad but unavoidable condition here in India. What do we do?"

If you can bridge your company with the society around you, you have the support of this society that you are a part of. You can minimise these hostile conditions to a great extent with your inclusive attitude. 

5. Commitment - An individual sense of commitment to contributing to society is essential to combat corruption. When a person has a goal and a commitment to a higher cause in life, then there is a shift from receiving to giving. 

In a society, if everyone keeps thinking about what they will gain rather than what they can

contribute and how they can be useful to people around, then corruption cannot be rooted out. 

A few years ago, there was an earthquake in Gujarat. An elderly lady lost her entire family. One of our Swamiji who had gone to be of service at the time, met this lady. She wanted to donate 10 rupees. 

He told her that he had gone there only to give and not to take. But the lady replied that she had lost everything and her sense of giving should not be taken away too.

The sense of contributing to society has to be re-awakened among us. And this is impossible without individual spiritual growth and a personal sense of belonging to the whole world. 

The globe has become a village. We have globalised everything except wisdom and think this is one of the causes of terrorism and unrest in the world today. 

We accept food and music from every part of the world, but when it comes to wisdom we shy away. If every child on the planet learns a little bit about all the different cultures and values, (religious, moral and spiritual) the whole scenario will be different. 

A lack of this kind of education has caused too many problems in the world. One of my teachers was the personal secretary to Mahatma Gandhi. 

When we were young, he would tell us stories of his life and of how Mahatma Gandhi inspired people to do selfless service by his own example. 

That impression stayed with us children for a very long time, that sense of commitment to service and the feeling of belonging to everybody.

I think all religious leaders, business establishments, political establishments, social workers and NGOs around the world should come forward and bring out this message of unity. The world has become one family.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

If we can reassure people in society that we are here to support them, to help them live by their value. I think we will have a more beautiful world, a more free world, and not just a free world, but a fair world

Chapter 8 - Ethics & Business 

Day 17

Now in an NGO, this is even more difficult. Do you know why? Because you do not pay them but you expect them to do the work. When you are not paying and they have to work, they are their own bosses. 

Nobody can tell them what they should be doing or how they should go about achieving their goals. You can only give broad guidelines. But what really makes a person work? 

Whether it has been a flood or a tsunami situation, I only get the reports later. I do not even have to tell them that they have to go and work there. 

People come with such a high level of motivation. They get together and say, "Hey there has been a disaster, we have to immediately rush to help out." 

And so when there was a disaster in Surat, about 5 lakh people volunteered just like that. No governmental machinery could match the work that these volunteers did together. 

And what makes all these good people come together and work so hard for a cause is just a sense of commitment, the compassion they carry in their heart. 

They are people who bring in the human touch. If we lose this human touch in business, I do not think any business can sustain for too long. 

To bring out that human touch should be a priority in today's stressful world. Ethics in business will bring about trust, will bring about productivity, and will ultimately make the business grow better. 

Today, if you see the daily newspapers and the television channels, you are bombarded with negative news all the time and people only get more and more depressed. 

We need to bring people out of

such depression as depression will not help business at all. We need to encourage all those who have practised business ethically to share their experience with others so that such models become popular.

I would like to share with you an interesting event that we faced. Our international centre in the outskirts of Bangalore is surrounded by villages - there are about 20 villages in the vicinity. 

A few years ago, I gathered the villagers, all unemployed youths - about 500 of them. And I called the Minister for small scale Industries and asked him to present to the villagers all the various schemes they could avail of. 

So here was a government with money and schemes at their disposal, and on the other side, there were people who were unemployed. As I saw it, why not bring them together and let them work, to see if they could do something in coordination. 

When the Minister presented all the projects that they had on hand and assured the gathering that they would be paid for the work they did, and that they were willing to provide the resources the villagers would need to develop their ideas. 

These 500 youths remained negative about how each one of those ideas would not work, how none of those projects would actually take off. Finally, what they wanted was a government job. 

Some wanted jobs in the police and some wanted jobs as drivers or conductors. It was so amazing to see such a low level of motivation in people to take up a business opportunity and work towards it. 

Their complete lack of interest in working hard to get where they want. If people are poor in the world today, I say it is to some extent because of their lethargy. 

Because either they want to make easy money or they just want to live on charity. In the end, the same youngsters started the Youth Leadership Training Programme, we got them to do some exercises and breathing and meditation. 

I tell you, that very group came up with ideas, they started their own businesses and became entrepreneurs. Many of them are doing so well today that they could run charities of their own, in just five years. 

For unemployed youth to become good businessmen in five years is very tough. But it is possible and it has happened only because of that motivation, that inspiration they found within themselves. 

They could finally get up and get moving with a commitment to doing something to improve their lives, rather than pointing fingers at the government. 

We need to undertake more of these motivational and inspirational programmes, whether in Ethiopia or Kenya or India or Nepal. I believe our youth do need such de-stressing, de-lethargising programmes. 

And I would like you all to please consider this - if you all get together once or twice a year to spread the message among people in your area, in your community, in your circle of acquaintances and friends. 

That you can run a business perfectly ethically and still bring prosperity and progress to society. That would build and boost morale for so many businesses, small and big, around the world. 

In the absence of ethics, politics would be clogged with corruption, business with greed and religion with terrorism. We need to work towards eliminating these negative outcomes, and to do that, we need to focus on values. So as I see it, there are three things we need to do : 

• Spiritualise politics

• Socialise business - Business will have to take on social responsibility, those in business will need to care for the society)

• Secularise religion - We need to adopt these long term goals, and nurture the long term vision needed to fulfill them. 

Values and ethics will provide that vision. It is mostly greed and economic reasons that make people stray from their innate values. 

If we can reassure people in society that we are here to support them, to help them live by their value. I think we will have a more beautiful world, a more free world, and not just a free world, but a fair world

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

We need to promote this mantra of being stress-free as much as we can, so that the workplace becomes more a place of celebration, a place of joy and happiness, with a feeling of commitment rather than tension, stress, mistrust among colleagues.

Chapter 8 Ethics & Business

Day 16

To follow ethics in business,

we need to be free from stress.

Let us now examine ethics and business. Think about why people generally pay attention to ethics.

People follow ethics out of fear - fear of losing their job, or fear of starvation, or fear of prosecution. People also behave ethically out of a natural sense of commitment to their work. 

Sometimes they may be tempted to resort to unethical means in the false belief that they will benefit more or gain favour with others. 

But that is not the case really, when we see the broader picture. It is short term benefits and long term problems that we get every time we follow unethical means. 

It is best to always act on the right side of ethics. Though it may feel tough initially or though you may find it difficult keeping up your efforts in the long run, rest assured that it keeps up your spirit, that it keeps you happy and healthy always. 

When people realise the truth of this, their commitment to good ethics improves. What we have seen in our organisation the world over is a high level of motivation and commitment which springs out of innate

happiness.

And this is not out of expectations, not out of saying, "Okay, when you do this, you will find place in the heavens after your lifetime or you will find happiness in future." 

It comes from the right attitude that makes them ask of themselves - "How I can help people around me, how I can sustain this joy and happiness that I am experiencing right now?"

I see stress as the biggest problem. Stress and mistrust among colleagues within the organisation is a big hindrance to ethics. For a business to run based on sound ethics. 

You need to create an atmosphere of trust and caring, you need to develop a more human face to the business. Then this assurance, that by following the right ethics you will only go up the ladder in the organisation, has to come from the top. 

Do you know what we did? We conducted several 'Corporate Culture and Spirituality' programmes where we brought together big businesses, who have always practised ethics, who have practised certain corporate social responsibilities. 

We got them to share their experience with the small businesses, as if to boost morale by saying, "See, if this big business could do so well, following a certain code of conduct and following good ethical practises, then you can also do that." 

This encouragement is what is

needed today for every business, a sort of reassurance I would say, that you can walk on the right side of the ethics line and still make money. 

Often, people think that they can get away with a little bending of their ethics and make some quick and easy money, and they believe that will be able to sustain such actions. 

But that has proved to be an illusion in many cases including Enron and some dotcom companies. I do not want to mention names, but what I do want to emphasise here is that we need to instil faith in morality and faith in ethics at all levels in business. 

Think about it, no businessman wants his subordinates to cheat him. He would surely expect to see certain ethics in his workers, colleagues and subordinates. 

But for this expectation to percolate to their level, he has to practise those ethics himself, and that, I feel, is only possible when he is free from stress. 

We need to promote this mantra of being stress-free as much as we can, so that the workplace becomes more a place of celebration, a place

of joy and happiness, with a feeling of commitment rather than tension, stress, mistrust among colleagues. 

Lately, I have often heard that people are not truly engaging in the work that they are doing, they are just working to make some money and then take off. It is not a healthy sign.

But you see the world over todav, as I said earlier, the percentage of depression has risen alarmingly. In Europe, about one third of the population is depressed. 

I heard that in England, there is a big market for Prozac. If this trend continues, only a few companies will benefit, such as those manufacturing these pills, they will make big money no doubt, but people will suffer to no end. 

We need to look into the stress

levels of people and think about how we can reduce these. And we need to devise many ways, there could be many ways in which the stress can be minimised or better handled and a sense of belongingness can be brought about in a workplace. 

With such efforts, the perception, observation and expression of people will change. And naturally, every enterprise, business or governmental office will show remarkable differences in their results. 

We have seen this take place in many cases. So, I would say that, for every employer, just giving a raise or increment to a person in service is not enough. 

You need to see that your employees are always in a good mood, in a healthy environment that motivates and challenges them. And it is possible for every business to create such an atmosphere, such an environment.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

Spirituality is common to all religions. It is what keeps the enthusiasm, courage, confidence and the smile alive in our hearts.

Chapter 7 - Environmental Management 

Day 15

All things that make up our environment, the plants and the animals are sacred. Everything that exists on the planet is valuable. It is not just the spirit, but also the instrument through which the spirit manifests itself, that is important. 

Knowledge and money are sacred too. It is human beings alone who pollute this planet. In a forest, there is no pollution. No animal ever causes pollution. 

No animal uses plastic. Birds know how to take care of the environment. Cats know how to keep their surroundings clean and pollution-free. We have forgotten how to be this way because we have moved away from nature. 

We live in a mechanical, conceptual world rather than in the real world. When we are tense and agitated, we pollute the environment by emitting vibrations which are not

harmonious. 

Environmental damage is not caused by external objects alone, it is also a product of subtle factors within human nature. 

If we are in a room, feeling angry, agitated or depressed, anyone who enters the room will also feel depressed because the environment is charged with the vibes we give out.

This is a big way in which we adversely affect our environment every day. A child may be upset and may cry or throw a tantrum, but the next minute he is happy and cheerful again. 

But when we are upset about something, it takes time for us to come back to our normal state of mind, sometimes even a week or a month. 

It takes us such a long time to smile and be cheerful with people around us again. Thus we go around filling the environment with negative vibrations. 

Walk in a red light area or a drug peddling haven in a big city, it gives you such a heavy and horrible feeling. The atmosphere is so bleak that you want to run away from there. 

You just don't want to drive on such roads. Instead, when you drive through an area where there may be a school, or a temple or other place of worship. 

there is a distinct lightness, a certain positive energy you can instantly feel in the atmosphere. This is the difference in the effect of the vibrations we send out into the environment. 

As we succeed in life, we become more rigid, more unfriendly and more strict. People wonder what happened to the friendly person of the past. 

As we grow in wealth and fame, we progressively harm the environment by spreading greed, anger and frustration around us. The influence of the company you keep is indicated by your frame of mind after you consult them about your problems. 

After you have met and talked with them, do you go back feeling lighter, feeling that the problem does not really exist anymore, or do you feel heavier in your heart? 

If you have the ability to take everybody along with you and move forward, then you are preserving the pristine spiritual make up which we are all born with. 

Everyone is born with an inclination towards spirituality. As we grow, this trait gets lost somewhere. Our whole effort is to bring back that innocence, simplicity, joy and friendliness.

There are certain simple techniques by which you can come back to your natural state of being. Let us give it a name which everybody in the world can accept Art of Living. 

There are basic principles of wisdom that you could follow to stay elevated, happy and enthusiastic. Isn't it strange that we haven't taught our children how to be friendly with everybody? 

We harbour almost militant feelings towards other people. We are prepared to go to extremes even in day to day matters - we would rather die than drink water at somebody's house. 

If you harbour anger and hatred

towards somebody, who do you think will lose? Revenge just chews you up. It destroys you before it destroys the other person. 

We need to learn how to get over our negative impulses and go back to being as pure as a child. It is vital that we truly understand the connection between spirituality and the environment.

Understanding cosmology is part of this connection. But as a society, somewhere along the way, we have got lost in consumerism. In earlier times, plates were made of leaves or similar bio-degradable material. 

Cups were also bio degradable. So too were our pesticides, we used neem as a pesticide. We attached a certain sanctity to these things. 

We prayed to Shakti, the Mother Divine to keep us healthy, to destroy viruses and bacteria without polluting the environment. But today, we do not seem to understand the damage we are causing our environment in the long run.

Nowadays, people the world over are thinking about burying the dead. There will be little place left on the planet if we do this. Cremation is much better as it does not affect the environment. 

It will save our planet in many wavs. In earlier times, in the Middle East, there was hardly any wood available, naturally, to light fires. This was because of the desert-like environment. 

So, they had to adopt the practise of burial but now there are electric crematoriums which can be set up anywhere. We need to educate people about the rites they should opt for, irrespective of their religion.

Ultimately, we must make a distinction between spirituality and religion, as it applies even in our everyday lives. Religion is like a banana skin and spirituality is the banana. 

Spirituality is common to all religions. It is what keeps the enthusiasm, courage, confidence and the smile alive in our hearts.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

Yoga means taking responsibility for your feelings, for your health, for the way things are in your life, and thereon, for the whole world.

Chapter 6 - Social Partnerships

Make Business Sense

Day 14

We need to give people a vision. Those who have a vision or a dream can go ahead and develop society. The health of a society today seems to be determined by the number of beds and cells available in hospitals and prisons. 

The prisons are filled and overflowing in many of the developed countries prison occupancy today stands at 160%. They have to build new prisons in the so-called 'developed' countries. 

This does not denote a healthy society. A society where a significant percentage of the student population is jailed at least once, where one in five children consults a psychiatrist, is not a developed society.

So, the health of a society depends on the smooth functioning and availability of space in hospitals and prisons. We do not need to build more hospitals or prisons. 

We need to teach people how to be healthy. Charity does not seem to be a part of the language of today. We have to build the self-esteem of people. 

Of course, we need to help them financially, but at the same time we have to make them aware of what they can do. We have to give them a vision. People who have a vision or a dream can go ahead and develop society. 

A person becomes motivated to do something either to fulfill a need or to realise a dream. However, we lack both. We are giving our people neither a vision nor a dream about our society, our world.

To give an example of how need motivates people to be pro-active, let us recall the earthquake in Gujarat a time when everyone pitched in to help those affected. 

People gathered within 2 hours and prepared 2000meals and shelters. That was to meet the urgency, the need of the hour. So, a calamitous situation, and the dire need it creates, makes people come forward and take initiative. 

Alternately, they should have a dream, a strong vision about their country, their state or their village. When both these things are lacking, we will have a lukewarm, slow, under developed economy. 

People in business have a dual role to play in society, like the Sun drawing water from the earth and giving it back in the form of rain. We are dependent on society and society in turn expects something from us. 

We need to think what about we can do for society. About what kind of society we want to leave behind for our children - one which is more beautiful than the one we inherited, or one which is more terror stricken and fearsome, where there is a depletion of natural resources? 

These thoughts, this attitude of

responsibility has to be ingrained in us and this can happen through education. Rural India does not lack resources, it's just that they are misplaced. 

A white-collared employee earns less than a labourer does, in a village. But the labourer spends 60% of his income on liquor. Drug

abuse and alcoholism are two key factors that drive poverty in our country. 

We need to address these issues. A third factor is violence - domestic violence and violence caused by stress, lack of understanding, and a narrow vision of life. 

So much is lost when violence takes over one's life, one's mind. Success in any business is measured by the smile we have on our faces. The higher we go, the grimmer and stiffer we become. 

Most of our developments are hindered by this attitude of ours, this lack of communication. Improving communication, sensitivity towards the environment, a broader understanding about inter-dependence and a long term vision are the basic building blocks for sustainable development. 

Without these, our society would be like a stool without legs. The media has an important role to play in our society. Unfortunately, we have a blame culture in this country. 

And we waste so much energy and time in playing this blame game. Whenever something goes wrong, we rush to point fingers at others. Of course, when there was disaster in

Gujarat, the media was at a loss. 

They didn't know whom to blame. They couldn't blame the Government and they couldn't blame God because they don't believe in Him. Our failure to take responsibility does not lead us anywhere. 

We cannot progress in society if we continue this way. We need to know that. Our main responsibility is to get people to be responsible, starting with taking responsibility for oneself and that is what yoga is all about. 

Yoga means taking responsibility for your feelings, for your health, for the way things are in your life, and thereon, for the whole world. And I think this one principle can help nurture and sustain society in the long run.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

Knowing that nobody can take away your freedom is your strength and realising that will help you work better, under someone or on your own, and will also help you enjoy your work.

Chapter 4 - Methods Of Developing Leadership Skills 

Day 7

9. Building a Team - These 5 principles will help you build a strong and effective team : 

i. Never underestimate your team members. If you do, you will not be able to win their trust.

ii. Defend your intentions and not your actions. Often people defend their actions and lose sight of their intentions. Then they feel sorry and weak. There is no need to feel sorry. You should defend your intention to do right.

iii. With teamwork you will achieve more than you can individually. Some kinds of work are best done alone, and some others, as part of a team. You should find a balance between working alone and working in a team. 

In either case, you will face obstacles. The skill lies in not developing an aversion to either and instead, focusing on the goal.

iv. Do not defend someone's mistakes. It does not do justice to the team and stops the person from learning. Soft-heartedness and misplaced compassion in an organisation can be detrimental to teamwork and productivity in the organisation.

v. Never justify a mistake using intimidation or logic. Raising your voice and asserting through intimidation may make a wrong appear right, but will not fool anyone for long.

10. Experiencing Freedom In All Roles - Many people do not want to work under someone else, be it in their personal sphere, as an employee in a company or even as a volunteer. 

They have the notion that when they work under someone, they lose their freedom and have to be accountable. Thus, many people opt to run a business of their own, wanting to be their own boss. 

But even if you have your own business, you are answerable to so many people. If you cannot be accountable to even one person, how can you be accountable to many? This is the paradox. 

In fact, having your own business binds you more than having a boss does. Refusing to work under someone is a sign of weakness and not strength. 

A strong person will feel comfortable working under anyone. This is because he knows his strength. It is the weak and poor in spirit who do not like to work under someone else because they are unaware of their own strength. 

They cannot be successful in business or in any profession. One who is timid and weak in spirit would feel uncomfortable working even for a wise person, but one who knows his own strength can work effectively even for a fool. 

Such a person can turn every disadvantage into an advantage using his skill and intelligence. Even a fool can bring out the best in your communication skills. 

Many of us crave freedom from the circumstances, situations or people surrounding us, but that is not freedom at all. 

Knowing that nobody can take away your freedom is your strength and realising that will help you work better, under someone or on your own, and will also help you enjoy your work.

11. Bringing in Steadiness In Dynamism - Often, you are in a hurry in life. At such times, you are unable to perceive things properly. Your haste blinds you to the thrill and beauty of life. 

You can never be close to the truth when you are in a rush because your perception, observation and expression become distorted. 

This kind of constant haste robs life of its joy and denies you the happiness and freedom of the present moment. 

Often, you do not even know why you are in a hurry. It almost becomes a biological phenomenon to be in a rush. You should wake up and become aware of the rush in you. 

It is also ridiculous to be in a rush to slow down. You just need to become aware of the rush and it will take care of itself. Slowing down does not mean procrastinating or being lethargic. 

Though it is easy to get caught up in the extremes of either speeding through things or being lethargic. Rushing is caused by feverishness, and feverishness arises out of deficiency, a need to achieve. 

Dynamism though, is a natural expression of fulfilment. The golden rule is to be awake. When you are awake, you cannot help but be dynamic.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

Breath definitely brings about the required change in us. Breath can change the doer, the person within you, the one who is depressed into someone who is enthusiastic, creative, who can withstand any drawback, resolve any conflict.

Chapter 5 - Innovation 

Day 13 

Breath definitely brings about the required change in us. Breath can change the doer, the person within you, the one who is depressed into someone who is enthusiastic, creative, who can withstand any drawback, resolve any conflict.

Another issue that we need to look at is the way many people cannot stand criticism. I think this is a serious lapse in our education. We simply do not train people to withstand criticism. 

The moment someone criticizes us, suddenly we bring in a mental barrier. We shut down all levels of communication, become defensive and stop learning. 

I am of the opinion that if we can train people to take criticism and give constructive criticism when needed, then we will find such a huge difference in their attitude, in their behaviour in their approach to any situation, and towards people as well. 

We need to inculcate an inclusive attitude, rather than encourage an attitude where we shut people out. The Art of Living has done many million human hours of workshops in the last couple of years. 

1,50,000 workshops have been conducted in 2009 and 2010 alone. In all these workshops, what we have found is that it is possible to bring about immense change in human beings such that their productivity increases. 

Their cooperation with their colleagues improves. Their commitment to a job grows and their level of happiness is much greater. This is something that we need to really address - the happiness factor, creating an atmosphere of joy in the workplace. 

Sermons can be given but sermons really don't change our lives deeply. We need to instead teach them some very important techniques that they can apply at work. 

They need tools, they need methods, so that they can make the change happen on their own. This is why we built this foundation and we taught APEX programs on personal transformation. 

And it has really made a big difference in people's lives. Life cannot be compartmentalised - professional and personal aspects of life are not entirely separate. We have to see it in a holistic manner. 

So I would suggest that in your companies you should celebrate a family day. Maybe many of you already practise something of this kind. On this day, you ask people to come to work with their whole family, and create a certain sense of belonginess, a togetherness that goes beyond work.

30 years ago when we first carried out the programme in BHEL, I asked our teacher to ask some questions to the workers there. Some of the questions were, "Suppose you became the managing director of this company, what you would like to do? 

How you would like to see this company grow?" and "Have you ever thought that this company is the source of your livelihood?" "If this company flourishes then your job is secure. 

If this company goes down you cannot survive. Have you ever thought about it that could extract the rewards of their time and efforts. This new twist in their understanding made a lot of difference to their level of involvement at work.

You may wonder why so many people come and participate in movements like Art of Living and other spiritual movements. Even if they get very little money for their work, or even if there's nothing offered, they still want to come and work. 

If you come to our Ashram, you will see that the housing department is the most stressful department to work in, because people suddenly turn up. 5,000 people land at our Ashram at one time and they all have different requirements. 

Some want an Indian toilet, some want a Western one, some want double sharing in their rooms. And the housing team has to cater to all their needs. 

But you will be amazed - their smile never vanishes. Sometimes I have to tell them, "Go and rest now". When I take a round at 11.30 in the night, they are still smiling and happy, eager to finish their work meticulously before they wind up for the day. 

And this type of enthusiasm only comes when the spirit is in its right place. And I do not mean the other type of spirit which we pass around in parties. 

This is the type of spirit which we kindle within the mind which makes working joyful. It is not that you work relentlessly and the results finally bring you some joy. 

The very process of work itself is happiness, it is joyful. And that can only happen when the individual transforms at a much deeper level of existence.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

We need to create that informal environment around us, wherever we go, for authenticity to blossom.

Chapter 5 - Innovation 

Day 12

So what does it all mean? It means that you are so formal, you are walking around with a glass gaze all the time. It means we are content to remain in our shell and not really connect with one another, each time we communicate. 

As a result, there is no real communication, no bonding happening. We need to create that informal environment around us, wherever we go, for authenticity to blossom. 

We need to truly understand the difference between motivation and inspiration. What can we do for motivation offer our employees a raise in pay, give them some bonus. 

Now this works for a couple of months maybe, and then that is it. It will not be enough to make the person's enthusiasm sustain over a longer period of time. 

But if people are inspired from within to take up a mission, to see a job through to successful completion, they will put their heart and soul into it and their efforts will bring success. 

This is what is needed then, this shift from motivation to inspiration. We see social activists and revolutionists going all out for a cause. We see them go to irrational extremes even, to fight for whatever they believe in. 

Can we somehow apply the same principle in our work environments and inspire people to take up a mission and achieve their goals? Think about why an entrepreneur would do a better job than an employee. 

It is not just about making more money. This is one of the salient questions we need to ask ourselves. Transforming the human mind is the key to driving success.

A sense of caring, compassion, a sense of belongingness, these are essential aspects of human growth, human relationships. Imagine this scenario. 

Someone is sick and is admitted in the hospital, and when you visit them, you ask them "How are you?" They reply, "I am fine." If they were fine, why are they in the hospital in the first place I say.

But you see, our questions are many times quite irrelevant. So if our communication remains at this superficial level, if we are this apathetic towards our fellow human beings, no wonder then that depression has become a common phenomenon in today's society.

Today, a large chunk of the population in Europe is depressed. And now with the economy going down, the percentage of cases of depression must surely have gone up. 

Here, in our big cities too, the incidence of depression is visibly on the rise. Last week, I was in IT Kharagpur. Do you know what the director told me? He said that the most frequently sold pharmaceutical drug in the campus is the antidepressant.

Picture this, if people around you in the office are taking antidepressants, do you really expect them to deliver any better results in their work? So we need to take care of not just our physical health, but also our mental health and emotional well-being. 

And I think that is the main reason why an HR department is created in every company, every business set up. Am I correct? The HR department is put in place precisely to deal with people's personal issues. 

But if people are being treated like machines, you do not need an HR department. HR is required to address all that we consider human'. So what are the qualities that we need to pay attention to then?

Mental health, physical health, communication skills, the degree of inspiration or motivation that employees can hold on to and their capacity to take on work, and how to increase their capacity as they

go. 

These are the issues one needs to reflect on. If you turn back time and look, 5100 years ago in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna did the same thing. 

He has been the first HR manager India knows. When Arjuna was so depressed and was not ready to do his job, Lord Krishna was with him in the battlefield, and told him all sorts of things. 

First, He warned Arjuna that people would blame him for sure. Then He incited Arjuna's ego and tried to wake him up. And then He offered His disciple different incentives, saying, "If you win, you will have the kingdom. 

If you lose, you will enjoy Heaven. Come on, fight." In many ways, Lord Krishna lifted Arjuna out of that depression. So let us examine the doer now. 

There are three types of karta, or doer. One is the sattvic doer. What does the sattvic doer do? He is full of enthusiasm. Whether his efforts meet with success or not, he still learns something from the experience. 

With every failure he learns something, with every success too, he remains calm and moves on. He doesn't get bogged down by failures nor does he lose his humility when he finds success. 

That is the kind of abiding energy he comes up with. And he handles every situation to the best of his ability. There there are the tamasic and rajasic kartas, or doers.

They say, "It is not possible." In the case of some people, if you give them a project, they will come up with a hundred reasons for how it is not possible, how it will not work out. 

Then there are others who are always ready to take on challenges. And given the three types of kartas, knowing how to change from one to the other is all the methodology or technology that we need to make things work in any situation. 

So, from the rajasic karta or the tamasic karta, who is in slumber, who says "Nothing is possible" and "I can't do it," we go to "Ok, let's do it". We have it in us. We will achieve it." 

Come up with brilliant ideas, innovate as much as you can, to manage any kind of situation at work. Determine to face every scenario with this kind of energy, so that transformation has to happen. 

You have titled this conference ‘The Breath of Change’ right Breath definitely brings about the required change in us. Breath can change the doer, the person within you.

The one who is depressed, angry, agitated, demotivated, into someone who is enthusiastic, creative, energetic, who is more cooperative and who can withstand any drawback, resolve any conflict.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

We need to balance the four factors given here : 1. Absorbing wisdom from our elders. 2. Maintaining our creativity. 3. Cope with uncertainty 4. Free ourselves from stress, by learning how to handle it.

Chapter 5 - Innovation 

Day 11

Our body is like the wick of a candle and our mind is like the glowing light all around the wick. Just as a candle lives on oxygen, the flame needs oxygen to keep burning. 

If you cover the candle with a glass, the light remains only as long as oxygen is present. The moment the oxygen runs out, the flame is extinguished. 

In the same way, we are also completely dependent on oxygen, or what we may call the life force. This life force is what our ancestors called the atma, the jivatma.

Are you still reading the words on this page? You know, when someone talks in deeply scientific or philosophical language, the mind just takes a break and goes for a cappuccino. 

But if you are a thorough scientist, you truly understand spirituality. If you know about dark matter, dark energy, if you know about the origin of universe, if you reflect on the magnanimity of this universe, you will become spiritual. 

In our universe, there are millions of black holes floating around, escaping the sun. You cannot insure against these black holes. A black hole can swallow the entire galaxy at any point of time. 

We live in a most dangerous universe, a most uncertain universe. The size of a black hole may be the same as that of a peanut, but at any time, it can swallow whole, the entire solar system. 

And the entire universe, in a moment, could go into complete annihilation. Many of us live our lives, unaware of this. But being aware of this phenomenon, the uncertainty of life gives you enormous strength. 

Usually people believe that uncertainty makes you shaky. But let me tell you, when you know that there is nothing certain in this magnificent universe, that any meteoroid can come hurtling down at any time and hit planet Earth. 

That one day, we would all be gone then like the dinosaurs, if you think about this, you will be able to smile easily. For it would be an end to all the problems, all the uncertainties we face in our lives surely. 

It is said that planet Jupiter absorbs all the meteoroids, it is saving planet earth from all such objects coming in the direction of the earth. Our sages have said this a long time ago, that it is planet Jupiter, or Guru Grah, which is saving planet earth.

What I mean to say is, as young businessmen, what really shakes you most is the uncertainty, isn't it? Isn’t 'I that your biggest worry? 

Because your business is built on speculation, unlike the older generation advises - they are all set with their business ideas, they take the conventional path. 

But you, as the businessmen of today, want to take new challenges, you want to be innovative, you want to open up new areas of business. This innate desire to do something new or innovative is the sign of youthfulness. 

So you have the zeal and thirst to be different, but what plagues that spirit is the element of uncertainty or the fear of uncertainty. 

So, you need inner strength to combat this uncertainty, so that you can continue to be creative and relieve yourself from stress, and at the same time absorb wisdom from your elders and their experiences. 

We need to balance the four factors given below :

1. Absorbing wisdom from our elders.

2. Maintaining our creativity.

3. Cope with uncertainty

4. Free ourselves from stress, by learning how to handle it.

I recommend that you take a little time out for yourself and meditate regularly, recharge your batteries once every six months - a few days of reflection on the context of life. 

Not just seeing life in a box but

seeing the bigger context of life. I assure you that it will give you enormous creativity, merit, inner strength and enthusiasm.

I am glad to be here with all of you at this conference. When it comes to Human Resources, we need to have a human touch. A formal atmosphere is not congenial for authentic sharing. 

Apart from professional dealings, there needs to be an informal air as well at your workplace. So, I think in this conference we could practise that with just a little bit of informal getting to know each other, by saying hello" to each other. 

Can you all greet the person sitting next to you, or behind you, or in front of you? Take 30 seconds to acquaint yourself with a person sitting near you and create an atmosphere, a sense of belongingness.

In India, all our scriptures begin with a question and there is a question and answer format. Now I want to ask you a question. Did you really get to know the person next to you a little or did you simply utter the usual greeting as a formality? 

Here lies the clue. Did you go beyond a formal "Hi. Hello. How are you?" I don't want you to answer. I know the answer. I don't want you to irritate the person sitting next to you. 

See, when you get off the aircraft, or when you leave a nice restaurant, the air hostess, or the staff or doorman at the restaurant smile at you and say mechanically, "Have a nice day." 

But they naturally don't mean it personally. Most of the pleasantries we exchange are at that level - a very dry sort of formality which does not touch the heart of a person in any way. 

The same words, "Be happy", "Have a nice day", when they come to you from a very dear friend, from your sister, brother, basically from one of your family members, it carries a certain sentiment, it brings some presence along with it, right?

When we lose sight of this sentiment, this presence of mind, when we miss authenticity in our communication with our colleagues, then the workplace becomes dry and dull. 

Motivation levels go down, there is no inspiration in the air whatsoever. And that is how we try to manage human resources without giving it a human touch. 

Does it work? It does not, it cannot. Because there's a difference between motivation and inspiration.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS

Meditation is this distilled moment. It is taking attention from what I have done or what I want to do to what I am. This exercise will enhance our intelligence, our capabilities.

Chapter 5 - Innovation

Day 10

When your mind is at peace, your intellect becomes sharp. If your mind is clogged with a million worries or desires or sorrows, you are unable to achieve anything. 

Some calmness in the mind, some pleasantness, is essential for the mind to function at its best. Do you know why children are so sharp? It is because they are happy. 

As you grow up and as your happiness graph declines, that is when your ability to learn and imbibe also declines. You smile less. 

It is spirituality that makes you smile, that allows you to keep the smile that nobody can take away from you, and not just when you greet somebody, but a genuine, lasting smile that springs from the depth of your mind, your heart. 

That is a pleasant mind. The intellect becomes sharper, then it gets re-established. If you are not coordinated within yourself. 

If you are not integrated within, if body, mind, breath, awareness, life, is haphazard, then neither is there any intellectual growth, nor is there harnessed emotion. 

And in the absence of both these, there cannot be peace. When there is no peace, there is no happiness. This is what Lord Krishna says to Arjuna right in the battlefield. 

Life itself is a battlefield. Every day there is something or the other that we need to battle with. And how you can be centred is all that you need to worry about. 

The rest innovation, will spring from it. Take a pause to see what is happening in your mind, right at this moment. See whether your attention is directed at me or at what I am saying. 

Now, focus on yourself for a bit. So far I was the scenery, you were the seer. Now turn your attention from the scenery to the seer. 

When you turn away from everything on the outside, instead focusing on your self, that is what centredness is. This is getting back to the seer is what happens when the mind settles down. 

Yoga is not just exercise, it is getting away from the object to the subject. And it happens just like that, in a minute. Taking your mind inward, that is extremely energising. 

And that is meditation. Even if we close our eyes, we do not shut our mind. Our mind is constantly flying all over the place, thinking about what all we did or all that we still want to do. 

Meditation is this distilled moment. It is taking attention from what I have done or what I want to do to what I am. This exercise will enhance our intelligence, our capabilities.

We were once in a school in Dharavi, I had just inaugurated the opening of the school. Seeing the poor kids from the Dharavi slum, I thought, many of them will become so brilliant that they will go to IIT to study. 

In our country, we have this technology, we have these resources to enhance our memory, our innovation, our intelligence. 

Our country can lead the world in these aspects. It is so unfortunate that we do not value what we have. Especially those who have studied more than others around them have, they think they know a lot. 

Real education is to make you aware that the more you know, the more you will be baffled, the more you will say, "I do not know, I know very little". 

Innovation has taught us a lot. Yet we know very little about our universe. What we see is only a tiny part, a rather insignificant part of what we do not know.

You must have, at some point, seen how people fish in water. (As businessmen, you do know how to fish in troubled waters) So when you go fishing, what do you notice? 

The moment you take that body (fish) out of the water, there is no life left in it. That fish struggles for a few seconds and then collapses. 

The eyes are still there, looking at you with a blank stare, but with no life in them. When under water, this very fish was moving, expressing life. 

So now tell me, where is the life of the fish to be found? Is it in the body or in the water? That's a question for you. If its life is in the water, then that means its body is only exhibiting signs of that life. 

The same is true for all our human bodies. If your human body is taken out of this atmosphere, 200 miles above this planet earth, it will shrink like the fish. Your eyes too would still be there, staring, but there would be no life in them. 

So now where is your life contained? Is it in this shell-like body or is it in the air that is all around you? You simply have to sit and reflect on this. 

You will realise that your life is not really within this body, rather it is all over, all around you. This also explains the phenomenon of phantom limbs. 

How many of you know that there is a medical phenomenon called phantom limbs? When a person gets his arm or leg amputated, he does not have that limb afterwards. 

But that person still feels pain and itching in the place where his arm or leg once was. Have you heard about this? 

Even after the limb is lost, there is this sensation of pain in that part where there is no leg at all anymore. Doctors are unable to explain why this happens. 

It's in the mind, in the brain. When such a person does meditation, he realises that he is made up of not just his body. 

But also the spirit, and upon this realisation, the phantom limb problem disappears. This has been witnessed in thousands of cases.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

MANAGEMENT MANTRAS