Building Stamina- The Cause is the Key!

Here is my next story inspired by the teachings of our spiritual master:

Ever since I can remember, I was deeply inspired by the “Presence” of our Spiritual teacher, Swami Chinmayananda.

Whenever, he was in “our city”, we would go to meet him in the “early hours” of the morning. I often accompanied my father at 430 am to visit our “Guru”. We would stand outside his room, waiting for him to open the door. His “table lamp” would be switched on and through the gap in the curtain on the window, we could see that he was already at work at 5 am! He would personally read every letter addressed to him (emails had not started then) and reply to each person in his own handwriting! At 530 am, we would serve him his morning coffee and he would go back to work!

He conducted four classes a day, held several meetings and worked tirelessly from 1951 to 1993- the year he attained “Mahasamadhi”. What was even more amazing was that his schedule was published 15 months in advance and he did not spend more than 1 or 2 weeks in one place. He travelled the world and in his work-lifetime of 42 years, the Mission established 300 centres, nearly 100 schools, orphanages, hospitals, and old age homes.

He was a diabetic and had heart surgery on more than one occasion! In fact with a fraction of his heart working, he was travelling and delivering talks to huge audiences and inspiring people in his inimitable style in different corners of the globe!!

And through all this, he was always “smiling” and loving even when his body gave him trouble!! A quote ascribed to him: Brood less, Smile More, Serve all….

We often wondered where his inexhaustible energy came from. And the answer came from his own words – “When the cause is such that it inspires you and makes our world a happier place, the Lord makes you His instrument to do His work”.

Two incidents from my own life come to my mind as I reflect about how that impacted me and my colleagues. In 2006, we decided to work on a lifelong dream of entering the field of education. We chose to transfer our HR consulting business to our global partners and raised “Capital” to set up the School Of Inspired Leadership, SOIL. We were inspired to take the message of Gurudev to the world of business by starting a new MBA Program that would be a game changer in the field of “Higher Education”.

It took us two years to start the work on the Project as I had to handover the responsibilities of leading the consulting business to our Global partners and the transition was planned to take that much time.

Meanwhile, we applied for permission to the local authorities to ”demarcate” the land that we had purchased for this purpose many years back.

Then began the nightmare of dealing with the Government servants. No matter what we did, the process did not move forward.

After making over 30 trips to meet these officials, we were told that another Government department had made a road on a portion of our land and till that matter was resolved, we could not start our project!

All along, there were local touts approaching us to ‘get approvals’ for a fee! Many of the officials themselves seemed to suggest that we could get our work done by following a certain ‘process’. However, we were very clear that we would never bribe any official and listen to these middlemen. That was not the foundation for our school! That would be a violation of what Gurudev had taught us!

So we kept pleading with the authorities and approached senior leaders in the Government for their help.

This process was extremely trying and after 18 months of intense follow up, our file was still not approved!

Meanwhile, I had handed over my role in the consulting business to my successor, and hired a team to begin working on the new project.

Our Founding team invited 25 friends from Industry to gather over three days at the beautiful Ashram of Chinmaya Mission at Sidhbari in the Himalayas from 30th September to 2nd October 2008.

We had some amazing dialogue with this group and co-created the Vision and adopted a set of values for the School Of Inspired Leadership (SOIL).

On the last day, a friend asked a critical question: ‘When do you start?’ and I answered that we hope to hold our first class with our first cohort on the day of the Full Moon to honor our Guru in July (on Guru Poornima)! So the friend asked: ‘Is your campus building constructed?’ and I was embarrassed to say that we had not even managed to get the land ‘demarcated’!!

Then I poured my heart out and shared stories of extreme difficulties of dealing with the Government authorities and as I shared more, people started getting angry with the system!

All too suddenly I began to realize that all this focusing on the negatives, was causing the positive energy of the previous days to diminish.

Then a friend suggested that we should go and listen to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who was giving talks at Mcleodganj, just 30 minutes away.

The Dalai Lama was a friend of Gurudev and many of us had met him in the past and were very inspired by Him. So we readily accepted the suggestion.

That day His Holiness delivered a talk on ‘Forgiveness and Reconciliation’.

We came back to the Ashram after a very moving experience and gathered in a circle near the ‘Memorial ’ of our teacher (the shrine in which His body has been laid to rest).

We decided to pray and asked for forgiveness for the corrupt and sent a text message to the senior Government official of the following kind:

‘Dear Sir,
We are a group of 25 leaders who have gathered here in the Holy Ashram of Swami Chinmayananda and have co-created a new vision for building leaders who will make our world better.
After listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama today, we sincerely pray that you will give us your blessings by approving our case’.

We closed our eyes and sat in silence.

After a few minutes, my phone beeped, announcing an incoming message.

The message read: “Your file has been approved”!!!

We could not believe our eyes and it took us some time to realize that after a very frustrating and back breaking period of 18 months, finally, we had got the green signal to begin work on our dream project!!

Then began work at a frantic speed to meet our deadlines.

We had to find an architect and contractor who was willing to accept our work with such challenging time frames. Many of the top architects refused our work!

We spoke to Swami Tejomayananda, the World Wide Head of Chinmaya Mission for advice and he said: ‘Invoke the name of Gurudev and start the work by choosing people who want to work with you rather than the big names who do not want to risk their reputation’!!

We found two such local agencies who had never done such projects but were willing to give it their best shot!

We began work and the next seven months were a period in which the small start-up team of SOIL worked day and night and found inner reservoirs of energy and stamina which we did not even know existed!

We still do not know how we completed this 5 floor building in 6 months- furnished and ready to hold its first class!

On Gurupurnima day, we had a very joyful function with over 250 people- friends , Business leaders, NGO leaders, spiritual teachers, potential students etc!

Looking back, I realize that the stamina to believe in our cause despite the enormous difficulties and the vision to make a difference came together to enable SOIL to be born.

It is as if Gurudev and the Lord Himself was testing our values to earn the right to set up a school that would teach ‘Inspired Leadership! Truly, truly!

Gurudev has brilliantly explained in his commentary to Chapter 12 of the Bhagwad Geeta that a person who is a true practitioner of the path of ‘Yoga’ or the path of devotion develops enormous resilience.

As given in shloka 15 of this chapter, neither does he agitate the world nor does he get agitated by the world!

He who does not harm anyone in the world and from whom the world is not agitated, and he who knows no joy, envy, fear and anxiety, that devotee is dear to me.

When we combine the two learnings above we realise that resilience is a function of inner quiet and inner quiet is a function of absence of agitations and that is a function of an integration within. In Gurudev’s words: PEACE is the mental condition in the bosom of the individual when his inner world is not agitated by any mad storms of disturbing thoughts. Peace is an unbroken sense of joy, and it is the fragrance of an integrated personality. [ … ] this can be brought about through selfless actions undertaken in a spirit of YAGNA.. (commentary to BG 5:12)

And earlier he explains the wisdom of Bhagwad Geeta in verse 12:2 that those who dedicate their work to higher purpose and the Lord Himself and have supreme faith are the best in Yoga’ and that is the source of limitless stamina!!

sri-bhagavan uvaca
mayy avesya mano ye mam
nitya-yukta upasate
sraddhaya parayopetas
te me yuktatama matah

Those who fix their minds upon Me, who constantly glorify Me and possess great faith – I consider them to be most perfect.

And if work is indeed worship, then in Gurudev’s words to Bhagwad Geeta verse 12:2, “True Upasana (worship) is an inward act of attunement with the Higher Principle so as to get ourselves completely merged with It.”

It is this continuous food of the Gita that has energised this Body Mind and Intellect. The body completed 61 years of age last month and thanks to Poojya Gurudev’s grace, it has been able to work 50-60 hours a week; thanks to his grace, it enjoys the work he sends – be it teaching 70 hours a month in the class room, or serving the Mission or working for governing Boards that I am part of.

That is how he uses his instruments, for His work and how he gets it done; and He provides the energy and spirit to accomplish it; all with merely our being available. Of course there are days when the body does get tired. However, each time the teachings of Gurudev and His own example renews my energy.

I ask myself: If despite his body causing him so many difficulties, Gurudev kept on doing so much till His last breath, what business do we, the disciples have to say ‘I am tired’?!

For he was ever in abidance; ever with mind fixed upon his Guru, constantly glorifying the Lord.