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From The Economic Times
2 Feb 2008 by Vithal C Nadkarni
For a
country like India , the search
for spirituality is hardly new.
But when movers-and-shakers,
bankers and businessmen from
around the world, including a
Grammy-award-winning pop singer
like Noel Schajris (of Sin
Bandera) and Bollywood diva
Manisha Koirala, begin to swear
by something called Oneness
Blessing, you become curious.
Of course,
captains of industry running
after captains of soul arent
new either. Remember the
merchant banker from ancient
Magadha , Anathapindika? To
please the Buddha, he supposedly
bought Jethvana Park by paying
as much cash as needed to carpet
the vast acreage with gold
coins!
In our own
times, we've had the Beatles
jumping onto Maharishi Mahesh
Yogis TM bandwagon. And celebs
like Sting and Madonna going
gaga over yoga. Does that make
the Oneness Movement the latest
spiritual flavour of the month?
More pertinent, why is it being
called what the California-based
aficionado of awakening, Arjuna
Ardagh, describes as the
fastest-growing spiritual
development in living memory in
his paean to the movement
Awakening into Oneness?
The answer
depends on who you are, and
where you come from. As Jagdish
Capoor, chairman, HDFC Bank,
says, All of us endeavour to
approach the Ultimate Truth. But
what matters is the way one
approaches it. That's where the
guidance provided at Oneness
helps."
What this
does not stand for is an
eclectic, do-it-yourself sort of
spirituality. For one basic
tenet of the movement is that
enlightenment cannot be
"obtained". In an earlier
interview, Sri Bhagawan, who
founded the Oneness Movement
with his spouse Sri Amma, back
in the 1980s in South India ,
says, "Buddha advocated
self-effort, whereas we advocate
the opposite. We ask you do
nothing."
For some
that may evoke visions of mind
control and loss of free will.
"(However) almost every
spiritual tradition has
recognised that surrender to
divine will, or to a wise guide,
may be a saner way to live,"
assures Ardagh. "`Wash me clean
of myself says Rumi. `Not my
will, but Thy will be done says
St Thomas Aquinas.
 Says
Samadarshiniji, director,
Oneness UniverCity, "Oneness is
not a cult or a faith that
demands any conversion or change
in one's beliefs or practices;
It's a system that helps you
discover the truth of your own
faith through a direct personal
experience. To quote Sri
Bhagawan and Sri Amma: Belief
binds. Experience liberates."
That may explain its growing
popularity.
For 20
years, soft skills trainer Meera
Kotak had been doing Vipassana,
Yoga, Reiki and even conducted
therapy using past-life
memories, hypnotherapy and
kinesiology. For all her effort,
she could not jettison feelings
of being unwanted, unloved and
unworthy until she had the
Oneness experience. "I feel
truly alive, for the first
time," she enthuses. "On day two
of my first programme at
Oneness, I suddenly understood
and accepted my parents love
for me it was as if a huge
iceberg had melted...
During
training programmes throughout
India , we meet thousands of
individuals," Kotak, who is COO
of Energy Centre, adds. "But
rarely do we meet people with
high self-esteem. We make this
the focus of our workshops,
since it plays such a crucial
role in personal and
professional success. At a time
when we are growing very fast in
our global presence, it is
important that we learn to be
service-oriented and not
servile, self-respecting and not
grovelling for respect from
clients," she elaborates.
This can
truly happen "when we are able
to love and respect ourselves,"
adds Attluri Subba Rao,
president of Andhra Pradesh
Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FAPCCI), talking about
"Himalayan tranquility" coupled
with "firmness with human
touch", which has come from what
he calls transformative
experience of the Oneness
deeksha.
The most
common effects of Oneness range
from reduced mental chatter and
heightened awareness to
effortless peace and cessation
of unwanted habits, says V R
Ramesh, MD, DORMA
India. And Anil Mathur,
COO of the furniture division of
Godrej & Boyce, believes that
his own experience of the
Oneness deeksha may have had a
ripple effect on the
efficiency of his entire
division!
"I know
this will be hard to explain to
the rest of the world," concedes
Jitendra Mohanty, owner of
Orissa-based Swasti Group. "But
my own experience is that the
transfer of positive energy
though at the individual level,
goes on to help society and
business at large."
In the
final analysis, business itself
can be a sacred pursuit, which
in no way is at odds with
spiritual life, explains Sri
Bhagawan. "Prosperity and
poverty are dependent on the
mindset of the individual. If
your thinking is defective, it
will result in failure and
disorder.
People who
worship poverty and have a wrong
understanding of detachment ruin
their lives. (But) to create
wealth and to succeed, by
itself, is a spiritual sadhana,
given it needs a focused mind,
creativity, and hard work."
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