Spirituality and Business

Last night, I had dinner with a good friend and her fiance, a banker from London with a sharply analytical mind.  The talk turned to yoga and meditation, and he was completely incredulous that I did a 10-day Vipassana silent meditation shortly after I first moved to India.  Like many people who hear this, "I don't understand...so what exactly did you DO all day?" is a question that keeps cropping up in the same conversation -- amidst lots of laughter: "Seriously, I just sat in an ashram and meditated and thought."  They were shocked to hear that the silence was the easy part.  The hard part is being alone with your thoughts until they drive you so crazy that at some point, your mind just shuts off.  This is when the internal work and spiritual "cleansing" really gets started.

The conversation made me think about the intersection of spirituality and business -- or at least the possibility of the intersection of spirituality and business.  While that may sound like an oxymoron, I think it happens simply when you're passionate about what you do, and pursue it in a sincere and honest fashion.

It recalls a recent interview I read in Forbes India with the Dalai Lama:

Forbes: "Your Holiness, what would Buddha tell the world of business if he were in our midst today?"

The Dalai Lama laughs at the idea.  He is like an amused second grader who thinks every adult question is a fruitless exercise.  But in the next moment, the Monk takes over.  "Perhaps one thing," he says.  "Businesses must pursue their activities with humanity.  I think Buddha may insist that modern business be more altruistic and be truthful.  With truthfulness and honesty, you can be transparent.  Transparency is very important to build trust.

Forbes: "Your Holiness, how do you feed your own soul to keep the idea of Tibet alive?  Leaders in business are also required to promote ideas but faced with the smallest adversity, we simply give up."

"If I am involved in the business field, I may also give up," he says with a mischievous glint in his eyes.  Then the Monk returns.  "I think people carrying on with their work just for money, name or out of plain curiosity have a greater chance of giving up when faced with a small adversity.  If a scientist is at work for the benefit of humanity, then he will not give up.  So we need a larger sense of purpose to be able to draw from a larger source of inner strength."

I remember hearing the Dalai Lama speak in New York City, right before I left for India in 2007.  Above all and beyond anything he said (much of which was so spiritually above-my-head!), I was blown away by simply his being -- he personified such an aura of compassion, gratitude, and optimism that was contagious to everyone around.

It's a good reminder of what's really important when getting caught up in the inevitable grind of the day-to-day.