Ancient Indian rituals and Business Leaders

Despite the considerable effort that the death rituals (and other ancient Indian rituals) required from the individual performing them, they provided value that far exceeded the costs. While they are far less elaborate now than they were in ancient India, they required considerable personal discipline to prepare for and conduct them, as anyone who sat cross-legged on the floor for many hours a day (and days upon end) in front of a smoke-filled fire can attest.

It was a discipline that prepared you to think of individuals before and after you, as well as levels of hierarchy within your larger context (such as family, community, society, humanity, nature, and ultimately Being). Such order and alignment was a great source of comfort in crises and disruptions, such as the death of a loved one. Being provided the underlying explanation, source, and order behind this complexity and change. The end result was a system that cohered across different levels and was sustained by society over millennia in India.

There are similar lessons for business work (the rituals of modern society) in an era when complexity and change have increased dramatically. Being can be an organising principle that gives managers something to hold on to as they make difficult decisions in a challenging business environment.

Where the needs of many stakeholders must be balanced, the impacts of decisions are often unclear, and time is of the essence, Beingful leadership could provide the broader perspective and calmness of mind to make effective decisions. Of course, the great challenge is to ensure that Beingful norms of work do not become rigid and exclusive, which was the chief problem with rituals and the social classes of ancient Indian society.

But there is even greater value from Being than perspective and serenity. My experience with the death rituals showed me how personal value came from a sense of identity with an ancestral lineage, as well as a sense of shared purpose that gave deep satisfaction when the rituals were accomplished. This was intentional. Rituals, such as those conducted around birth, marriage, death, and a host of other events, bound human beings to one another and to Being in ancient societies. Their core purpose was to provide meaning to ordinary human life, one that was deep, consistent, and engaged with the world.

Beingful leadership can similarly provide this identity and meaning to business work for its practitioners. This is because it can lead to a sense of vital engagement and alignment with different levels of the larger context (for example, team, company, society, humanity, nature, and ultimately Being) of a business leader.