MESSAGE BOARD: Vol.3 Issue 2 February 2010

HELLO and welcome to February's edition of your Message Board. Recently, Sam Walsh (Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Iron Ore) gave an inspiring speech on Spirituality in the Workplace. This month I'm exploring the misconceptions that abound (especially in the business arena) about what spirituality actually means. I hope you find it food for thought...

I thank you for your continued support. If you missed previous Message Boards, you can retrieve them from the Archive.

Read on, and enjoy this issue...



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IN THIS ISSUE

News and Events
The Message Board Feature Article
We Are What We Do
Subscriber Information
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NEWS AND EVENTS

Registrations for our February 20th Snapshot have closed, but if you are quick we may be able to squeeze you in! To read more, just click the link below. As always, small groups work best, so if you would like to bring a friend or a group of friends, I urge you to book as soon as possible.

  1. 20 February 2010: FINDING OUR INNER SPACE
  2. 27 March 2010: PEACE IN TIMES OF STRESS
  3. 15 May 2010
  4. 19 June 2010
  5. 31 July 2010

THE MESSAGE BOARD FEATURE ARTICLE

The Human Spirit at Work: Spirituality - acknowledging our inner world

There are those who think that spirituality is not relevant to the workplace, often citing that it is too intangible, ineffable, esoteric - even imaginary - and that it is more suited to lofty philosophical and theological pursuits than it is to the workforce. Yet we accept the invisible energy of wind, Dark Matter or Dark Energy as fact. We cannot see 'wind' yet we measure it scientifically, observe its nature and attempt to predict its affect on our lives and property. So it is with the scientific exploration of Dark Matter and Energy: the unknown and unseen no barrier to the acknowledgement of what is real in our universe.

Towards the end of the previous article I highlighted the importance of the acknowledgement of spirituality in the workplace - in other words, the openness to the possibility that spiritual forces are real and have an impact on our personal and working lives. Unless we are open-minded we limit our ability to acknowledge. Unless we acknowledge the possibility that spirituality plays a role in human life (and by implication, in the workplace), we lose out on the discoveries and the ever expanding 'dark energy' of our inner universe; our whole being.

"Unless we are open-minded we limit our ability to acknowledge. Unless we acknowledge the possibility that spirituality plays a role in human life (and by implication, in the workplace), we lose out on the discoveries and the ever expanding 'dark energy' of our inner universe; our whole being."

It is like ignoring or failing to research and consider the impact of wind on our climate - without which we would not now see that ocean temperatures have a critical impact on wind patterns and therefore, climate. Spirituality is the serious consideration of visible or invisible aspects in our universe - and the prelude to that is of course, openness.

We can feel and observe the impact of wind - hence we acknowledge its presence. Likewise, we can observe and feel the impacts of a closed or open attitude to spirituality in the workplace. An attitude is just a stance we have - a momentary or more permanent belief system. And attitude is just a thought (invisible, like the wind), yet visible to others via our behaviour; even if we ourselves are temporarily blinded to it.

Whether we are open or closed, we are demonstrating the capacity to manifest thought, to be a spiritual being. 'That we think' is the ability to form thoughts, ideas and attitudes, to visualise concepts, images and have a physical sensations. 'That we think' is the spiritual capacity to create that which is real (any form) within our minds.

Ah now! I can imagine that many of you will be thinking "Spiritual capacity? Give me a break! What does the capacity to manifest things in our head have to do with spirituality?"

There are two points I would make here:
Firstly, when we talk about 'spiritual' we are simply talking about our inner world, the deepest, non-material nature of our human experience (e.g. thought) and its simultaneous affect on our lives.

Secondly, we are talking about innate spirituality: the deepest expression of our values and meanings - rather than confining ourselves to rather narrow religious interpretations wherein we regard spirituality as inseparably connected to the worship of God. It is that narrow interpretation, the dividing line between secular and religious, which has closed us off to the richness of insight.

In the previous article, Hermann Hesse spoke of our minds being capable of going beyond the dividing lines we innocently create and in doing so, opening ourselves up to possibilities and insights. The disconnect found in business (and it might well apply to religion) is what we have as a result of narrow thinking. Without acknowledging the genesis of our personal spirituality, business will find it difficult to harness the hearts and minds of their workforce.

See you next month as the reflections continue...

Comments on this article? I'd love to hear from you
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WE ARE WHAT WE DO

When it comes to our inner life, our spirituality, I find many of us give acknowledgement to the fact that it is an important part of our life. At the same time, I often find that my acknowledgement is lip service, a nice idea (or even a wish) when it comes to taking action from this acknowledged stance. Each time I fail to align myself to my acknowledged stance I 'try hard' and put in place practices that will 'force' me to act in alignment. However, these efforts seem to evaporate with time.

Does this mean I don't really want to live more aligned to my spiritual call? NO. I want to experience my whole being in my daily life. So what is going on?

What a beautiful place to start. Come to peace with the question. What do I mean by coming to peace with the question? The response to the question is not found in more thinking or action that soon fades away. Coming to peace means we quieten our inner selves with no other expectation than to feel PEACE NOW. Yes, no expectations of better thinking, better insights or a 'ah ha moments'; no - just an experience of PEACE NOW. I have only this moment to experience my WHOLE SELF...
The only important question is "Do I take it this moment?"

Until next time... David

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