National Conference on “Spirituality & Ethics in Management” ends at SMS
Noted Parliamentarian Shri Mohan Singh, also a member of the Governing Council of School of Management Sciences (SMS), Varanasi, who was present in the Valedictory Session of thetwo-day National Conference on “Spirituality and Ethics in Management”organised under the aegis of the Centre for Spiritualism and Human Enrichment (C-SHE) of SMS, said that identification and recognition of ‘self’ is the biggest characteristic of spirituality. Those who shun the concept of “I” move closer to the spiritual world. Commenting on Ethics, he said that knowledge and education about ethics is important before practice.The Guests of Honour present at this occasion included BHU Rector Prof B. D. Singh and Maulana Khursheed Anwar, Mufti (Principal) of Mazharul- Uloom, Varanasiwho also aired their views regarding the very substance of ethics and spirituality and connected it to the business and management world.The Chief Guest of the Valedictory Session, Prof. P. K. Mukhopadhyay (Former Head of the Department of Philosophy, Jadavpur University)in his address to the delegates said that all cultures today seek development through knowledge acquisition. And this knowledge should help us revisit various dimensions of Spirituality in order to help the mankind grow and blossom. Gone are the days of specialization because that divides society. We all should try to examine the distinct discipline of Business Ethics and the C-SHE of SMS should take lead in this, exclaimed Prof. Mukhopadhyay. In the earlier technical and plenary sessions, Prof. P. Krishna (Secretary, Krishnamurti Foundation India) focused his talk on ‘ego’ and said that Ego creates disorder in inner consciousness of individuals and hence, in our society. He highlighted the Role of Ego and further commented that it prevents the concept of brotherhood of human beings. He added, one can never practice ethics if devoid of wisdom. Prof. A. N. Tripathi (Former Head, Malviya Centre for Human Values, BHU) said organizations are social constructs and they should fulfill obligations of the society. Organisational goals should not be narrowly defined. Ethics and Spirituality get combined to give Human Values, he added. Where the domain of Law ends, domain of ethics starts, said Prof. Tripathi. Mr. V. Narayanan explained the teachings of Aurobindo and correlated them to the management world. Mr. Adhokshaja Das (ISKCON) quoted lessons from ‘Prabhupada’ and ‘Gita’. He said, ‘Life is a question and no body can answer it, Death is an answer and no body can question it!’ Prof. Pramod Pathak (Former Head of Department of Management Studies, ISM-Dhanbad and noted spiritual columnist) propounded a new concept of ‘Socially Useful Spiritual Work’ (SUSW) while deliberating on one of the Conference themes. He said there is no alternative to ‘work is worship’ which will be always relevant in any context. Spirituality is like ‘Shabari’ (of Ramayan fame), giving good things to others, keeping not so good ones for ourselves! Prof. A. K. Agrawal (FMS-BHU) opined that spirituality is the search for the purpose of life through citation of various instances from our texts and scriptures. Mr. R. Gidwani (US Vitamins, Mumbai) discussed the contradictions between management and spirituality and said that individuals with spiritual potential perform better. Mr. Vinod Arora (IIM-Lucknow) cited examples of Prophet Mohammad and Guru Nanakji in ethos and empathy. He highlighted the importance of ‘Karma’. Mr V. N. Rai (Ex MD-KRIBHCO) said we should maintain neutrality in life. World is a model of cooperation and not competition, as depicted by the Western Management philosophy. Prof. Veer Bhadra Mishra (Sankat Mohan Foundation-Varanasi) said that today also Varanasi has been able to maintain its traditional culture but cities like Cairo and Athens could not, all due to the values and spirituality which people practice here! Everything today needs integration with culture for betterment of human lives, he added. Prof. K. D. Tripathi (Hony. Director, C-SHE, SMS) said that the current crisis is of economicpolitical- social order and solution lies in our scriptures of Vedas, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Buddist & Jain philosophies and in Kautilya’s Arthshastra. Arthashastra has shown the coexistence of public as well as private enterprises, claimed the speaker. Others who also opined included Dr. S. C. Saxena, Prof. Manodip Roy Choudhari and Dr. Ramshwar Dubey. More than 70 research papers were presented in the parallel sessions at different lecture theatres spread across SMS campus. Over 200 participants from India and abroad attended the conference. The Vote-of -thanks was given by the Convener, Mr. Sandeep Singh. All dignitaries and most of the Speakers apart from faculty members of SMS, the Executive Secretary Dr. M. P. Singh and the Director Prof. P. N. Jha were present till the Conference got over on Sunday late evening. According to the C-SHE, SMS, after the great success of this two-day Conference, foundations have been laid for an International Congress on relevant and selected themes any time next year at SMS.