International Conference on Spiritual Paradigm for Surmounting Global Management at SMS Varanasi
Day 1 Delegates from the two conference-associate American Universities, Claflin University, South Carolina, Columbia (USA) and California State University, San Bernardino, California (USA) were also present. More than five hundred delegates were present on the first day of the three day long event. International delegates have come from France, Russia, Spain, USA, UAE, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Turkey and Hungary.
Inaugurating the Conference, Dr. Dave said It is my great pleasure to have been associated with this unusual Conference, unusual because prima facie it seems contradictory what world of money and management of money has to do with spiritualism at it is commonly understood. Marx predicted doom of the capitalist society because of inherent conflict it had with the interest of workers. A blind or excessive drive towards profits at the cost of workers invites the fall of the system. Capitalism was too materialistic system interested only in returns on capital of those who owned it. There was no place for spiritualism in working of such a system. Today, profit is considered a necessity of the organization, but the maximization of profits is no more the sole aim. Societal and environmental concerns have started appearing in the Corporate Vision statements in an increasing way. All these developments have something to do with spiritual transformation of the system. Bringing about radical changes in the attitude is a gradual process and I am happy that SMS and their collaborators in US think that it is possible, achievable and worthwhile disseminating this message to the larger audience. I compliment the sponsors for the bold theme of the Conference and wish that these subjects are discussed and become part of teaching in all the business schools of the world, under whatever nomenclature they prefer to use. And hopefully, they become an integral part of practice in the corporate world.
He also requested to all that let spiritualism enter management, in a disguised form if need be, without even being called spiritualism. One comes across several managers, both in east and west, who are highly spiritual in their conduct and work and display extraordinary concern toward their colleagues and customers. It would seem, as if spiritualism and materialism is working hand in hand. The problem before the conference is how to multiply the members of this group, or enhance the spiritual content of their lives and work, he added. Prof. M. J. Xavier in his address opined that instead of being aggressive, we should be humble. We should not have greed, we should not compete and compare, instead we should have and believe in harmonious coexistence. Instead of having goal orientation, we should have role orientation. In management education we learn about destroying competition through creation of competitive advantage but on the other side we also say dont compete it is here that another paradigm needs to be developed and hopefully this international conference would help in doing the same. He also asserted to develop intellect and intuition together.
Dr. Tisdale highlighted the tripple bottom line approach which Claflin University is following. It includes value maximisation through business ethics and sustainability, visionary leadership and selfless service. He said we should trained the mind to think, hand to execute and soul to feel. Former Professor of Delhi School of Economics, Dr. B. P. Singh talked about global turbulence and said the essence of spirituality is self liberation. He also said that a modern leader should be like a saint. Spirituality has to be master of materialism and not servant. Earlier the Conference Director and the Director of SMS Varanasi, Prof. P. N. Jha welcomed the dignitaries and delegates to SMS Varanasi. The organizing secretary Mr. Sandeep Singh (Associate Prof.) gave the theme presentation. The inaugural session was coordinated by Dr. Meenakshi Singh while the Vote of Thanks was presented by the Honorary Director of the Centre for Spiritualism and Human Enrichment, SMS, Varanasi, Prof. K. D. Tripathi.
Later specialties like Shiv Tandav, Sama veda recitals, peace meditation were also held. A souvenir has also been published covering more than 200 paper abstracts which are being presented in the Conference. Corporate bodies and financial institutions like Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank, Airtel, Hewlett Packard, Taj Estates, Jalan Group, Galaxy Hospital, Career Launcher, IMS Learning Resources and Banaras Swarna Kala Kendra. Day 2 On the second day of the three-day International Conference, Prof. S. C. Jain, Chairman International School for Jain Studies, said that we should try to develop a habit of sharing surplus. He was speaking about the preachings of Lord Mahavir and the Jain philosophy of non voilence. He said that for organisations, profit is like oxygen but not the ultimate aim. We should try to maximise good over bad, he added.
Prof. P. Krishna, Secretary Krishnamurty Foundation India, in his address emphasise on the role of education in developing spirituality. He highlighted the fact that the problem of the world is not the uneducated person, it is only the highly educated persons who plan and develop the policies for the organisation which everyone has to follow. It is here, that everyone feels the impact, good or bad, of such kind of policies applicable to the entire organisation. Hence, it is necessary to educate more such educated people in terms of benefits to one and all. In yet another session, Prof. A. N. Tripathi, Former Head, Malviya Centre for Human Values, BHU, emphasised on the modern view of life which people feet it generally relates to materialism rather than spiritual and ethical issues. In todays scenario, we are witnessing a model of mechanistic life which has dehumanised life which in turn has resulted into irresponsible management of earths resources. He further added that one should take a holistic view of life which provides for meaningful and responsible engagement with our life.
Earlier, Prof. Rana P. B. Singh from BHU disucssed the spiritual and cosmic landscape of Kashi. In one of the plenary sessions, a peace meditation and an address to the conference delegates was done by Sri Sri Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari, the world renowned spiritual guru who talked about divinizing management. Swami Satya Vedanta talked about the ancient wisdom and its usefullness for the modern management while Prof. Samani Charitra Prajna discussed about the spiritual model for inclusive globalisation. Dr. Subhash Durlabh Ji from USA talked about Engines of Power while Prof. Amita Singh talked about trouncing sustainable developement through inequity. Prof. S. S. Khanka (NIFM, Faridabad) talked about value based management for valuing values.
The Executive Director of the Centre for Living in Harmony (USA), Ms. Brenda Roberts discussed the origins and mechanism of peace as illustrated in the teachings of Sri Sri Paramahansa Yoganandaji. The Techincal Sessions were chaired by Dr. Zia Hasan (Vice President, Assessment Planning and Information Services, Claflin University, USA), Prof. Amita Singh (Centre for Law and Governance, JNU, New Delhi), Prof. B. P. Singh (Chairman, DSPSR, New Delhi), Prof. A. K. Mishra (Head of the Management Department, Mizoram Central University, Aizawl), Prof. Chhote Lal (Former Head & Dean, FMS, BHU) and Prof. J. P. Mishra (Dean-Academics, SMS Varanasi). Filmmaker & Director Mr. Mahesh Bhatt, Ms. Pooja Bhatt along with Playback singer Ms. Sanjeevani were along present in last Session of the day. Mr. Mahesh Bhatt emphasized upon the living up the life to its fullest and critsized the belief of re-birth.
Ms. Sanjeevani thrilled the ambience by singing the Bhajans of Meera Bai. Ms. Pooja Bhatt also commented and showcaased her belief in divine effect of Kashi City. The plenary and technical sessions were coordinated by Dr. Meenakshi A. Singh, Ms. Indrani Sengupta, Mrs. Anjana Harish, Dr. Ravi Shekhar Vishal, Mr. Shubhagata Roy and Mr. Amit Kishore Sinha. Over 250 delegates were present at SMS Campus on the second day of the International Conference. Later in the evening, a special session was also organised where noted film personality interacted with the delegates on various aspects of the conference theme. Day 3 On the last day of the three-day International Conference, Prof. P. Nag, Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi and the Chief Guest of the Valedictory Session said if more is the crisis, more management is needed. In this context, we need to understand the problems (crises) in a wider perspective. We have to find the newer challenges which would emerged as a result of spirituality and management running together to solve various such problems related to the human mankind.
In his presidential address, Prof. Vagish Shastri (Vakyoga Chetana Peetham, Varanasi) exhorted the gathering of more than 400 delegates and guests, said that life is based on the four pillars body, mind, wisdom and soul. Body needs food, mind needs desires, wisdom needs ethics and morality and sould needs freedom. We have to ensure that we are able to maintain the right balance between all the four life pillars. He also exhorted the audience to do away with jealousy, fear, anger and greed. We have to churn life to get energy as we have to churn the milk to get butter. Ethical education should commenced from the early childhood days but on the contrary our schools are shying away from sanskrit language which holds all such necessities of life in its fold, he added. He also cited certain illustrations from the Bhagvat Gita which talks about the life duality day and night, love and hate and happines and sorrow. Earlier, four concurrent technical sessions were conducted in which more than 100 research papers were presented. The last Plenary Session of the day witnessed deliberations by Mr. Janardan Jee (Principal Scientist, ICAR), Ms. Brenda Roberts (Executive Director, The Center for Living in Harmony, USA), the Gandhi Peace Prize Winner, Patrick McCullam and Acharya Raganugandha (Development Director for Children of the Earth at the United Nations). The post graduate students of SMS also presented their papers in a separate technical session.
The Valedictory Session was coordinated by Dr. Meenakshi Singh while the Vote of Thanks was presented by Organising Secretary, Mr. Sandeep Singh. The Executive Secretary, Dr. M. P. Singh, The Director Prof. P. N. Jha, and The Registrar of SMS Varanasi, Mr. Sanjay Gupta felicitated the guests by honouring them with a shawl and memento. On this occasion all the delegates, conference guests, high profile corporate and academic dignatories, staff and students of SMS, Varanasi were also present.