This topic comes to mind in the hope that
it will contribute for the betterment of business and work environment. Considering
that approximately 67 % of the waking hours of working men and women are spent
in the workplace, it stands to reason that this aspect of life must be given wholehearted
attention for our spiritual development. Besides, we know that spirituality is
not intended to be confined within the spiritual/religious organizations. It should
be part of the air we breathe in order to advance fully in our spiritual path. Furthermore,
based on my personal observations and experiences and I think you will agree
with me as I give examples later that there are practices in the business and
work environment that need renewal and application of spirituality. I believe
there is a relation between spirituality and the sustainability of the economy
as you will see in my explanation later.
It is true that putting up and managing a
business has attendant purpose of creating wealth. But to me, creating wealth
and abundant life should come hand in hand with spirituality. In fact creating
wealth can be a means to one’s spiritual path. How is this so? We create wealth
not just for personal use and comfort but also to serve God, man, and society. It is for the love and service of God and mankind.
In a true spiritual path where we want to attain oneness with our God Presence,
everything that we do is for God, and this includes business and work. In this
view, you don’t make money just for a sheer purpose of amassing wealth for
power, fame and worldly pleasure. You will be motivated to use your God-given
talent, skills, ability, education and knowledge to create a business that you
are passionate with and use these for your spiritual development and service to
God and man. If the sole purpose is just to make money, you would probably be
tempted to become dishonest in dealing with your clients, customers, and
employees and probably business partners as well. You would actually be espousing
the philosophy of materialism, neglecting the Spirit of God as the Source of
all life.
Based on my personal observation, almost
always you can find an element of dishonesty and deception in many business
activities today. It seems to me that this is already a common practice in
business. These can be seen in the promotion and marketing strategies of different
companies, salesmen selling their goods and services to householders and in
various shops; as well as managing employees and their salaries. This is not to mention the many problems and
conflicts like politicking, infighting, and even corruptions going on within
the business organizations itself.
Here are some of the dishonest practices
that I observed of which I have been victim a couple of times here in
Melbourne, Australia. A lot of times you can find in many shops (some are big
companies) certain product placed in a different spot (mingled with other
similar products but different specification) where the tag price is way
cheaper than its actual price. You can tell that it was put there on purpose to
confuse the customer because its specification is almost the same as the
products in that spot. If you are not careful, you will immediately grab that
product, head to the cashier, and when you learned of the actual price, you
don’t want to return it anymore for some reason that maybe you were in a hurry
and you need the item right away. There was an occasion when the cashier was
even laughing at me for buying it. Sometimes you had already gone home before
you knew from the receipt that the price was different. One time I almost
became a victim of this maybe for the fourth time. But I returned the product
after some disagreement with a staff who became apologetic afterwards. Another
observation is you will find some companies having a convincing advertising slogan showing that their products are cheaper from competitors , but you will realize that they
are not true if you buy from their shops; it is just to bait you to buy their
products; some product requires accessories that are sold very costly, some
will have a higher delivery cost. Almost always there is a hidden costs. I have
encountered salesman of energy billing company offering lower rate than their
competitors; after the convincing sales-talk, right away you can sign the
documents and you have a new billing company with cheaper rate; but after a few
months they raise the price much higher. You cannot terminate the contract
because of a very high termination fee. Some will say that even if you move to another
place they will continue the contract if the place is within their domain, but
if you move to a new house you are of course obliged to terminate the contract.
You will not know much about this if you are new migrant and it’s your first
time to move houses. I noticed that there
is a stiff energy billing competition here in Australia. Some will even say
negative things against their competitor. Many of them pretend that they are
just checking out if you have a correct energy rate, but it turns out that they
are also one of the billing companies. I remember there was a time when we were
in the city to eat dinner, when there was a celebration of democracy day. We
entered a parking lot in a building offering a flat rate of $ 10.00. A lot of
cars had already entered and almost no one could find any parking space because
the parking is full. Almost every car would have to go outside the building. I
noticed that some ahead of us were paying into the paying machine even if they
did not park at all. I resolved that we will not pay anything even if we get to
the boom gate to get out. Upon reaching the boom gate I inserted the parking
card expecting that the gate will open because we were there inside for only 10
– 15 minutes and we did not park at all. But it flashes the payment of $10.00
instead. I tried to press the intercom button to talk to the security and to explain
that we did not park inside. Immediately the voice from the intercom told us
that we just have to press again the card button then the card will come out,
reinsert it then the boom gate will open. Now how about those who paid. They
were deceived, weren’t they? The administration or security should have flashed
a full parking sign outside the building. I just wished that they did not intentionally
put the sign knowing that some patrons will pay. Even in online business such
as the selling of anti-virus software, malware and spyware, some of these companies
I believe were the ones attacking a lot of internet users with virus. There are
some software program that must be updated yearly and if you buy online, they
will automatically deduct the payment from your credit card after a year. They
must have put it in the agreement but who reads a lengthy agreement online?
They should have let the customer know through question if they wanted to renew
yearly; I know other online company that does that.
My wife a lot of times had returned
products she bought from different shops because she found out later (even if
the day had passed) that the price in the receipt is different from the tag
price. One time there was a shop in the market that she used to buy goods from
that she told the cashier in the face that she had encountered that a lot of
times in their shop before the eyes of other customers. She told me that one of
her friend had encountered that too. There are many similar examples of
dishonesty in business that I am sure many of you have also encountered. It
seems that these are common practices in the business community. Don’t you
think that spirituality is so much needed in business and the workplace?
I know that there are also model companies
out there that are worth telling but this writing is not intended to be an
academic study where you can make surveys and interviews of some well-known
business organizations. I would just like to put across some spiritual concepts
that I have in mind that can be applied in business which can contribute to make
a better workplace environment.
Management in the workplace
It will come to mind that by building a
business itself, one is already helping the nation and society by providing
employment and thus contribute to national economy. But we know that it must do
more than that if the business will be used for spiritual progress as well
because simply providing employment or money is not a guarantee for soul
development, it may even be contradictory. It will be greatly beneficial if the
management should foster a culture incorporating and inculcating values,
ethics, and spirituality at work. If you were a business owner or a major stockholder,
or part of the management team, you must determine how you can use your
business to be of service to God and Man. You must be concerned about your company’s dealing
with customers and the quality of products or services that you render to the
public. Your company will not be dishonest to the public just to get them buy
your products and services to gain more profit; for that will be a disservice
to God and man. You will not charge exorbitant fees or prices to your
customers. In fact you must love them, fill their product needs and make
friends. Your salesperson must be able to explain honestly why one product or
service is cheaper and the other is higher and let them or help them decide
which to choose. And this philosophy of loving and befriending customers should
reflect throughout the rank and file.
An equal concern will be the welfare of the
people in your organization. I am not an expert on business and organizational
management, but I think it is just right that the management should be
concerned with the welfare of their employees. This will foster good
relationship between management and employees. There should be honesty and fairness
on dealing with them as well as their salaries, safety, training, etc. There
has to be no racism and politicking. Teach
values and set an example.
One of the things that I applaud in the
workplace practice here in Australia is the improvement on safety practices
where it considers not only the physical welfare but also the psychological and
emotional welfare of workers. This is embodied in the Safety Act which puts
into consideration that the workplace must really be a pleasant place to work
in. This means it is not just direct prevention of accident but also takes into
account the stress physically and psychologically on the workers for it will
affect the health and consequently the work performance as well. This will
include fostering harmonious relationships in the work environment. Some
companies are having regular Toolbox meetings (safety meeting). I sometimes
think that because it is somehow related with mind-body-spirit connectivity, injecting
some spiritual sermons and value formation in the meeting can be of great help to
them or perhaps creating a special committee to the same end. They can consider
giving away free inspirational book as a reward for good performance. This
aspect of work cannot be overlooked because of too much focus on Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) and profit by the management. I believe that the health
and spiritual aspect must take precedent over the profit of the company.
Making big profit can just be secondary. Making
money is not the real reason for our existence anyway, we exist for God. We
therefore use money for God. In my opinion, we don’t need to aspire to become $
multi-millionaire or billionaire for ego aggrandizement. We don’t need to have
such amount of money simply for the purpose of comfortable living. We also
cannot live on too much extravagance which could be a waste of energy and money
that God provided us. Thus if you ever become multi-millionaire or billionaire,
the excess money or profit of your business organization can be used for
further service to God and people. Perhaps your company needs to allot finances
for improvement on pollution controls and other environmental measures. Or
maybe you should add an internal audit department if your company doesn’t have
one for the purpose of continuous improvement of operations and service. Or
maybe your company might consider product diversification or its expansion
because you know that it will entail more jobs and employment and thus
contribute to the national economy. Consequently, this will also gain more
profit that can be allotted for donations to a good cause or charitable
institutions. We must remember that the
help that we give especially for a good cause, will return to us as good karma in
addition to our own spiritual development. In this perspective, managing
business will become a means for spiritual practice. And I believe that if this kind of business
philosophy - integrating money-making and spirituality - is practiced by all businessmen,
it can actually be a cause for sustainable economy generation after generation
leading to the flowering of the golden age.
Let me explain this further from a
different angle. From esoteric point of
view, if you were able to get rich through corrupt practices, sooner or later
that will be taken away from you by the law of karma if not in this life, in
the next life. Aside from malicious practices, some businesses are actually not
good for the spirituality and health of the public such as the cigarette
industry, gambling, nightclubs as well as pornography and prostitution. (Some
are actually considered a crime or illegal like illicit drugs, etc.). Yet these
kind of businesses still thrives probably because many customers are
patronizing it. You might think that this kind of businesses are contributing
to the growth of the economy and also helps for the sociological needs of the
people. I disagree with this for a practical reason that there are other constructive
activities and businesses that can adequately replace these kind of business
that are inimical to one’s spirituality and family life. In my opinion, if we
will establish the kingdom of God on earth, these kind of business should have
no place in our society. I believe the governments should regulate and conduct
a program to gradually phase out these businesses. I believe that there are
attendant negative karma for the supporters and operators of these businesses.
I believe that people or group who were
able to get rich without considering values, ethics and the welfare of the
people can get negative karma; again, if not in this life in their next
life/incarnation on earth. By karmic law, it could be enough to cause economic
recession considering the expanse of the business activity worldwide. It may also
necessitate for some or many of them to be born in the poor segment of society,
and thus the existence of poor environment remains. Some of these souls might
find it hard to rise up because of their negative momentum until they learn
their lessons and acknowledge that only God is the Source of abundant life. Depending
upon the extent of accumulated misqualified energy in their karmic records, some
souls may have been alternately rich and poor in their sojourn on earth incarnations
after incarnation because their outer consciousness are ignorant of or ignoring
the law of karma and reincarnation. They may have balanced their karma in one
incarnation and then failed in the next because their minds are governed by
acquiring material wealth but devoid of spirit. Thus the Teachings on the law
of karma and reincarnation as well as the violet flame must be spread down to
the grassroots level to be of help in the raising up of souls, and to transmute
and mitigate karma individually and collectively.
Another thing that I would like to discuss
is competition in business. I reckon that if every business manager will view
business and work as service to God and man, there will be no business competition.
You will not compete on serving God but rejoice in one another’s sacred labor.
You will work complementing one another’s work and possibly consider alliances
instead of competition. You will not be driven by desire to monopolize the
market and gain exclusive profit but to share the service. All will be working
with common goal of serving God and man.
Employees at work
One of the concept that I would like to get
across for the workers or employees is that their real employer is God. Once
more, whatever type of work we are in – whether it is professional service,
government and private office work, factory work and many others – I believe
that it has to be viewed as a service to God and man. We work for the benefit
of everyone. We work not only for ourselves and our family but also for the
benefit of the client or customer (general public), for the benefit of the
company, for the benefit of co-workers and for the benefit of the nation. Work
relationships and ethics therefore must be given paramount importance.
As a worker, it is our duty to do great
service to the client/customer which can be considered as the general public.
If you have this in mind, you would like to have a good quality product or
service that will satisfy the client. You will not be doing your work just to
get a good pay from the company. Good
pay of course is desirable, but we cannot jeopardize our good service to the
general public by not doing our work well simply because our pay is not good
enough for the service that we render. Negotiating a good pay with your company
is another matter which I believe must also be approached in harmonious
relationship. We also work for the
benefit of our co-worker. That means camaraderie and teamwork to get the job done
well. A little work-sacrifice on our part can sometimes be given if it’s within
your capacity to do so in order to get the work completed on time and will engender good camaraderie as well. Although
of course we should know whether a worker is intentionally not doing his
duty/responsibility because of incompetence, lack of training, or maybe
laziness where in this case proper correction and direction must be done. There
should be a spirit of cooperation to improve the work and service to the
public.
We should therefore abstain from
politicking in the workplace. I think
this is the area where many employees are falling victims into. Sometimes
simply because of politics and professional jealousy, a worker or employee
surreptitiously does something foolish that will make his/her co-worker put
into bad light even if they know it will jeopardize their client/s. They do not care even if the product or
service and consequently the image of their own company will be badly affected.
These kind of politicking are done because of insecurity or the desire to be
above his/her co-workers. In my
experience in the workplace here in Australia, many times you will find how a
new worker will be disgruntled because everyone becomes his/her boss. And even
some supervisor or his assistant does not teach fully the method of work for
the newcomers perhaps intentionally to see him commit mistakes and put him into
bad light. It doesn’t matter to them whether the operation of the factory or
product quality will be affected or not. In a multi-cultural country like
Australia, these kind of politicking at work often happen because of racial
discrimination. It can be observed that those who do this thing are
oftentimes new or not-so-old immigrants. Long-time immigrants usually are aware
of this and friendly to the new immigrants. It is the duty of the management to
give directions on non-discrimination in the workplace as racial discrimination
is against the law. We should remember that our soul has no colour or race. Our
soul is a universal citizen of the cosmos. We are all brothers and sisters. We
are all sons and daughters of God. We
can bear in mind that politicking in any form in any place at any time has no
place in the Kingdom of God.
We can consider our work as service to God
and as a means for meditation. We can practice the mindfulness meditation where
we always observe our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions and correct them
if not good. We can use work as time for self-mastery, building good attitude
and practicing Christly virtues. We can meditate on our I AM Presence helping
and guiding us in our work. We are to aspire or imitate our great Master Jesus
who said, “My Father works hitherto and I work”, and “I of my own self can do
nothing, it is the Father in me who doeth the work.” Bearing this in mind, we will be working the
works of God with love, happiness, and harmony.
My we include in our prayers and calls that
the businesses and workplaces in our nations be transformed and imbued with
Spirituality.
