Category Archives: Happiness

Business, Happiness, Life, Management, Power

Politics of Management

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Over the years, R. Srinivasan (Srini to friends), a co-editor of the blog, has written many posts originating in his work as independent management consultant. Today we are re-posting one of Srini’s earlier posts, which we believe readers will find of great interest.

One of the first lessons in management schools is titled Principles and Practice of Management, which forms the core basis of understanding how modern organizations are supposed to be managed. However, as one gets into the real world, every student of management, and even those who do not have formal management education, soon come to realize that there is one more ‘P’ that governs the management of organizations. This ‘P’ is not formally stated anywhere; I have decided to call it ‘the politics of management’.

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Civilization, Happiness, Karma, Life, Search for truth

The Four-stage Roadmap

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by Naresh Jotwani

[Important note: In this post, the notation ‘H/SD’ is used as shorthand for ‘Hinduism/Sanatan Dharma‘, which are the two commonly used references to the vast ancient spiritual heritage of India.]

In print or electronic media, we often see language such as: ‘According to the concepts of H/SD, the four stages of human life are Brahmacharya, Gruhastha, Vanaprastha, Sanyasa.’

Such language carries a risk of erroneous understanding. ‘H/SD’ does not coerce or urge a person to behave in a certain way, or to plan his life in prescribed stages. It is entirely up to the individual – through his wisdom, or lack thereof – to understand and cherish human life the best he can. Truths do guide the individual – but only to the extent he finds and assimilates them.

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Civilization, Communities, Happiness, Karma, Life

CIVILIZATION – 3

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THE LAWS OF KARMA

Our earlier two posts (here and here) discussed the war economy, and the fact that nations must also face the consequences of their actions. Thus each of these posts was a specific instance of the inexorable laws of karma at work. That should not surprise anyone, given that the blog aims to seek out root causes of the multifarious phenomena we see around us!

At this stage, we thought that a brief discussion about the laws of karma was also needed – and so here it is!

Imagine that, for the first time in your life, you are passing through a thick forest. Foliage is so thick that daylight barely reaches ground level. Turning back is not an option, because you know your life’s goal lies ahead. As you move, you walk into branches and bushes, slip, stumble, hurt yourself, tire, be bitten by bugs, be fearful, be thirsty … and much more. You curse your fate. You curse the forest. But if you are wise, and if you persevere, you will make it through the forest and achieve your life’s goal.

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Communities, Conflict, Delusion, Happiness, Life, Power, Society

Gutless Wonders

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The English word ‘gut’ is rich in its range of meanings. In Biology, ‘gut’ means ‘intestine’ – as in ‘gut bacteria’ or ‘gutting a fish’; this meaning extends to the racquet strings used in sports such as tennis and badminton. In common usage, ‘guts’ refers to ‘courage’, as in ‘having the guts to take on the huge challenge of _______’ (fill in your favourite). Continue reading Gutless Wonders →

Communities, Gautam Buddha, Happiness, Life, Philosophy, Society

Identity & Peace

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The human child needs protective nurture which stretches from birth to at least teenage. The earliest part of this nurture – that is, the first few years after birth – provides to the child the innermost core of ‘identity’, including core values. A child’s eager young mind takes in whatever is offered by parents, teachers and other trusted adults. This is the ‘ABC’ of healthy childhood nurture. Continue reading Identity & Peace →

Gautam Buddha, Happiness, Life, Philosophy, Suffering

What is Freedom?

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Not many will dispute that ‘freedom’ is one of the more popular words in English language today — in spite of the fact that, as we shall see, this word does not even have a well-defined meaning.

Despite lacking a clear meaning, the idea of ‘freedom’ is much loved the world over. Would any human being ever choose ‘not being free’ over ‘being free’? That is unimaginable. And yet human beings may put up with lost ‘freedom’ today, with the promise of ‘greater freedom’ tomorrow. Continue reading What is Freedom? →