Wisdom of Vedanta for management educators of 21st century

Abstract

There is a growing trend in business organizations to include spirituality in management. Spiritual values and practices are being used as management tools to realize full potential of employees, ethical practices, increasing productivity, better interpersonal relationships, and community services etc. Management educators are coming up with improved ways to embrace spirituality into the courses and the institutions. With inclusion of spirituality in the practices of management, educators need to develop model programs to teach spirituality and the methods to know the success of such programs. The ways of managing pure and applied spirituality without unravelling it from the other essentials of management education is a new challenge before educators. Vedanta emphatically declares the truth that we are paripurna or totally fulfilled, completely satisfied. For some reasons, we do not know it. Ignorance of our fullness causes an imaginary void. Desire arises in the mind to acquire and possess things to fill the void. Vedanta gives knowledge of our fullness. The population of young is highest in the world. They are in hurry in searching for the meaning of life. It is the era of ‘Spiritual Youth’. The spirituality centres on meditation, going deeper into one’s own self and harnessing the soul’s energy. Practices of meditation has to be evolved looking to the younger generation and their specific characteristics. Lot of research work is needed in the direction of practical meditation and yoga looking to the present day need. Management educators can teach students about the spirituality in life and in business too. Students can be motivated to understand deeply the Vedantic methods to experience the pure consciousness, and analyze its applied aspects through the continuing research work. At present, traditional management institutes and universities are lacking such practices.