Life Leadership- A Perspective

Nov 2018
R. Ramakrishnan

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 What is Dharma

There are many meanings

to the word Dharma.
One of the meanings of
dharma is the essential
nature of the substance.

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The essential nature of the substance is heat is
the essential nature of the fire.
Being wet is the essential
nature of water.

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Magnetic force is the essential nature of the
cosmos.
All the celestial bodies out of mutual gravitational
forces (it sucks everything towards itself) –The
magnetism.
So the entire cosmos is cosmic magnetism. .

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 What is Dharma
 The creator did slightly reverse.
 He or she created the systems & through the systems all the
creations came into existence and thereby nature of Gold, the
nature of charcoal, the nature of diamonds, the nature of rose, the
nature of air, the nature of every animal, you and me , life, death,
the mountains, rivers, the oceans .
 If you see everything has an essential nature. That is its SW-
dharma. It means its own dharma.
 The greatness of the creator is that having created this entire
system, he or she created a superseding system to it.
 That is even the creator created the existential order, the dharma
of every substance, even the creator cannot alter this under any
circumstances.
 Unlike what we create- like if it inconveniences the Managing
Director he changes the systems. We create system while driving if
an MLA or MP is residing in the road it will be one way and when
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he/she vacates and loses the position the road becomes two way.
 What is Dharma
 So in a human made system we keep changing the system
whatever suits us.
 So he or she – the creator created a superseding system that
even he or she cannot change the system that he or she has
created.
 So even if you pray, even if you beg, even if you invoke faith or
ask for miracles – yes within the system it is possible and not
outside the system.
 Some couple never had a child for 12 years and they have been
praying for the child and they have faith and miracles can
happen.
 The women can become pregnant. Man conceived – not
possible– that is not called miracle and expecting that miracle to
happen also not going to happen.
 Everything will happen within the system. This is called as
SW-dharma. 7
What is Leadership ?

What it means to you?

• Lion chasing a deer
• Deer - running away from lion
• To avoid the pain (fear of death) it keeps running away from the lion
• For the lion - dinner is pleasure.
• At some stage the lion stops chasing- Why?
• It gets tired and lack of stamina.
• Continuing to chase the deer is pain to the lion.
• To avoid the pain because of lack of stamina it stops chasing.
• The moment the lion stops chasing, what does the deer do?
• The next instant the deer will start grazing the grass.
• Now there is no pain to avoid it will start embracing the pleasure.
• This is very natural to all living beings.
• The child thinks my mother is loving and when the note book/homework comes
something happens to her.
• As far as child is concerned – Note book and homework are the problem
• The child perceives homework/study as pain & playing as pleasure
• We force the child to study. Now the child studies why?
• Studying is pain and not studying is more pain since mother hits the child on the
head. Child chooses between more pain and less pain.
• Solution - Mother or as parents how we can make the study is pleasure and not a
pain.
• May be we encourage the child to study and say for every Five times you write
standing line – I am going to give you a kiss . If you write ten times you can kiss
me twice.
• When one day when you feel the pain of the thirst and since the water
normally is not advertised - Coke or Pepsi is advertised and you
immediately think about Coke or Pepsi.
• One news channel carried the entire campaign all the people stopped
eating Maggi and it is banned.
• Boost is the secret of my energy and we see the advertisement and when
we feel tired we try to take boost.
• Advertisement of Complan – If the children are given Complan they grow
very tall.
• So if the child does not grow to a proper height it is a pain, so growing tall
is a pleasure.
What are the two fundamental Navigator of
Human behavior ?

Pain and pleasure

The natural inclination is to embrace
everything that is pleasurable and avoid
everything is which we perceive as pain. 12
Pain & Pleasure
 Animals are driven by instinct purely by Pain &
pleasure.

 Animals avoid pain and embrace pleasure – it is

animalistic instinct.

 Animals are not capable of analyzing the situation,

strategizing an approach.

 Human beings is an evolved animal - apart from

instinct – they posses intelligence.

 If human beings are driven purely by instinct – it will

lead to dangerous world .
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Wrong & Right
 Human beings decided to create an alternate system
of discrimination
 This alternative system of discrimination is the
conscience.
 It is nothing but a set of rights & wrongs- these are
all rights and these are all Wrongs.
 Conscience basically tells you that you need to
embrace what is right and you have to avoid what is
wrong.
 An alternative system was created wherein you
have been given a doctrine of what is right and what
is wrong.
 Somebody or a Society or a Community think on
your behalf and they formulate what is right and
what is wrong. 14
 Change can come only by reprogramming

• In whichever aspect of life you want to change, identify with what have you associated
pleasure and what you have associated pain with.
• Then take time to reprogram pain and pleasure and play this reprogramming in your mind
several times until it brings about a lasting change in your conditioning.
• Desire will not change you, reprogramming alone will.
• Human beings can analyze and strategize an approach.
• If human beings are driven purely by Pain and Pleasure it will certainly leads to a building a
dangerous world which we are already experiencing.
• So they decided to create an alternate system of discrimination and the alternative system
of discrimination is the conscience.

Conscience - to embrace what is right & avoid what is wrong

The dilemma is which right and wrong to
follow…

• Right and wrong is borrowed from world outside.

• Pain and pleasure is experientially cultivated. It
is over the years’ experience over experience
over experience.
• You have associated pain to it or pleasure it
because of your experiences in the life.
• Between Borrowed intelligence and the
experiential intelligence which will be more
powerful?
• Naturally it is experiential intelligence. So
eventually the instincts in you prevails over
intelligence.
 Leadership is an animalistic quality

So the animal is the leader in you.

Wanting to win is an animalistic quality- the survival of the
fittest.
Wanting to lead – I should be the Alpha male or Alpha female
is again an animalistic quality.
Wanting to own, this territory belongs to me, wanting to control
– you want a decent word I will say empowerment is a
animalistic quality.
Wanting to get away from what you fear and hence you shall
not cecum is a animalistic quality.
Physical excellence is an animalistic quality
Reproduction - you cannot reproduce if you cannot express
yourself.
Pain, Pleasure-Right , Wrong

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Animal ( Instinct) leading
Human ( Intelligence)

Human Intelligence leading

Animal Instinct
Major Shift in Life Leadership- Doing to Being

Doing Being

Drona made Arjuna a great “Doer” Krishna taught Arjuna on “ Being”

“We are human beings, not human doings”

Doing+ Being

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 “Will Power” - the Power to will against the instinct

• So when the religion tell us that there is Ramadan fasting is there for next one
month and this is what will be your eating habits, it is created to develop our
Willpower.

• The reason behind is that can you stay away from eating. So various religions
created different days in the year for developing the Willpower to human to stay
away from normal routines.

• People stay away from onions and garlic on certain days, certain people do not eat
non-vegetarian on certain days of the week. These are done to this cause.

• We have a Lent period in Christianity, Ramadan in Islam, Ekadasi (11th day after
every full moon day and 11th day after every new moon day in Hinduism)
Chathurthi (fourth day after every new moon and full moon day) Paryushan for
Jains etc.

• One more thing which is very popular is wearing Mala to go to Sabarimalai and 45
days of ritual to follow with strict eating, sleeping routines. You will be asked to
early morning cold water bath – this is to embrace pain. Walk with bare foot for 45
days –asking you to embrace pain, abstain from speaking bad words, drinking ,
abstain from sensual additions.
Religion – opportunity to embrace pain & avoid pleasure
 Developing “Will Power”
Practice, Practice, Practice

 You have to take up a pleasure and don’t care how much pleasurable it is
and exit.
 Set up a winnable game for next one year and be at it.
 Identify something wrong but pleasurable to you and make a conscious
effort to exit.
 Take something which is right, but painful – start doing it and sustain this.

 Simple examples…
 giving away not seeing a mega serial
 not using the mobile from 8pm to 8am next day morning
 not using whatsapp after 8 in the evening until next morning 7 am
 going to work on time
 going to meetings on time for next one year
 beat the clock for next one year
 Your Belief
If your life has to expand , you beliefs have to
expand.

Your quality of relationship depends of the quality of

the belief you have about that relationship.

You can only perform to your beliefs or under

perform to your beliefs and never can over perform

Faith is the intelligence of the heart,

while belief is the intelligence of the mind.

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 Managing Differences
How can relationships develop a safe place where family
members/ team members can discuss their issues?

Separation

Incompatibility

Conflicts
If not resolved

Differences
If not resolved

Disagreement If not resolved

If not resolved

Emotional Bank Balance

 Life is Always our Choices ….
Choices are made on
Choices
Assumptions that we will Make Choices again
Succeed
Consequences

Outcome

I get more than what I I get what I expected I get less that what I I get the opposite of
expected ( >) (=) expected (<) what I expected (X)

Accept &
ALTER
APPRECIATE

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 Choice Maker
Lion in the Forest
 Has to defend its territory
 Has to defend his cubs from other
attacks
 Hunt for the food-does not know
whether it will get good or starve for
the day
 There is insecurity
 Hunter can kill the lion any time
Consequence Receiver
Lion in the Zonn
 Lion has its own space & Secured
 Territory is already defined
 Does not need to defend its territory
 Food is thrown into the cage
 For its food no one competes
 Every now & then a female lion is moved in
to biological needs
 There is doctor in case it is sick
 Cubs are taken care by the zoo
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Life Leadership
You need
 To have a Strong Personal Character-Self worth > Net
worth

 To Have a Passion to Do Right- Excellence

 Be Proactive/ Interactive/ Learning human

 Consider everyone’s Interests

 Be Role Models for the Values

 Be transparent & Actively Involved in Decision Making

 Be Competent Human being who takes a Holistic View

of the Life. 29
You have sub-ordinate your likes and
dislikes to the purpose of your life

“Alternatively

“You have to sub-ordinate the purpose

of your life to your likes and dislikes “
 To Sign off..

Thus a human being is not expected to live his

or her life driven by only pain and pleasure, but
live their life also by Right and Wrong.

All the struggle that disturbs your peace is the

conflict between Pain and pleasure and Right
and Wrongs.

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Open to Discussions

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