Page 85 - #letter to son
P. 85
#SangamNiti SUNSET CONTEMPLATIONS
significant drawback – the company had not issued me a visiting card.
So every time I went to visit the customer, I had to introduce myself.
When they would ask for my business card, I would have to make a
lame excuse. Despite this I’d done my job.
Thinking about this today, I see that my company wanted the funds
to be recovered and also wanted to make it happen at zero cost. They
wanted this and also that.
Taking a high position on moral grounds, I submitted my papers soon
thereafter. As a reactive measure, my boss tried to pacify me saying they
would issue a visiting card immediately. He also dangled the carrot of a
2x salary. But I’d made up my mind and said a polite no.
When I join the dots of this incident with all the other experiences I
have gone through, I feel that corporates err big time in failing their
employees. They fail to empower them. They put them under a burning
glare. They tail them. And when the water rushes over the danger mark,
they put up almost fake palliative measures to hold them back. Like a
salary increase. I’m amazed at how some leaders behave.
The Vedas say that only he who possesses character can build the
character of others. He who listens and obeys can command others.
I’ve always thought that if enlightened people don’t exist or choose to
live in isolation, how can people learn and benefit from them? My mind
wanders back to the forests. It is said that Bhagwan Nityananda lived in
the jungles of Ganeshpuri. Though he remained in silence most of the
time, yet thousands of people visited him to obtain peace and happiness.
Isn’t that ironical? But that is the very point.
When I think about it, I become more certain that sadhana (disciplined
and dedicated learning) is to first steady the mind. Artists, scientists,
poets and musicians all excel in their work through concentration of
mind. They do not bother about what others say or think about them.
So, the point is that one can realise the higher truth only by making
one’s mind steady. The mind is restless. As restless as oceans crashing
relentlessly onto the shore. So how does one steady the mind? I think
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