Spirituality ISN'T me!

'Says Sri Latha, from Oneness University, “Spirituality means coming in touch with your inner truth, becoming conscious of what you truly are. Spiritual intelligence leads to emotional intelligence, which makes you a happier person.” She recommends, “We tend to block and escape emotional disturbances. Pay attention to your discomfort, probe deeper and change your own perception of the world around you.” As spirituality doubles up as pop psychology, in an “I, me, myself” world, we seem to have evolved to seeking a higher self. Says Los Angeles-based yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, “Yes, I’m the most important person for myself. If I die tomorrow, everything ceases to matter. Self-realisation is God-realisation. Spirituality is about creating a road between your mind and your own atma or soul. Spiritualism is all about learning to connect with your own spirit.” '

I am amused at the kind of hogwash that gets passed off as spirituality. I am even more amused that there can be takers for this kind of bunkum. Recommendations to get 'self-centered' is an act of selfishness, than selflessness. It only makes the spirituality-seeker even more blind to what's 'reality'. In fact the kind of 'introspection' these pop-gurus recommend can't and won't work. Simply because any act of 'looking inwards' has to be a post mortem analysis of a context or a situation.

My analysis of me has to be one where I try and decipher my own behaviour, in order to get to the bottom of what could have caused it. And my behaviour would have been exhibited during what I call a 'situation' which then becomes the 'context' for analysis. Of course, it may not always be possible for me to engage in this analysis on my own. That's when I should get into what's called therapy.

The pop guru's call to sit cross legged and zero in on your 'core being' is nothing but a whole lot of wasted time.

Business introspection too is situational. Contextual. Post mortem analysis is a must to better value delivery to consumers . To carry out such an act, the relevant business context is sequenced and studied. To see what went right or wrong. To know if a firm is part of a chain of activities that creates 'best' value for consumers. The introspection called for requires that the activities that make the chain be benchmarked against 'best-in-class' practices. A comparison to a best-in-class practice can point out what's being done right or wrong. The focus for the firm in question then becomes matching and bettering best-in-class practices.

Pop spirituality is the refuge of people who can't honestly introspect their own behaviour. Its a convenient way of bypassing what otherwise becomes the most trying of engagements. Coming face to face with one's own frailty. In the business world too, many firms put off such introspection, choosing instead to live the illusion of grandeur.

For firms, as for people, such illusions go bust. Sooner, if not later.