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Being-Centered Leadership: Leader as an Enlightened Sage

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Bhagavad Gītā and Leadership

Abstract

This chapter takes as axiomatic that leadership is a voyage of inner discovery and that Self-knowledge is the key to leading from within. This journey begins with knowing oneself and culminates in living one’s deepest values selflessly, working for the common good. This chapter presents a unique conception of the leader as an enlightened sage who operates from a higher stance of being, effortlessly anchored in Self-knowledge and self-mastery. As a prelude to the conception of a sage steady in the wisdom of the Self (sthitaprajña), this chapter also highlights the need, the importance, and the practice of Self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is also essential for leading a fulfilled life. Since happiness is sought for the sake of the self, it stands to reason that the quest for fulfillment should begin with knowing the Self.

By way of illustrating the ideal of being-centered leadership, this chapter briefly profiles three leaders—Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi—who directly or indirectly embodied the values of self-actualization, service, contribution, humility, forgiveness, and higher purpose, as articulated in the Gı̄tā.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Harris Collingwood, Leadership’s first commandment: Know thyself. Harvard Business Review, December 2001, 79 (11). Special Issue.

  2. 2.

    All quoted verses are stated in this manner: chapter number and verse number. Therefore, the number “1.1” denotes chapter 1, verse 1 of the Gītā. All translations of the quoted Sanskrit words or (partial) verses are by the author, unless otherwise stated.

  3. 3.

    Harris Collingwood, Leadership’s first commandment: Know thyself. Harvard Business Review, December 2001, 79 (11). Special Issue.

  4. 4.

    Īs´a Upaniṣad declares, “What sorrow or delusion for the one who is established in universal Oneness?” तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥ ७ ॥ tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ s´oka ekatvamanupas´yataḥ //7//.

  5. 5.

    What can be favorable or unfavorable for the wise? The wise welcome all situations and experiences as opportunities for self-learning and growth.

  6. 6.

    Verse 14.3 of Pañcadaśi, a philosophical sub-text of Vedānta, declares, “A Self-realized person is ever-blissful on four counts—absence of sorrow (duḥkhābhāvaś ), the fulfillment of all desires (kāmāptiḥ), the satisfaction of having done all that was to be done (kṛta-kṛtyo) and the satisfaction of having achieved all that was to be achieved (prāpta-prāpyo).” See: H. P. Shastri, trans, Panchadashi: A Treatise on Advaita Metaphysics by Swami Vidyaranya (London, UK: Shanti Sadan, 1982, reprint edition), 448.

  7. 7.

    See also BG 6.22:Verse

    Verse yaṃ labdhvā cāparaṃ lābhaṃ manyate nādhikaṃ tataḥ / yasmin sthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate //

    Having attained which, one does not reckon any gain greater than that, and established in which one is not affected by even a great sorrow.

  8. 8.

    Digha Nikāya II. 156. Cited in Roberto Calasso, Kā: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999), 396.

  9. 9.

    Verse

    Verse brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ / lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatram ivāmbhasā //5.10//

    He who acts, abandoning attachment, dedicating his deeds to Brahman, the Absolute, is untainted by sin, as a lotus leaf by water. Ādī Śaṇkara, the preeminent Indian philosopher, singles out this verse (along with verse 5.11) in his introduction to his commentary on the Bhagavad Gītā.

  10. 10.

    Śrī Śaṅkara, in his commentary to Brahma Sutra 1.1.6, states that “ātmā hi nāma svarūpam” आत्मा हि नाम स्वरूपम्: What is meant by the word “Self ” is one’s own nature. See V. Panoli, trans., Prasthanathraya, Volume VI—Brahmasutra (Kozhikode, India: Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd., 2011), 75.

  11. 11.

    येनेदं सर्वं विजानाति, तं केन विजानीयात्। “Through what should one know That owing to which all this is known!” [Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.5.15] See also: Swami Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge: According to Advaita Vedanta (London, UK: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.), 230. This book presents the most succinct, lucid, and comprehensive exposition of some highly intricate concepts regarding the epistemology of Advaita Vedānta. Perhaps the best single volume presentation on this topic in the English language.

  12. 12.

    यदेव साक्षादपरोक्षाद् बह्म, य आत्मा सर्वान्तरः “The Brahman that is immediate and direct—the self that is within all.” “This is your self that is within all.” See: Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad with the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya (Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas: Advaita Ashrama, 1934/2008), 330.

  13. 13.

    Consider the following exchange between a Zen master and a student:

    Student::

    What is the way to Enlightenment?

    Master::

    What path do you need to reach yourself ?

    Student::

    So, practice does not help?

    Master::

    No, it does help.

    Student::

    How so?

    Master::

    Enlightenment is an accident. Practice makes you more accident-prone!

    Student::

    Then what is the cause of un-enlightenment?

    Master::

    Seeking enlightenment! (Source: Unknown)

  14. 14.

    This story was told in a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College.

  15. 15.

    Śri Śaṅkara, in his commentary to Brahma Sutra 2.3.7, states, “Being the basis of all proof and disproof, the self is established prior to them….What is extraneous can be denied, but not the self. For, he who denies that is the Self.” Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge, 231. Also see, V. Panoli, trans., Prasthanathraya, Volume VI—Bramasutra, 669.

  16. 16.

    It is not that “I think, therefore I am”; rather, “I am, therefore I think!” How can our being depend upon thoughts which come and go?

  17. 17.

    Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge, 232.

  18. 18.

    Cited in Swami Rajeswarananda (Ed.), Thus Spake Ramana (Tiruvannamalai, India: Sri Ramanasaramam, 1995), 21.

  19. 19.

    The knower of Self crosses over sorrow (tarati śokamātmavid), declares Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.1.3.

  20. 20.

    P. Lal, The Mahabharata of Vyasa: Condensed from Sanskrit and Transcribed into English (Lake Gardens, Kolkata: Writers Workshop, 2010), 370.

  21. 21.

    A traditional tale transcribed by the author.

  22. 22.

    This dialog occurs twice in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: 2.4.5 and 4.5.6. For this famous dialog on the importance of (and the means to) Self-knowledge, See Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad with the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya (Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas: Advaita Ashrama, 1934/2008), 246–247 and 538–539.

  23. 23.

    Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha, translated by Hilda Rosner (New York, NY: Bantam, 1982), 69.

  24. 24.

    See the Bhagavad Gītā 7.3: Hardly one among thousands strives for perfection; of those striving, and attaining perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth. In the Bhagavad Gītā, wherever Śrī Kṛṣṇa says “me” (mama), it signifies the universal Self, Paramātman.

  25. 25.

    Swami Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge: According to Advaita Vedanta (London, UK: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.), 232.

  26. 26.

    Paraphrasing an important Hadith, “man ’arafa nafsahu faqad ’arafa Rabbahu”: “Know yourself and you shall then know God,” says Śri Ramakrishna. Cited in Swami Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge, 232. Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.9 goes a step further: Whomsoever knows Brahman becomes Brahman: ब्रह्म वेद ब्रह्मैव भवति.

  27. 27.

    See: Swāmī Gambhīrānanda, Eight Upaniṣads with Commentary of Śaṅkarācārya, vol. 1 (Calcutta, India: Advaita Ashrama, 1957/1991), 163.

  28. 28.

    yaj jñātvāmṛtam as´nute …यत् ज्ञात्वामृतम् अश्नुते / BG 13.12.

  29. 29.

    “ātmalābhānna paraṁ vidyate: आत्मलाभान्न परं विद्यते”.

  30. 30.

    Brahmavidāpnoti param // ब्रह्मविदाप्नोति परम् ॥ [Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1]. In the Upaniṣads, the words Ātman (Self ) and Brahman (Absolute) are used interchangeably, denoting the oneness of the individual Self and the universal Self.

  31. 31.

    Brahma Sutra Bhāshya 1.1.12.

  32. 32.

    Tarati s´okam ātmavit: तरति शोकम् आत्मवित् ~ Chāndogya Upanisad (7.1.3).

  33. 33.

    na cedihāvedīnmahatī vinaṣṭi: न चॆदिहावॆदीन्महती विनष्टि: Kena Up. 2.5.

  34. 34.

    gnōthi seautón (“Know Thyself ”) is an ancient Greek aphorism and one of the two most famous Delphic maxims, the other being “nothing in excess.”

  35. 35.

    Plato, Apology, 38a.

  36. 36.

    Plato, Phaedrus, 230a, H. and C., p. 478.

  37. 37.

    This vignette is based on a discourse of Swami Paramārthānanda, a contemporary teacher of Vedānta. The pious teachings of the saints, Gurubani, likewise points out that, without Self-knowledge, the fog of delusion does not disappear: Jan Nanak binu āpā chīnai mitae na bhram kī kā̄̄ī //2//1// ਜਨ ਨਾਨਕ ਬਿਨੁ ਆਪਾ ਚੀਨੈ ਮਿਟੈ ਨ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕੀ ਕਾਈ ॥੨॥੧॥: (SGGS 684).

  38. 38.

    Adapted from Swami Tejomayanandaji’s discourses on the Bhagavad Gītā and Kenopaniṣad.

  39. 39.

    As cited in Berthold Madhukar Thompson, The Odyssey of Enlightenment: Rare Interviews with Enlightened Teachers of Our Time (New York, NY: Origins Press, 2002), 282.

  40. 40.

    David Godman (Ed.), Be as You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (New York, NY: Arkana Penguin Chapters, 1985).

  41. 41.

    This methodology, prakriya, is called Dr.g-Dr.s´ya-Viveka, the seer-seen discrimination.

  42. 42.

    This approach called via negativa नेति नेति: neti, neti—not this, not this. sa eṣa neti netyātmā: स एष नेति नेत्यात्मा: This self is that which has been described as “Not this, not this.” See: Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, mantra 4.2.4, 413–414. It should be noted that the methodology of neti neti—not this, not this—negates the reality of the objective world from the absolute standpoint. It does not—nay, cannot—deny the witnessing Self, which is the conscious-principle, the ultimate Subject. This approach is called via positiva, eti, eti—this, verily this indeed.

  43. 43.

    Stephen Wingate, cited in John Wheeler, The Light Behind Consciousness: Radical Self-knowledge and the End of Seeking (Salisbury, UK: Non-Duality Press, 2002), v.

  44. 44.

    See Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 414. [Saṅkara’s commentary on mantra 4.2.4.].

  45. 45.

    Kena Upaniṣad 2.4: hi vindate: प्रतिबोधविदितं मतममृतत्वं हि विन्दते । The Self, which is self-evident, is recognized in every cognition. As consciousness, it is present as the invariable truth of all experience.

  46. 46.

    nānyaddvāramantarātmano vijñānāya: नान्यद्द्वारमन्तरात्मनो विज्ञानाय: V. Panoli, trans., Prasthanathraya Volume-II: Isa, Kena, Katha, Mandukya with the Karika of Gaudapada (Kozhikode, India: Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd., 2006), 114.

  47. 47.

    Cited Swāmī Gambhīrānanda, Eight Upaniṣads with Commentary of Śaṅkarācārya, vol. 1 (Calcutta, India: Advaita Ashrama, 1957/1991), 67.

  48. 48.

    Cited in Dennis Waite, The Chapter of One: The Ancient Wisdom of Advaita (Winchester, UK: O Chapters, 2011), 23.

  49. 49.

    See: Maharshi’s Gospel: The Teachings of Sri Ramana (Tiruvannamalai, India: Sri Ramanasaramam, 2003), 38. Michael James, the preeminent translator of some of Sri Ramana’s most important books, once told this author that this is perhaps the most succinct and inspired collection of Sri Ramana’s teachings. It is believed that Maurice Frydman, the gifted, self-effacing Polish humanitarian, is the compiler of Maharshi’s Gospel. Frydman is also the compiler of another modern spiritual classic, I Am That. Everything Frydman did is touched with distinction.

  50. 50.

    Swami Sivananda, Essence of Vedanta (Rishikesh, India: The Divine Life Society, 2009), 148.

  51. 51.

    Swami Paramārthānanda, The Essence of Vedanta-Part 1 and 2. General Talks.

  52. 52.

    Being all-pervading and limitless, it is known by two names: ātmā and Brahma. Ātmā: Āpnōti sarvam: It pervades all over. Brahma: Brahmanāt bṛhad samastavāt: It is the biggest one.

  53. 53.

    William Chittick, BĀBĀ AFŻAL-AL-DĪN, Poet and Author of Philosophical Works in Persian. Retrieved August 30, 2015: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baba-afzal-al-din

  54. 54.

    Dayananda Saraswati, Introduction to Vedanta: Understanding the Fundamental Problem (New Delhi, India: Vision Books Pvt. Ltd., 2009), 39.

  55. 55.

    A. Devaraja Mudaliar, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 182. [emphasis in the original].

  56. 56.

    Sri Ramana Maharshi used to say that the whole of Vedānta is contained in the two Biblical statements: “I am that I AM” and “Be still and know that I am God.” See Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamalai, India: Sri Ramanasramam, 2000), 320.

  57. 57.

    Sri Ramana Maharshi has frequently emphasized this point in his writings: “It is only after the first personal pronoun arises that the second and third personal pronouns appear. Without the first person, the second and third persons cannot exist.” See his famous essay: Who Am I? Retrieved October 15, 2016: http://www.davidgodman.org/gen2/p/ramana/who-am-i/who-am-i.html

  58. 58.

    Remember, you are a completely unique and distinct person. Just like everyone else. ~ Anon.

  59. 59.

    Śri Śaṅkara, in his legendary commentary on the Gītā (Gītā Bhāṣyam), defines sthitāprajñaḥ, a person established in steady wisdom, as follows: “sthitā pratiṣṭhitā ‘ahamasmi paraṁ brahma’ iti prajñā yasya saḥ sthitaprajñaḥ”: He is a person of steady wisdom who has a firm conviction/awareness, “I am the Supreme Brahman.” [author’s rendition].

  60. 60.

    Eknath Easwaran, cited in Louis Fischer (Ed.), The Essential Gandhi (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2002), xvi.

  61. 61.

    Warren Bennis, Interview: “Have the requirements for being a good leader changed?” Fast Company: Leadership Hall of Fame, December 26, 2011. (F. Company, Interviewer). Retrieved June 4, 2018: https://www.fastcompany.com/1786824/leadership-hall-fame-warren-bennis-author-becoming-leader

  62. 62.

    Tim Hindle, Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus (The Economist) (London, UK: Profile Books Ltd., 2009), 218.

  63. 63.

    Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2001).

  64. 64.

    Bill George, Discover Your True North (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; Expanded and Updated edition, 2015), 122, 126, 251, 259.

  65. 65.

    As we shall see in a later chapter, Gandhi regarded these verses as representing the essence of the Gītā: “If the rest of the scripture were lost, these verses alone will be enough to teach a complete way of life.” See: Easwaran, trans., The Bhagavad Gītā, 59.

  66. 66.

    Ibid., xvi.

  67. 67.

    Adapted from Eknath Easwaran, trans., The Bhagavad Gītā (New York, NY: Vintage Spiritual Classics, 2000), 67–69; Franklin Edgerton, trans., The Bhagavad Gītā (New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1964), 15–17; Dhiman, Sahaja-Gītā: The Essential Gītā, 36–39; See also, Strohmeier (Ed.), The Bhagavad Gītā According to Gandhi; Hingorani, Gandhi for 21st Century. Also see, Betai, Gītā and Gandhi.

  68. 68.

    Vihari-Lala Mitra, trans., Vālmīki’s Yoga-vāsiṣṭha-mahārāmāyaṇa. Online edition, Retrieved February 10, 2015: http://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/yoga-vasistha-volume-2-part-ii/d/doc118202.html

  69. 69.

    Easwaran, cited in Fischer, The Essential Gandhi, xvii [author’s adaptation].

  70. 70.

    Ibid., xvii.

  71. 71.

    Brent Schlender & Rick Tetzeli, Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader (New York, NY: Crown Business, 2015), 392.

  72. 72.

    Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 43; 447.

  73. 73.

    Brent Schlender & Rick Tetzeli, Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader (New York, NY: Crown Business, 2015), 392.

  74. 74.

    Ibid.

  75. 75.

    Anthony Imbimbo, Steve Jobs: The Brilliant Mind Behind Apple (Life Portraits) (New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2009), 42.

  76. 76.

    See: Paramahansa Yogananda, God Talks with Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gītā: Royal Science of God-Realization (The Immortal Dialog between soul and Spirit: A new translation and commentary) (Los Angeles, CA: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1995); also see Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi (New York, NY: The Philosophical Society, 1955). This classic spiritual autobiography inspired Jobs throughout his life.

  77. 77.

    “You’ve got to find what you love,” Jobs says. Text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005. Stanford News. Retrieved May 29, 2018: https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/

  78. 78.

    Subhamoy Das, Steve Jobs and Hinduism. ThoughtCo, September 11, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2018: https://www.thoughtco.com/steve-jobs-and-hinduism-1770109

  79. 79.

    Harsimran Julka, Steve Jobs resignation: India didn’t offer enlightenment but changed his outlook. The Economic Times, August 26, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2018: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/steve-jobs-resignation-india-didnt-offer-enlightenment-but-changed-his-outlook/articleshow/9739049.cms

  80. 80.

    Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 527.

  81. 81.

    Marc Benioff on the Invisible Hand of Steve Jobs | Disrupt SF 2013. Interview Retrieved May 29, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rO_Vs4M29k

  82. 82.

    Walter Isaacson in his biography, Steve Jobs, lists a number of books that influenced Steve Jobs: William Shakespeare’s King Lear, Plato, Clayton Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma, Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Chogyam Trungpa’s Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. See: Isaacson, Steve Jobs, 35.

  83. 83.

    Yoga Journal Editors, Steve Jobs Studied Yoga, Yoga Journal, September 11, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2018: https://www.yogajournal.com/blog/steve-jobs-studied-yoga

  84. 84.

    Ibid., 35.

  85. 85.

    Retrieved May 31, 2018: http://maypalo.com/2011/10/09/top-5-best-steve-jobs-in-heaven-comics/

  86. 86.

    The Salesforce.com CEO admonishes Apple, as well as the movies and books about Steve Jobs’ life, for failing to understand and honor the spiritual aspect of Jobs’ personality. See: Dan Farber, Marc Benioff explains Steve Jobs’ spirituality and chides Apple, September 10, 2013, CNET Tech Industry News. Retrieved June 2, 2018: https://www.cnet.com/news/marc-benioff-explains-steve-jobs-spirituality-and-chides-apple/

  87. 87.

    James Morcan and Lance Morcan, GENIUS INTELLIGENCE: Secret Techniques and Technologies to Increase IQ (The Underground Knowledge Series) (Volume 1) (New York: Sterling Gate Books, 2016), 131. [emphasis added].

  88. 88.

    Paramahansa Yogananda, God Talks with Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gītā, 472. See: Marco Pino’s fine blog entry, Karma Yoga Lessons from Steve Jobs, September 12, 2011. This article was published, Marco Pino tells us, three weeks before Steve Jobs’ death, October 5, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2018: https://www.path2yoga.net/2011/09/karma-yoga-lessons-from-steve-jobs.html

  89. 89.

    Karmayoga is the discipline of union (yoga) of the self with the Self through actions (karma) performed with a certain frame of mind—unprompted by the desire for self-centered material rewards.

  90. 90.

    Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā (Text with Roman transliteration and English translation) (Chennai, India: Arsha Vidya Research and Publication Trust, 2007), 218.

  91. 91.

    Paramahansa Yogananda, God Talks with Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gītā, 1022.

  92. 92.

    ISKCON stands for International Society for Krishna consciousness. Ratha Yatra (literally, chariot voyage) is an ancient celebratory parade/procession that originated 5000 years ago in India, on the East Coast state of Orrisa, in a city called Jagannatha Puri. For the festivities, there are three chariots, one for each of the three deities: Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama, and Lady Subhadra. The canopied chariots are decorated with flowers and balloons and are pulled with long, thick ropes by hundreds of people who ecstatically dance while chanting the sacred names of the Lord and sacred mantras. Retrieved June 1, 2018: http://festivalofchariots.com/

  93. 93.

    Sipho Kings, Madiba and the Bhagavad Gītā. Mail & Guardian, December 8, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2018: https://mg.co.za/article/2013-12-08-madiba-and-the-bhagavad-gita

  94. 94.

    Ibid.

  95. 95.

    Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 1995), 22.

  96. 96.

    As quoted in Ryan Lizza, Leading from Behind. New Yorker, April 26, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2018: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/leading-from-behind

  97. 97.

    Hitendra Wadhwa, Nelson Mandela and the evolution of great leaders. Fortune Magazine, December 6, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2017: http://fortune.com/2013/12/06/nelson-mandela-and-the-evolution-of-great-leaders/

  98. 98.

    Ibid.

  99. 99.

    Ibid.

  100. 100.

    John Carlin, Nelson Mandela: The freedom fighter who embraced his enemies. The Guardian, December 7, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2107: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/07/nelson-mandela-freedom-fighter-john-carlin

  101. 101.

    M. K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1983), 233.

  102. 102.

    Ibid.

  103. 103.

    Ibid.

  104. 104.

    Ibid.

  105. 105.

    M. K. Gandhi in John Strohmeier (Ed.), The Bhagavad Gītā According to Gandhi (Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Hills Books, 2000), 16.

  106. 106.

    Ibid., 14.

  107. 107.

    Michael N. Nagler, Gītā Theory of Action. Retrieved June 8, 2018: https://mettacenter.org/definitions/gloss-concepts/gita-theory-of-action/

  108. 108.

    P. Nagaraja Rao, Introduction to Vedanta (Bombay, India: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1966), 102.

  109. 109.

    Eknath Easwaran, The Compassionate Universe: The Power of the Individual to Heal the Environment (Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press, 1989), 20 (emphasis added).

  110. 110.

    For detailed information on how the Gītā permeated Gandhi’s life and leadership, refer to the chapter titled “Be the Change: The Making of a Servant Leader.”

  111. 111.

    J. D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye (New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 1991), 224.

  112. 112.

    Letter of 1950, as quoted in The New York Times (March 29, 1972) and The New York Post (November 28, 1972). The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (Princeton University Press, 2005: ISBN 0691120749), 206, has a slightly different and presumably more accurate version of this letter, which she dates to February 12, 1950 and describes as “a letter to a distraught father who had lost his young son and had asked Einstein for some comforting words”:

    A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.

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  1. School of Business, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA, USA

    Satinder Dhiman

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Dhiman, S. (2019). Being-Centered Leadership: Leader as an Enlightened Sage. In: Bhagavad Gītā and Leadership. Palgrave Studies in Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67573-2_6

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