Spiritual Entrepreneurship

(This article is not about spirituality in entrepreneurs but about entrepreneurship in spirituality.Both are very different.)

Despite the enormous impact we have had in the global arena of science, technology, research etc. in the last two decades, the first thing that comes to the mind of an average westerner when they think about India is Spirituality. Thanks to Vedanta, our ever-relevant treasure of wisdom, India has always been, and will continue to be, the land of Spirituality.

Vedantic wisdom is so powerful that once internalized, it can transform one’s life into a blissful existence. However, this highest form of wisdom is not easily comprehensible for average men. They need Gurus who would guide them in the path of this ultimate knowledge. The spiritual journey is an ongoing, and for most, never ending process. Gurus are like street lights which help you to walk from one point to the next in the spiritual path until you no longer see darkness.

India has had several great spiritual Gurus. Many known only to the real seekers and many visible and accessible to the common man. Millions of people have benefited from these Gurus. But, why do many of them come under criticism for commercial wrongdoings, sexual misdeeds and violence? The most recent one being revelations of a former disciple and close aid of Mata Amrtanandamayi.

Indeed, the accusations of sexual misdeeds and violence in spiritual organisations are hard to prove. And unless proven, the Gurus enjoy the benefit of doubt. However, history shows us that oppression and violence are always associated with two things: money and power. Where there is money, there is fight for power. Where there is fight, there is violence. And where there is power, there is oppression.

So, the fundamental problem lies in the fact that today’s spiritual Gurus deal with money. It could be in the name of charity but, money has a overt distinction of attracting bad people. Why is today’s spirituality associated with charity? A spiritual person indeed should be charitable but should a spiritual Guru run hospitals and schools, receiving money from the rich and giving it to the poor? (It is this argument that the spiritual organisations use to counter any allegation.) Is charity work and spirituality anyway related?

They are not. (If you say "yes" then you would be disqualifying some of our greatest spiritual Gurus.)  If a spiritual Guru deals with money - in whatever name - he needs to operate in certain manner which is not characteristic of the spiritual guide that he claims to be. He needs to operate like an entrepreneur running his business. That’s why these Gurus create brands. They have marketing strategies. They have targets and performance reviews. They have competition. They have profit and loss. They have balance sheets. In effect, they are "Spiritual Entrepreneurs".

Now, is it wrong to run a charitable organisation or for that matter a business? Absolutely not. Neither is it 'un-spiritual'. But, a spiritual Guru has no business to run hospitals and schools and social welfare programs. It is best left to people who specialise in it. There are many honest and highly committed social entrepreneurs whose goal is not name and fame, who just follow their passion. Can’t the spiritual Gurus help social entrepreneurs perform in their chosen field of activity by redirecting all the contributions they get and confine themselves to their own chosen field of activity, that is, Spirituality? For that, they should place spirituality before entrepreneurship in the order of priorities.

Where there is money, there is fight for power. We have seen the fight for power come in open when Sri Sai Baba died. It came out because it existed before. It always existed and is existing - in all spiritual organisations. Fight for power exists because power exists. Therefore, it is not illogical to assume that violence and oppression exist too.

The biggest casualty of Spiritual Entrepreneurship is spirituality itself. Spirituality has no brand. Brand colours the light the Guru throws on the spiritual path. A Guru’s disciple is trained to believe in his brand and has a coloured perspective of the spiritual path. There are competing Spiritual Entrepreneurs promoting their own brands. They paint the spiritual path in different colours deceiving the seeker, denying him the real perspective. Like any brand, once addicted, it is hard to liberate.

Find your Happiness in the New Year!

A few thoughts that came to my mind in the New Year's eve.

Places of Supreme Spiritual Importance and Spiritual Tourism

Recently, there was a news about plans to build a helipad in Sabarimala. We already have everything that a man who lives a “material” life needs available in Sabarimala, except women which is due to the sole reason that women are not allowed there. Transportation is available up to Pamba and there is a man-made walkway up to the sannidhanam. There are sufficient number of eateries where you can get your favorite food and hotels and lodges where you can have a comfortable night’s stay. The only hardship people go through is when there is overcrowding - when the infrastructure and the systems become incapable of accommodating the crowd.

The very idea of temples is to bring man out of material life and bring him to the path of spirituality. It is a way to remind him of the supreme reality called God - in whatever form that one is comfortable with - and of the futility of the materialistic living and the importance and benefits of spiritual living. For an ordinary man, the sense of peacefulness experienced in the temple is temporary: it lingers for some time before he completely falls back to his mundane activities. Frequent visits to the temple helps in experiencing this sense of peacefulness more often.

There are places of supreme spiritual importance such as Sabarimala in Kerala and Amarnath in the Himalayas. These places have different histories but one fact that runs common in all is that they are hard to access. These are the places where people seeking spiritual realisation went and meditated. For them these places were the ultimate stage in the path of spiritual journey and self realization. At that stage, their minds were pure and were filled with with eternal love towards everything - living and non-living - around them. In this state of mind, there was no fear of death - leave alone hardships. Their minds were focussed on the supreme goal of self realization which made anything they faced on the way as part of the journey. One set off on this journey when he had already achieved this state of mind that neither saw nor recognized any hardships or adversities.

Now, what has happened to these places of supreme spiritual importance? Do they provide the atmosphere that the spiritual seekers wanted to experience? Majority of people who visit these places are “spiritual tourists”. The Government is facilitating spiritual tourism by organizing everything the tourists need and making their journey “comfortable”. Instead, what the Government should do is to keep these places as sacred and pure as they had been by restricting access only by the spiritual seekers. Once all the “facilities” and “comforts” are removed, the “spiritual tourists” will automatically stop coming. Let the forests grow. Let the man-made roads be gradually taken over by the nature. Let a walkway be formed by the footsteps of the real seekers.

The real seekers won’t complain. Nobody needs to facilitate anything for them. Allow women in Sabarimala. Men won’t get distracted by women. Women won’t worry about any hardships or discomfort. Let these seekers inspire the lesser mortals and lead them in the path of spirituality. Let more and more people be inspired to take up spiritual living. This will eventually create a  happy society. This is the essence of Hindu philosophy. This is what Vedanta prescribes. Let the places of supreme spiritual importance serve their purpose.

The 3 C’s of a Successful Project

 It is a well known fact among software professionals that a majority of software projects fail. In fact, this phenomenon is not limited to software projects. If we define “success” of a project as “a state when it meets all the stated objectives and requirements and is completed within the time and budget, without compromising quality” it is easy to spot failures in non-software projects too.

It is interesting to note that the size of the project and therefore the budget and timelines have no bearing on the success of the project.

There are several analyses and theories on why project fails and there are as many remedies too. All of them are valid and useful in some ways and are suitable to a given project.

Here is an attempt to define the three most significant contributors to a successful project - the three C’s of a successful project.

1.     Clarity

Clarity of requirements is the most essential ingredient of a successful project. Often the requirements can be complex and are not easily comprehensible. Detailed analysis, discussions and decision making are essential for the clarity to emerge. The saying “assumption is the mother of all screw ups” is worth remembering all the time. While assumptions are essential in situations where there is no way to find the right answer, it is very important have consensus among the stake holders on what to assume.

No programming language offers syntax to say “not sure”.  If you are not sure, then you need to assume and proceed. When building a house, you can’t say “I’m not sure if I want a window here”. You may assume that you will need a window in the future and give provision for the same. While decisions such as this can be taken even when the work is in progress, some decision will have greater impact on the project. For example, the number of floors your house will have is a decision that needs to be taken before the work starts. There are similar decisions in software projects which when not taken at the right time will have enormous cost and time implications.

In software projects, the impact of lack of clarity is significantly high due to the intangible nature. It is easy to appreciate how a physical product takes shape and therefore the impact of changes. A non-technical user can seldom appreciate the impact of a change in a software project. This makes it all the more important to have absolute clarity of requirements including intelligent, unanimous assumptions.

Clarity is the “What” of a project. It is the answer to the question “what do you want to build?” Do not start if you are not clear. Don’t step into a muddy river, lest you are most likely to drown.

2.     Capability

Once you have the clarity of what to build, you should have the capability to build it. Capability refers to the skills required to build something. Capability is essential not just for execution but also for the Clarity to emerge. Only a skilled architect can ask relevant questions so that the user is provoked to think and crystallize the requirements.  When Capability exists, the right questions are asked. When right questions are asked, answers are found. When answers can’t be found, intelligent assumptions are made. With this, Clarity emerges.

It is a capability by itself to understand what capabilities are required to execute a project. It is important to discover the requirements that would need some research and learning during execution. These requirements would need to be addressed at the beginning of the project, so that the answers are found early.  High levels of skills are essential to produce quality results.

Capability is the “How” of the project. It is the answer to the question “How do I do this?” Do not start if you don’t have the capability. Identify your weaknesses and get the required support.

3.     Commitment

Capability without commitment will not yield results. Half-hearted attempt by members of the project team can spread negative energy in the team. This will cause imbalance and friction in the team and will consume a lot of energy in utterly unproductive activities such as rework, resolution of conflicts and lead to frustration and fatigue.

Quality is the major causality when there is lack of commitment. A half-hearted attempt can never produce quality. This is true for any profession. Great works of art are produced by artists of utmost Commitment. Magnificent buildings are built by engineers of enduring Commitment. People who take a casual approach to their work would stagnate and would be the first to perish when adversities strike.

Commitment is the “Why” of the project. It is the manifestation of the answer to the question “Why am I doing this?” Do not start if you are not committed. Because, commitment to what you do is the very essence of your being.