The Value Orientations of Buddhist and

Christian Entrepreneurs : A
Comparative Perspective on Spirituality
and Business Ethics 1st ed. Edition
Gábor Kovács
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STUDIES IN BUDDHIST ECONOMICS,
MANAGEMENT, AND POLICY

The Value Orientations

of Buddhist and
Christian Entrepreneurs
A Comparative Perspective on
Spirituality and Business Ethics

Gábor Kovács
Studies in Buddhist Economics,
Management, and Policy

Series Editors
Clair Brown
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, USA

László Zsolnai
Corvinus University Budapest
Budapest, Hungary
This book series is devoted to exploring and presenting new developments
in contemplative inquiry related to Buddhist Economics, Well-Being,
Social Transformation, Mindful Organizations, and Ecological Worldview
in management and policy contexts. This particular combination of fields
represents a unique nexus for reflection and action toward developing
ways of mindful and sustainable management for organizations in the
economic and social life.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/16318
 Gábor Kovács

The Value
Orientations
of Buddhist
and Christian
Entrepreneurs
A Comparative Perspective on Spirituality
and Business Ethics
Gábor Kovács
Business Ethics Center
Corvinus University of Budapest
Budapest, Hungary

Studies in Buddhist Economics, Management, and Policy

ISBN 978-3-030-46702-9 ISBN 978-3-030-46703-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46703-6

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2020
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This book is dedicated to all sentient beings…
 Acknowledgments

I would first like to thank Corvinus University of Budapest for financial

and institutional support related to the preparation of the manuscript of
the book. I also thank Simon Milton for his dedicated and committed
work with English proofreading. I am thankful to everyone at Palgrave
who has worked on this book, especially Jessica Harrison and Srishti
Gupta for their patient editorial assistance. I also thank my colleagues
at the Business Ethics Center at the Corvinus University of Budapest for
their assistance and support. I am grateful to Clair Brown and Laszlo
Zsolnai for encouraging me to publish this book in the series Studies
in Buddhist Economics, Management, and Policy. I am especially grateful
to Laszlo Zsolnai for his mentorship and support. His words of advice
and inspirational ideas have helped me immeasurably to improve the
manuscript. I am also very grateful to my family for their support,
especially to my wife for her inexhaustible patience and kindness.

vii
 Praise for The Value Orientations of
Buddhist and Christian Entrepreneurs

“A new track of comparative and qualitative research in the field of busi-

ness spirituality disclosing how Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs are
twins with a different value DNA.”
—Luk Bouckaert, prof.em. KU Leuven, Belgium and founder of SPES

“In an era rife with irresponsible and unethical production and consump-
tion habits, this book brings a refreshing view of spirituality in business,
and can provide a new spiritual compass for world’s businesses. In an
articulate and systematic manner, Kovács explores the stories of people
bringing spiritual values into business from two of the world’s greatest
spiritual traditions. This book is a significant contribution to the new field
of business spirituality.”
—Lopen Karma Phuntsho, Buddhist Scholar and President of The Loden
Foundation

“This inspiring book provides an in-depth guide to understand non-

materialistic business. Its conceptual clarity and the presentation of the
findings are excellent. Gábor Kovács’ book demands a wide readership.”
—Knut J. Ims, Professor of Business Ethics, Norwegian School of Economics
(NHH), Norway

ix
x PRAISE FOR THE VALUE ORIENTATIONS OF BUDDHIST AND …

“Gábor Kovács’ research is a valuable contribution to the greatly needed

interdisciplinary discussion on how values and spirituality can shape or
even transform our economic activities leading to a new type of business
ethics. As we live in the intersection of major cultural traditions, mani-
fested in the context of the global economic environment, Christian and
Buddhist spirituality constitute two major set of values and approaches
that—through their dialogue—can lead to a new paradigm of spiritually
inspired business practices.”
—Gábor Karsai, rector, Dharma Gate Buddhist College, Hungary
 Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Applied Research Methodology 3
1.2 The Study Participants 5
1.3 A Concise Preview of Chapters and Research Questions 13
1.4 Some Concluding Remarks 16

2 Basic Concepts 19
2.1 Value and Value Orientation 19
2.2 Spirituality 26
2.3 Spiritual Values and the Spiritual Value Orientation 42
2.4 Entrepreneur 48
2.5 Summary 52

3 Business Spirituality 61
3.1 A Brief History of Business Ethics, and the Paradox
of Ethics Management 62
3.2 A Brief History of Business Spirituality 66
3.3 The Concept of Business Spirituality 70
3.4 The Features and Outcomes of Business Spirituality 73

4 Buddhist Values in Business 95

4.1 The Relevant Teachings of Buddhism 97
4.2 The Conceptions of Buddhist Economics 105

xi
xii CONTENTS

4.3 The Relevant Set of Buddhist Values for Business 134

5 Christian Values in Business 145

5.1 The Social Teachings of the Roman Catholic Church 147
5.2 The Relevant Set of Christian Values for Business 183

6 A Comparative Analysis of Buddhist and Christian

Value Orientations in Business 195
6.1 The Typologies of Buddhist Value Orientations 200
6.2 The Typologies of Christian Value Orientations 210
6.3 A Comparative Analysis of Buddhist and Christian
Value Orientations 220
6.4 Conclusions 242

7 Spirituality and Materialism in Business 249

7.1 Material Values in Business 250
7.2 The Relationship Between Spirituality and Materialism
in Business 260
7.3 Summary 275

8 Spiritually Inspired Business Practices 281

8.1 General Reflections on Business Spirituality 282
8.2 Reflections on the Temporal Perspectives of Business 286
8.3 Committed Stakeholder Management 288
8.4 Setting an Example 305
8.5 Summary 307

9 Conclusions and Way Forward 311

Index 317
 About the Author

Gábor Kovács is an assistant professor at the Business Ethics Center at

the Corvinus University of Budapest. He completed his Ph.D. studies
in 2017 and received his master’s degree in Buddhist studies from
the Dharma Gate Buddhist College, Budapest in 2010. His undergrad-
uate studies were completed in the field of economics and manage-
ment. He has participated in the research projects of the Business Ethics
Center about the ethical value orientations and the ecological value
orientations of Hungarian entrepreneurs. His research interests include
Buddhist economics, and business spirituality. He has been secretary of
the Hungarian Bhutan Friendship Society since its foundation in 2011.
He has been a member of the Pali Translation Group, whose goal is
to translate the Pali Buddhist Scriptures from the Pali Canon into the
Hungarian language, since 2008. He has also been a member of the Euro-
pean SPES (Spirituality in Economics and Society) Institute since 2010.
Dr. Kovács has given presentations on Buddhism-related topics at inter-
national conferences in Thailand, India, Vietnam, China, Belgium, Israel,
and Hungary.

xiii
 List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 The circumplex model of values (Reprinted from Advances

in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, Schwartz, Shalom H.
[1992]. Universals in the Content and Structure of Values:
Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries
[p. 45], with permission from Elsevier) 46
Fig. 4.1 The way to liberation (Source Author’s construction) 102

xv
 List of Tables

Table 1.1 Basic characteristics of Buddhist entrepreneurs in the

sample 9
Table 1.2 Basic characteristics of Christian entrepreneurs in the
sample 12
Table 4.1 The Noble Eightfold Path 101
Table 4.2 Buddhist precepts and their corresponding virtues 103
Table 4.3 Buddhist values in the conceptions of Buddhist economics 135
Table 4.4 Buddhist values in business 137
Table 5.1 Christian values that appear in the social teachings of the
Roman Catholic Church 186
Table 5.2 Christian values in business 187
Table 6.1 Value orientations of Buddhist entrepreneurs 209
Table 6.2 Value orientations of Christian entrepreneurs 219
Table 6.3 Feasible subset relationships of the relevant Buddhist and
Christian values for business 226
Table 6.4 Applied subset relationships of the relevant Buddhist and
Christian values 230
Table 6.5 Value orientations depicted by core values 233
Table 6.6 Combinations and frequencies of the core Buddhist and
Christian values 235
Table 6.7 Comparison of the core Buddhist and Christian values in
business 239

xvii
xviii LIST OF TABLES

Table 7.1 Typology of entrepreneurs, arranged by disposition

toward profit 258
Table 7.2 Relationship between spiritual and material values in
business and company ownership 272
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This book is written as the summary of a decade-long academic and

professional journey. I managed to complete my PhD studies by writing
and successfully defending my doctoral thesis entitled “The Value Orien-
tations of Christian and Buddhist Entrepreneurs” at the Corvinus Univer-
sity of Budapest. Shortly after, I had the chance to revise my dissertation
into this monograph entitled The Value Orientations of Buddhist and
Christian Entrepreneurs—A Comparative Perspective on Spirituality and
Business Ethics. My main scope of interest, which determined my academic
research direction and the final content of this book, was influenced by
a deeply rooted source of personal motivation. I first came into contact
with Buddhism in 1999. After a short intermission, I gradually became
more and more engaged in both the theoretical and the practical aspects
of the Buddhist tradition. Finally, I became a graduate student at the
Dharma Gate Buddhist College in Budapest, which is the only state-
financed Buddhist institute of higher education in Europe. Additionally,
I also became committed to the study and research of business ethics
and business spirituality in late 2006, when I first came into contact
with the Business Ethics Center at the Corvinus University of Budapest.
I have studied the conceptions of Buddhist economics extensively since
that time. Finally, I am also aware of the fact that Christianity plays a
fundamental and unavoidable role in shaping Western culture and those
affected by it. Thus, I came to the decision to juxtapose these three

© The Author(s) 2020 1

G. Kovács, The Value Orientations of Buddhist and Christian
Entrepreneurs, Studies in Buddhist Economics, Management, and Policy,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46703-6_1
2 G. KOVÁCS

fundamental components—namely, Buddhism, business ethics, and Chris-

tianity—into a research project whose outcome can be read in the pages
of this book.
Comparing Buddhism and Christianity is not a newfangled
phenomenon. In a book entitled Buddhism and Christianity: Rivals
and Allies, Ninian Smart (1993) examines the similarities and differences
between Buddhism and Christianity. He argues that comparing these
two worldviews is especially interesting as Buddhism challenges the
fundamental assumptions of both Christianity and the Western approach
to religions. According to Smart, “[t]here is a gulf [between Buddhism
and Christianity], a rather beautiful one as a matter of fact, and it cannot
I believe be bridged” (1993, p. 25), as Buddhism in itself has a “strong
non-theistic emphasis” which places it in opposition to the fundamentally
theistic religion of Christianity. Making a similar comparison to that of
Smart’s in the case of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs is a similarly
challenging task.
Approaching the main subject of this book from a management
perspective, I totally agree with Gordon R. Preece (1999) who argues
in a paper entitled “Business as a Calling and Profession: Towards a
Protestant Entrepreneurial Ethic” that the global economy is making
historically unprecedented ethical and spiritual demands upon business
leaders to engage in “moral business.” As business leaders are increasingly
the stewards of civilization, they require a deeper sense of vocation, which
provides a broader view of business. I argue in this book that spirituality
and a spiritual value orientation can contribute to sustaining this deeper
sense of vocation and embedding business into a moral framework.
The concepts of “value” and “value orientation” are awarded central
importance in the argumentation of this book. Value is defined as an
abstract ideal that organizes our systems of action in the form of standards
concerning consistent behavior. The concept of economic value (about
which a book by Phyllis Deane [1978] entitled The Evolution of Economic
Ideas gives an exhaustive overview) is not closely related to the argumen-
tation in this book, as the book applies a concept of value that should
not be interpreted in a utilitarian sense as economic worth or exchange
value. Both economic worth and exchange value are fundamental princi-
ples in business. They contribute to the cultivation of material values such
as profit, wealth, status, and growth, which also organize our systems of
action into a consistent behavior.
 1 INTRODUCTION 3

Spirituality (and religion) is one of the main value-formative factors of

social practices. The beginning of scientific research into the former can
be traced back to the middle of the twentieth century (see, for instance,
Allport 1978; Rokeach 1973; Vernon and Allport 1931). Research aimed
at exploring the role of spirituality in business and economics has become
prevalent since the end of the twentieth century (Balog et al. 2014;
Poole 2009). This book (i) argues that Buddhism and Christianity are
different worldviews that incorporate values that influence economic and
business behavior, (ii) explores empirical data to refine and extend the
theoretical knowledge that exists in the field of business spirituality, and
(iii) determines and examines the practices of Buddhist and Christian
entrepreneurs. Sarah D. Dodd and George Gotsis (2007) argue that this
field of inquiry—namely, business spirituality—is often couched within
the framework of business ethics studies.
Louis W. Fry (2003) in a paper entitled “Toward a Theory of Spiritual
Leadership” argues that spiritual leadership, which is identical to spiri-
tually oriented entrepreneurship, is a field of inquiry within the broader
context of business spirituality. He adds furthermore that findings in this
area are mostly derived from Western religious theology and practice and
leadership ethics and values. This book centers its argumentation around
Buddhist philosophy and values, thereby broadening the perspective of
the field of business spirituality with an Eastern approach.
Angela M. Balog et al. (2014), in a paper entitled “Religiosity
and Spirituality in Entrepreneurship: A Review and Research Agenda,”
review the corresponding literature about the field of business spirituality,
focusing on the issue of entrepreneurship. They refer to many pieces of
work by numerous scholars when they argue that spirituality contributes
to, inter alia, improved organizational performance and higher profit;
greater organizational honesty; improved individual creativity and intu-
ition; elevated psychological well-being, life satisfaction, physical health,
and self-realization; and more effective decision-making. This book does
not focus on the above-mentioned dimensions of business spirituality
but examines primarily the value backgrounds of Buddhist and Christian
entrepreneurs.

1.1 The Applied Research Methodology

The primary objective of this book is to present an analysis of the
value orientations of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs. Moreover, the
book explores how Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs define the term
4 G. KOVÁCS

“spirituality,” introduces the relationship between spiritual and material

values in business as conceived by the respondents, and introduces the
spiritually inspired ethical business practices of Buddhist and Christian
entrepreneurs.
Kathy L. Dean and Charles J. Fornaciari (2007), in a paper entitled
“Empirical Research in Management, Spirituality and Religion during its
Founding Years,” argue that the fact that spirituality is a primarily indi-
vidual experience has contributed to the fact that much of the research
which has explored the relationship between spirituality and management
is qualitative and has largely involved analysis at the individual level. This
book also introduces the findings of a qualitative study with the primary
objective of exploring the value orientations of Buddhist and Chris-
tian entrepreneurs and revealing the business practices by which these
businesspeople effectuate their spiritual value commitments in practice.
The study of the value orientations of Buddhist and Christian
entrepreneurs is interdisciplinary as it corresponds to the fields of manage-
ment studies, religious studies, business ethics, and business spirituality.
Thus, the argument of the book is informed by many disciplines, both
methodologically and theoretically, which is one of the determining char-
acteristics of empirical research in the field of management studies claim
Dean and Fornaciari (2007).
Christopher L. Shook et al. (2003), in a paper entitled “Venture
Creation and the Enterprising Individual: A Review and Synthesis,” argue
that accessing entrepreneurs to research their motivation is of utmost
importance, and data gathered through direct contact with entrepreneurs
are far preferable for investigating issues such as the value commitments
of enterprising individuals. In line with these ideas, the data employed in
the research for this book was collected primarily by conducting face-to-
face, semi-structured interviews with members of the research population,
namely, Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs, according to the guidelines
of Nigel King (2004). Interviews were audio-taped and then transcribed.
Besides conducting interviews, secondary data were gathered through an
analysis of the documents of the sample enterprises (e.g., their mission
statements, job descriptions, etc.) in line with the guidelines of Glenn A.
Bowen (2009).
Then, for the examination of the data, qualitative content analysis,
document analysis, and qualitative comparative analysis were manually
undertaken without the use of any computer program. The process of
coding and data analysis was undertaken according to the guidelines of
 1 INTRODUCTION 5

Matthew B. Miles and Michael A. Huberman (1994), Philipp Mayring

(2000), and Jane Forman and Laura Damschroder (2007). The corre-
sponding techniques of qualitative comparative analysis—according to the
ideas of Charles C. Ragin (1987, 1994, 2000, 2008)—are introduced to
the necessary extent in Chapter 6.
The reliability of qualitative data analysis was ensured through inter-
coder agreement. The potential bias of the qualitative methodologies that
were applied was assessed by having a second coder code a representa-
tive amount of raw data. Although there are many quantitative measures
for measuring inter-coder agreement—for instance, the measures defined
by Klaus Krippendorff (2004) and Kimberly A. Neuendorf (2017)—, the
formula of Miles and Huberman (1994) was applied to measure reliability,
according to which high levels of inter-rater agreement and reliability
were achieved.

1.2 The Study Participants

A total of twenty-two entrepreneurs (eleven Buddhist and eleven Chris-
tian businesspeople) from Hungary participated in the study, who were
selected by purposeful sampling in line with the prescriptions of Michael
Quinn Patton (2015). Sandra King-Kauanui et al. (2008) argue in a paper
entitled “Exploring Entrepreneurship through the Lens of Spirituality”
that the most intrinsic motivational modality of entrepreneurship exists
when spirituality and work are fully integrated. The respondent Buddhist
and Christian entrepreneurs may be classified by this description as they
fully integrate their personal spiritual lives and their business activities.
Nabil A. Ibrahim et al. (1991), in a paper entitled “Characteris-
tics and Practices of ‘Christian-based’ Companies,” use the term “self-
described Christian companies” for those organizations that declare
that they merge biblical principles with business activities. Analogously,
self-described Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs are businesspeople
who declare openly that they strive to infuse Buddhist and Christian
values into business. The arguments and the findings of this book
are based on the investigation of a research population consisting
of eleven self-described Buddhist and eleven self-described Christian
entrepreneurs from Hungary. In other words, the research population
includes Hungarian businesspeople who openly describe themselves as
Buddhist or Christian entrepreneurs due to their commitment to infusing
and effectuating their respective spiritual values into business.
6 G. KOVÁCS

This book focuses on how businesspeople instill and practice their

spiritual values in business. Focusing on this aspect of entrepreneurship
allowed me to include both owner-leader and nonowner, managerial
respondents in the investigation. Thus, the research population includes
both Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs who are owner-leaders and
nonowner managers of organizations. Put differently, a lack of ownership
was not an excluding criterion in the selection of the research participants.
Three Buddhist and four Christian entrepreneurs made the explicit
request before participating in the research that their names be withheld.
Thus, seven out of the twenty-two respondents requested anonymity
beforehand, meaning roughly one-third of the research population. For
the sake of consistency, the decision was thus made that all members of
the research population should remain anonymous.
Both research subpopulations of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs
include eleven respondents. Each respondent is hereafter denoted with a
code that comprises the letter B in the case of Buddhists, and the letter C
in the case of Christian entrepreneurs, and an additional two-digit number
ranging from 01 to 11.

1.2.1 Buddhist Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur B01 is the founder and the owner-leader of a company
that runs a call center for direct marketing purposes as its main profile,
and offers system-development, database-building, and various off-line
marketing services as secondary activities. The company was founded in
1998, and in 2018 was providing work to more than 60 employees. It
has annual turnover of around two million USD. Entrepreneur B01 has
been a Buddhist for more than 25 years, following and actively practicing
Diamond Way Buddhism, which is one of the Tibetan Buddhist lineages.
Entrepreneur B02 owns two underground fashion retail stores that sell
skateboarder clothing, shoes, and accessories. The first store was founded
in 1995, while the second was taken over in 2012. The entrepreneur
has four employees in these two stores. The company had an annual
turnover of around 0.5 million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur B02 has been
a Buddhist since 1990 and practices Diamond Way Buddhism.
Entrepreneur B03 is the owner-leader of a company established in
2000 whose main profile is designing, developing, and operating low-
voltage systems (e.g., security camera systems, computer networks, and
alarm systems). The enterprise had eight employees and an annual
 1 INTRODUCTION 7

turnover of around 0.5 million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur B03 has

been a Buddhist for more than two decades and practices Diamond Way
Buddhism.
Entrepreneur B04 has worked as the CEO of an investment bank since
2005. The company was founded originally in 1888. The main profile
of the institution is public-sector financing, and there are five employees
under the entrepreneur’s directorship. The division managed assets worth
forty million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur B04 has been a Buddhist since
1991 and follows Diamond Way Buddhism.
Entrepreneur B05 has run a consultancy firm since 2005 with the main
profile of organizational development and green technology transfer. The
enterprise is a project company thus it has no employees but uses various
subcontractors for its assignments. The company had an annual turnover
of around 0.3 million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur B05 has practiced Zen
Buddhism for more than two decades.
Entrepreneur B06 is the owner-leader of a consultancy company which
was founded in 2003. The main profile of the firm is environmental
consulting for governmental and for-profit institutions. The company had
three employees and an annual turnover of around 0.5 million USD in
2018. The entrepreneur has been a Buddhist practitioner since 1995 and
is a member of the Diamond Way Buddhist Community.
Entrepreneur B07 is the founder of a fashion retail store that sells
men’s fashion products. The store was founded in 2001 and had 32
employees and an annual turnover of around two million USD in 2018.
Entrepreneur B07 has practiced Buddhist meditation according to the
Theravāda Buddhist tradition since 2004, but does not belong to a
Buddhist community and considers himself a nonreligious Buddhist.
Entrepreneur B08 is the founder and the owner of a one-man consul-
tancy firm. The company was founded in 2012 with the main profile
of executive coaching and project management. The company had no
employees but an annual turnover of around 0.2 million USD in 2018.
Entrepreneur B08 is a member of the Diamond Way Buddhist Commu-
nity and practices Tibetan Buddhism.
Entrepreneur B09 is the chief financial officer of a company which sells
food products. The firm was founded in 1990 and had 150 employees in
2018, of whom six were under the direct leadership of entrepreneur B09,
who has worked as the chief financial officer (CFO) at the company since
2012. The firm had an annual turnover of around twenty-three million
USD in 2018. Entrepreneur B09 is a member of the Hungarian Arya
8 G. KOVÁCS

Maitreya Mandala Order which is also one of the schools of Tibetan

Buddhism.
Entrepreneur B10 is the chief team leader at the regional headquar-
ters of an international investment bank which founded a local office in
Hungary in 2006. Entrepreneur B10 has worked for the organization
since 2007. Eighteen employees work under her direct leadership and
23 more employees work remotely overseas but under the control of the
entrepreneur. The division undertakes back-office work for the regional
headquarters which had an annual turnover of around ten million USD in
2018. Entrepreneur B10 has been a Buddhist practitioner for more than
15 years and is a member of the Diamond Way Buddhist Community.
Entrepreneur B11 is the cofounder of a start-up company that was
founded in 2018. The main profile of the organization is content delivery,
consultancy, and managing community funding. The company has two
employees (the two founders) and started its activities at the time this
book was being written. The entrepreneur considers himself a nonre-
ligious Buddhist as he does not belong to any particular Buddhist
community, although he practices Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhist
meditation regularly.
The Buddhist subpopulation of respondents include nine male (B01,
B02, B03, B04, B05, B06, B07, B09, B11) and two female (B08, B10)
respondents. Eight entrepreneurs are founders and owner-leaders of their
enterprises (B01, B02, B03, B05, B06, B07, B08, B11), while three
respondents work in managerial positions. One of the managers has
worked for less than ten years as a chief financial officer (B09), but the
other two have worked for more than ten years as CEO (B04) and chief
team leader (B10).
Five enterprises operate in the services sector (B01, B05, B06, B08,
B11), three in the commercial sector (B02, B07, B09), one in the
industrial sector (B03), and two in the financial sector (B04, B10).
The Buddhist entrepreneurs possess varying levels of business experience.
The subpopulation includes a start-up company (B11), and only two
entrepreneurs have been engaged in business activities for less than ten
years (B08, B09). Moreover, two respondents have run their enterprises
for more than twenty years (B01, B02).
The basic characteristics of Buddhist entrepreneurs are described in
Table 1.1.
Table 1.1 Basic characteristics of Buddhist entrepreneurs in the sample

Code Sex Owner Year of foundation/ Sector Main profile of Number of Annual Buddhist
worked in the same enterprise employees income orientation
position since (interviewee (m USD)
included)

B01 Male Yes 1998 Services Call center 64 2 Tibetan

operations
B02 Male Yes 1995 Commercial Fashion retail 5 0.5 Tibetan
B03 Male Yes 2000 Industrial Development of 8 0.5 Tibetan
low-voltage systems
B04 Male No 2005/2005 Financial Investment 6 40 Tibetan
B05 Male Yes 2005 Services Organizational 1 0.3 Zen
development
Technology transfer
B06 Male Yes 2003 Services Environmental 3 0.5 Tibetan
consultancy
B07 Male Yes 2001 Commercial Men’s fashion retail 32 2 Nonreligious
Buddhist
B08 Female Yes 2012 Services Coaching 1 0.1 Tibetan
1

B09 Male No 1990/2012 Commercial Food retail 6 23 Tibetan

B10 Female No 1935/2007 Financial Running back-office 19+23 10 Tibetan
processes
B11 Male Yes 2018 Services Content delivery 2 Start-up Nonreligious
Community funding Buddhist
Consultancy
INTRODUCTION
9
10 G. KOVÁCS

1.2.2 Christian Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur C01 is the founder of a consultancy firm which was estab-
lished in 2002. He has been the owner-leader of the company since
its inception. The firm employed seven employees and had an annual
turnover of around 0.5 million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C01 is a
member of the Roman Catholic Church.
Entrepreneur C02 works for the regional branch of an international
company that was founded in 1981. The main profile of the firm is
conducting executive training, consultancy, and coaching. Entrepreneur
C02 has worked for the company as the chief executive officer of
the regional branch since it was established in 2006. The local office
employed five employees (including the interviewee himself) and had an
annual turnover of around 0.5 million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C02
belongs to the Roman Catholic denomination.
Entrepreneur C03 is the founder of a logistics company with river
transportation as its main profile. The firm was founded in 1992 and
had 52 employees and an annual turnover of around seven million USD
in 2018. Entrepreneur C03 has been the owner-leader of the company
since its foundation. He is a Roman Catholic.
Entrepreneur C04 established a company in 1985 and has worked
as its owner-leader since then. The main profile of the firm is bicycle
rental. Besides this, the company runs a buffet and a bicycle maintenance
shop. The firm had ten employees, and an annual turnover of around 0.5
million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C04 is an adherent of the Roman
Catholic religion.
Entrepreneur C05 is the founder of a company whose main profile is
tender writing and project management. The firm was established in 2008
and entrepreneur C05 has worked as its CEO since then. The organiza-
tion had nine employees, and an annual turnover of around 0.5 million
USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C05 is also a Roman Catholic.
Entrepreneur C06 is the chief executive officer of the local division of
an international company which operates in the construction industry.
The division was established in 2004 and the interviewee has worked
there as its CEO since then. The organization undertakes unique tasks
in the field of quality control and engineering consultancy. It had 60
employees and an annual turnover of around two million USD in 2018.
Entrepreneur C06 belongs to the Calvinist denomination.
Entrepreneur C07 established a consultancy firm in 2010 and has
worked as its owner-leader since then. The company has only two
employees (including the entrepreneur himself), because as a project orga-
nization it works with numerous subcontractors. The annual turnover of
 1 INTRODUCTION 11

the company was around 0.5 million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C07 is
a Roman Catholic.
Entrepreneur C08 has worked as the chief executive officer of a state-
owned company since its foundation in 1987. The company provides
information technology services mostly but not exclusively to the govern-
ment. It had 70 employees and an annual turnover of around 11 million
USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C08 is an adherent of the Roman Catholic
Church.
Entrepreneur C09 has worked as the owner-leader of a company since
its establishment in 1990. The main profile of the firm is traffic engi-
neering activity. The company had 60 employees and an annual turnover
of around 13.5 million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C09 is an adherent
of the Calvinist Church.
Entrepreneur C10 established a company in 2002 with the main profile
of providing information-technology-related consultation. The firm had
around 140 employees and an annual turnover of around five million
USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C10 has been the owner-leader of the
company since its establishment and belongs to the Roman Catholic
denomination.
Entrepreneur C11 has been working for the local office of an interna-
tional IT company as its regional chief executive officer since 2002; that
is, two years after the establishment of the local office in 2000. The divi-
sion had around 120 employees and an annual turnover of around 33
million USD in 2018. Entrepreneur C11 is a Roman Catholic.
The Christian subpopulation contains only male respondents. Seven
entrepreneurs are the founders and the owner-leaders of their enterprises
(C01, C03, C04, C05, C07, C09, C10), while four respondents work in
managerial positions. All managers work as chief executive officers. One
of them has filled the position for more than thirty years (C08), but the
others have also worked for at least twelve years as CEOs (C02, C06,
C11).
Nine enterprises operate in the services sector (C01, C02, C04,
C05, C06, C07, C08, C10, C11), one in the logistics sector (C03),
and another one in the industrial sector (C09). Christian entrepreneurs
possess high levels of business experience. Only one enterprise was estab-
lished less than ten years ago (C07) but one firm has operated for almost
thirty years (C09), and two other firms (C02, C04) have operated for
more than three decades.
The basic characteristics of Christian entrepreneurs are described in
Table 1.2.
 12

Table 1.2 Basic characteristics of Christian entrepreneurs in the sample

G. KOVÁCS

Code Sex Owner Year of foundation/ Sector Main profile of enterprise Number of Annual income Christian
worked in the position employees (m USD) denomination
since (interviewee
included)

C01 Male Yes 2002 Services Consultancy 7 0.5 Roman Catholic

C02 Male No 1981/2006 Services Executive training 5 0.5 Roman Catholic
Consultancy
Coaching
C03 Male Yes 1992 Logistics River transportation 52 7 Roman Catholic
C04 Male Yes 1985 Services Bicycle rental 10 0.5 Roman Catholic
C05 Male Yes 2008 Services Tender writing 9 0.5 Roman Catholic
Project management
C06 Male No 2004/2004 Services Quality control 60 2 Calvinist
Engineering consultancy
C07 Male Yes 2010 Services Consultancy 2 0.5 Roman Catholic
Project management
C08 Male No 1987/1987 Services IT services 70 11 Roman Catholic
C09 Male Yes 1990 Industrial Traffic engineering 60 13.5 Calvinist
C10 Male Yes 2002 Services IT services 140 5 Roman Catholic
Consultancy
C11 Male No 2000/2002 Services IT services 120 33 Roman Catholic
Business collaboration
 1 INTRODUCTION 13

Ibrahim et al. (1991) argue that databases of Christian companies

typically contain many small Christian enterprises with a workforce not
exceeding two or three employees. The same is true for this research
population of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs. There are two self-
employed entrepreneurs (B05, B08) in the Buddhist subpopulation, and
the number of employees does not exceed ten in the case of eight
entrepreneurs (B02, B03, B04, B05, B06, B08, B09, B11). The Christian
subpopulation includes bigger organizations as there are only four cases
in which the number of employees of entrepreneurs does not exceed ten
(C01, C02, C05, C07). The enterprises in the research population do not
always dispose of great financial and economic power, but, despite their
size, they serve as role models for other companies and entrepreneurs with
their value orientation and their business practices.
There are fifteen owner-leaders and seven nonowner managers in the
population, all of which strive to effectuate their Buddhist and Christian
value orientations in business. The research population includes only two
female respondents, both of which are members of the Buddhist subpop-
ulation. The entrepreneurs come from a variety of professions, but the
majority operate service-based organizations, as this is the main profile of
fourteen companies out of twenty-two.

1.3 A Concise Preview of Chapters

and Research Questions
The scope of this book is located at the intersection of economics,
management studies, business ethics, and religious studies. The main
argument pertains to the field of business spirituality as the book is
devoted to introducing the value orientations of Buddhist and Chris-
tian entrepreneurs from a comparative perspective. Nevertheless, certain
chapters investigate several other relevant issues too.
Chapter 2 includes clarifications of basic concepts. First, it introduces
the concepts of “value” and “value orientation” as they are interpreted
in this book. Second, the chapter presents a review of the relevant
economics and management literature to introduce the concept of spiritu-
ality. Furthermore, it presents how Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs
interpret the latter term, and addresses the question whether a standard-
ized and substantive definition can be given to the term “spirituality”
among Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs. Still in the same section,
14 G. KOVÁCS

the difference between the concepts of spirituality and religion is investi-

gated. Third, the chapter introduces the concepts of “spiritual values” and
“spiritual value orientation” to describe the relationship between spiritu-
ality and values and determine the place of spiritual values among other
values. Last, the chapter introduces the concept of “entrepreneur” as it is
interpreted throughout this book.
Chapter 3 describes the most important features of business spiritu-
ality (known also as workplace spirituality, spirituality at work, or faith at
work), a field of scholarship which is being given ever-increasing atten-
tion. First, the chapter presents a brief history of business ethics and
describes the so-called “paradox of ethics management” which states that
the instrumental use of ethics undermines intrinsic moral commitment,
which increases uncertainty and decreases profitability, against which
ethics as an instrument was originally introduced. Resolving this paradox
necessitates a paradigm shift in business ethics by which intrinsic ethical
commitment, supported by a spiritual value orientation, comes to the
fore. Second, the chapter depicts the emergence of business spirituality in
the field of management. Last, the chapter introduces the most important
features and outcomes of business spirituality.
Chapter 4 summarizes the relevant set of Buddhist values for busi-
ness by providing a review of the conceptions of Buddhist economics.
First, the chapter includes a short introduction which summarizes the
corresponding teachings of Buddhism. The conceptions of Buddhist
economics, beginning with the ideas of Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, are
presented by introducing three distinct research tracks within the field
in which the development of Buddhist economics has occurred. Finally,
the chapter summarizes the relevant set of Buddhist values for busi-
ness, namely: simplicity, nonviolence, compassion, moderation, wisdom,
responsibility, well-being, mindfulness, interconnectedness, generosity,
contentment, and genuine care.
Chapter 5 summarizes the relevant set of Christian values for busi-
ness by analyzing the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church
which has developed since the late nineteenth century through the publi-
cation of papal encyclicals and various documents of the Magisterium of
the Holy See on economics. The constituent parts of Catholic Social
Teaching (CST) are introduced together with its fundamental princi-
ples and values. The chapter includes an overview of the Vocation of the
Business Leader, a booklet which summarizes the basic ideas of Chris-
tian teachings about entrepreneurship. Finally, the chapter summarizes
 1 INTRODUCTION 15

the relevant set of Christian values for business, namely: human dignity,
truth, justice, solidarity, subsidiarity, freedom, charity, fraternity, common
good, frugality, and responsibility.
Chapter 6 includes the comparative analysis of Buddhist and Chris-
tian value orientations in business. First, it briefly reviews the history
of interreligious dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity. Then,
the chapter depicts the typologies of the value orientations of Buddhist
and Christian entrepreneurs by which their comparison is undertaken by
means of qualitative comparative analysis. As a result of this inquiry, the
last part of the chapter delineates the dimensions common to Buddhist
and Christian value orientations in business, including values associated
with their underlying visions of the world, values corresponding to the
procedural dimension of business, and values that help create the “other
directedness” of business practices.
Chapter 7 presents the relationship between the two opposite
value orientations, spirituality and materialism, in business. First,
the chapter introduces the dispositions of Buddhist and Christian
entrepreneurs towards profit and entrepreneurial income. “Beyond-
profit” entrepreneurs consider profit and income to be the outcome of
a spiritual value commitment in business, while “moderately material-
istic” entrepreneurs consider profit and income to be a requirement,
but not the ultimate goal of business. Second, the chapter analyzes the
relationship between spirituality and materialism in business. The spiri-
tual value orientations of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs dominate
their professional work, leadership practices, and business decisions in
most cases. There are only a few entrepreneurs who, influenced by the
ownership structures of their firms or by the characteristics of their indus-
tries, make compromises and effectuate their spiritual values only within
a limited set of opportunities.
Chapter 8 gives an overview of the spiritually inspired business practices
of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs which reflect their spiritual value
orientations. Before this, the chapter summarizes the general reflections
of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs about spirituality in business,
and their ideas about the temporal perspectives of business. Then, the
chapter also describes the various business practices by which Buddhist
and Christian entrepreneurs effectuate committed stakeholder manage-
ment practices. Finally, the chapter reviews how Buddhist and Christian
entrepreneurs set an example for their organizations based on their
spiritual values.
16 G. KOVÁCS

The concluding chapter reviews the key findings of the book and
discusses the implications thereof, identifies the limitations of the work,
discusses the generalizability of the findings, and highlights some future
research opportunities.

1.4 Some Concluding Remarks

The subject matter of this book pertains to the field of business spir-
ituality. Balog et al. (2014) argue that, in general, business spirituality
is a relatively new and exploratory field of inquiry. In line with this
assertion, this book defines the intention of exploring and creating a
foundation for further research rather than making conclusions. Never-
theless, the monograph strives to make a niche contribution as it addresses
a less well-researched area, according to the argumentation of Balog et al.
(2014), who assert that studies aimed at comparing the value structures of
spiritually oriented entrepreneurs could be an important future research
direction within the field of business spirituality.
The research, the outcomes of which can be read in the pages of
this book, started in 2010 with the purpose of investigating the simi-
larities and differences in the value orientations of Buddhist and Christian
entrepreneurs so as to widen the knowledge in the field of business ethics
in general, and regarding business spirituality in particular. The content
of the book is based on the insights of eleven Buddhist and eleven Chris-
tian entrepreneurs from Hungary, all of whom are businesspeople that
are striving to effectuate their spiritual value orientations in business. To
cite the words of Peter Pruzan et al. (2007) contained in their book
Leading with Wisdom, Spiritual-Based Leadership in Business, the partic-
ipants’ stories tell of their efforts to live and lead in harmony with their
spiritual values.
The aim of this book is to inspire readers—be they business leaders,
scholars, teachers, students, or anyone interested in business spiritu-
ality—with examples of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs who have
achieved success by effectuating spiritually inspired, genuine ethics in
business.
 1 INTRODUCTION 17

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 CHAPTER 2

Basic Concepts

This chapter introduces the basic concepts employed in the book and
is designed to familiarize the reader with its main subject. In doing so,
it provides an overview of the concepts of value, spirituality, spiritual
values, spiritual value orientation, and entrepreneur, thus introducing the
basic conceptions used in the discussion and establishing the starting
points for the analysis of the value orientations of Buddhist and Chris-
tian entrepreneurs. In order to facilitate smoother argumentation, the
definitions identified here are deliberately as broad and inclusive as
possible.

2.1 Value and Value Orientation

Value is a central concept in the book, but not in the sense of the
exchange value of goods, nor in its utilitarian interpretation, which
is the backbone theory of business and the basis of materialism. The
following sections introduce value rather as a fundamental constituent of
personality.
The word value originates from the Latin expression for “being good”
or “being strong.” The concept is applied to many segments of life.
Nevertheless, at an early stage of scientific inquiry it was studied only
in the field of philosophy. Research into the concept became the focus
of scientific interest in many fields of social science only after the 1950s:

© The Author(s) 2020 19

G. Kovács, The Value Orientations of Buddhist and Christian
Entrepreneurs, Studies in Buddhist Economics, Management, and Policy,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46703-6_2
20 G. KOVÁCS

in sociology, anthropology, psychology, theology, political science, and

economics (Bem 1973; Kluckhohn 1951; Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck
1961; Rokeach 1989).
The definition of value varies among the scientific disciplines, but
understanding the complex nature of the concept requires interdisci-
plinary collaboration. It is not just a bridging concept which can link
together many diverse scientific fields, but, as Robin M. Williams (1979)
notes, the study of values can hardly be confined to a single discipline
or a narrow range of research methods. As Milton Rokeach asserts, as
cited by Shalom H. Schwartz (1992), “[t]he value concept, more than
any other… [is] able to unify the apparently diverse interests of all the
sciences concerned with human behavior” (Rokeach 1973, p. 3).
Bruce M. Meglino and Elizabeth C. Ravlin (1998) draw attention
to the fact that because of the aforementioned complexity, the concept
of value had become one of the most important and widely studied
constructs in the social sciences by the turn of the millennium. The argu-
mentation of this book also capitalizes on the multidimensional nature
of the concept as it investigates the value orientations of Buddhist and
Christian entrepreneurs, a topic which is located at the intersection of
economics, management studies, business ethics, and religious studies.
Numerous researchers have been involved with value theory and with
defining the concept of value. Steven Hitlin and Jane A. Piliavin (2004)
claim that the many different concepts and definitions that have emerged
in the history of scientific inquiry are not yet synthesized. Thus, this
section reviews some of the most important definitions of value and
approaches to the theory of value to clarify the term for further discussion.
Clyde Kluckhohn (1951) was one of the first scholars to define the
concept of value at the beginning of the 1950s as a standard which
persists in time and organizes a system of action. According to the author,
“[a] value is a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual
or characteristic of a group, of the desirable which influences the selec-
tion from available modes, means, and ends of action” (Kluckhohn 1951,
p. 395).
Raymond Firth gave a broader, anthropological definition of the
concept which is very similar to that of Kluckhohn’s:

Values involve a grading of things and actions in terms of their relative

desirability. The emphasis is positive… It also implies systematic behaviour,
not simply random choice… Values are important for the exercise of choice
 2 BASIC CONCEPTS 21

among alternatives to action, and provide the force and integration for
action. (1953, p. 231)

Harold Fallding introduced another dimension of the concept when he

defined value in terms of the satisfaction of individuals: “a generalized end
that guides behavior toward uniformity in a variety of situations, with the
object of repeating a particular self-sufficient satisfaction” (1965, p. 224).
Rokeach was one of the first scholars to investigate the concept of
value together with the concepts most closely connected to it. Similarly
to Daryl J. Bem (1973), Rokeach (1973), in a seminal piece of work
entitled The Nature of Human Values, distinguished between beliefs, atti-
tudes, and values—three separate but closely interacting components that
together create the cognitive system. These three components are logi-
cally connected, but there is a clear-cut distinction among them. Beliefs,
attitudes, and values are referred to when people tend to describe or
elucidate behavior. Out of these three components, values are especially
important, and have a central role in shaping our self and personality.
They are the basis of the cognitive system. Bem (1973), in a seminal
work entitled Beliefs, Attitudes, and Human Affairs, also emphasizes the
primacy and centrality of values as premises, from which many beliefs and
attitudes are derived. Rokeach (1989) in a book entitled Beliefs, Atti-
tudes, and Values takes a similar position. He confirms that values relate
to individuals’ dispositions, and are thus more fundamental elements than
attitudes. Rokeach defines the concept of value as:

[A] type of belief, centrally located within one’s total belief system,
about how one ought or ought not to behave, or about some end-
state of existence worth or not worth attaining… [Values] transcendentally
guide actions and judgments across specific objects and situations. (1989,
pp. 124–160)

Bem defines the concept from the perspective of the relationship

between values and attitudes:

A value is a primitive preference for or a positive attitude toward certain

end-states of existence (like equality, salvation, self-fulfillment, or freedom)
or certain broad modes of conduct (like courage, honesty, friendship, or
chastity). (1973, p. 16)
22 G. KOVÁCS

To summarize, values are considered to be positive or negative abstract

ideals, cognitive in nature. Once internalized, they become standards for
guiding action. According to Raymond Boudon (2013), values are, in
a Kantian sense, imperatives that contribute to a consistent behavior.
Values contribute to building up our world fundamentally and organize
our systems of action as standards for consistent behavior. Hereafter, this
definition is applied in the discussion of the value orientations of Buddhist
and Christian entrepreneurs.
It is important to note that the definition of value discussed above is
not identical with the concept of economic, exchange, or market value
used in economic and management studies. Although the value orien-
tations of Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs are part of the subject
matter of management studies, a description of theories about economic
value is not a part of this book. A detailed overview that focuses on
the evolution of value theory in economics can be found in the book
The Evolution of Economic Ideas by Phyllis Deane (1978). A subject
more closely related to the value orientations of Buddhist and Chris-
tian entrepreneurs is discussed in the book Value in Ethics and Economics
by Elizabeth Anderson (1995), which offers a new theory of value and
rationality for assessing the ethical limitations of the economic approach.
Although ethics in economics are closely related to the entrepreneurial
value orientation, there is no need to define or investigate the concept
of economic value in detail here to understand the value orientations of
Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs. Similar inquiries into the concept
of value, as it is defined above, that lack an investigation of the concept
of economic value are not exceptions in the field of management studies.
As András Ócsai (2018) summarizes in a PhD dissertation entitled “Value
Orientation of Ecologically Conscious Businesses,” the concept of value
interpreted not as economic value but as a standard for guiding action
toward consistent behavior has become a popular research subject in the
fields of corporate culture, leadership behavior, the ethical organizational
climate, ethical decision-making, social and ecological enterprises, and
environment-oriented behavior.
Values are defined as positive or negative abstract ideals that orga-
nize our systems of action as standards for consistent behavior. These
abstract ideals represent either ideal modes of conduct or ideal terminal
goals. According to this categorization, two main types of values can be
distinguished. On the one hand, values that correspond to ideal terminal
goals may be specified as terminal or end values. These describe ultimate
 2 BASIC CONCEPTS 23

goals or end states that are worthy of striving for. On the other hand,
values that correspond to ideal modes of conduct are instrumental or
means-related values. These describe desirable modes of behavior. The
distinction between terminal and instrumental values has been recognized
by many scholars, although the related terminology has not been unified.
Arthur O. Lovejoy (1950) and Nicholas Rescher (1969) distinguished
between noun and adjectival values, while Kluckhohn (1951) used the
terms goal and operational values to define terminal and instrumental
values. It is important to note that it is not always possible to make
a sharp distinction between these two types of values. It may happen
that one person’s terminal value is another person’s instrumental value.
Wisdom, for instance, can be a goal that one person aspires to, but wise
behavior may be a means to a higher end for someone else. The theory
that distinguishes terminal and instrumental values was further elaborated
by Rokeach (1973, 1979, 1989), who developed and applied the Rokeach
Value Survey for more than 30 years to measure terminal and instrumental
values.

2.1.1 Value System and Value Orientation

An adult probably has ten or a dozen values (Rokeach 1989). Donald
E. Vinson et al. (1977) claim that these values do not exist as sharply
separated and unconnected elements, but rather coexist in a hierarchical
structure. Accordingly, individual values can only be meaningfully under-
stood when considered as part of a larger value system (Rokeach 1973;
Schwartz 1992).
Based on the work of their predecessors, Schwartz (1992, 1994) and
Schwartz and Wolfgang Bilsky (1987, 1990) highlighted five features of
values. A value: (i) is a belief; (ii) pertains to desirable end states or modes
of conduct that motivate actions; (iii) transcends specific situations, and is
relevant to specific areas of life, and overrides everything; (iv) is a criterion
that guides selection between good or bad or an evaluation of behavior,
people, and events; and (v) is ordered by importance (hierarchy) relative
to other values to form a system of value priorities.
The fifth feature of values affirms the necessity of interpreting values
not as standalone components, but as parts of an interconnected hier-
archical structure. A value system is thus a hierarchical arrangement; a
rank ordering of values in terms of their importance. Value hierarchies
vary in terms of how strongly specific values are held. Williams (1979)
24 G. KOVÁCS

designates this phenomenon as an organized set of preferential standards.

Rokeach uses the wider expression “belief” instead of values, but defines
a value system as: “an enduring organization of beliefs concerning prefer-
able modes of conduct or end-states of existence along a continuum of
relative importance” (1973, p. 5).
Buddhism and Christianity are considered two different value systems
that include various Buddhist and Christian values. These systems and
their constituent values are the central subject of this book.
Geoffrey Vickers (1970) also draws attention to the fact that the inner
world of the individual is fundamentally structured by a dynamic array of
human values which can be considered a configuration of forces. There
may be central or dominant, and peripheral or variant values in this hier-
archical structure (Kluckhohn 1951; Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 1961).
Basically, all values coexist in harmony, but if a value conflict arises, then
the dominant value(s) prevail. Complex decisions are part of everyday life,
and all of them assume the consideration of more than one value at once.
A value orientation represents a working model of the value system. A
value orientation based on different values identifies desirable and avoid-
able goals for individuals, communities, and societies, thereby defining
and controlling human behavior (Rokeach 1973). Kluckhohn focuses on
human relationships when he defines a value orientation as:

[A] generalized and organized conception, influencing behavior, of nature,

of man’s place in it, of man’s relation to man, and of the desirable
and nondesirable as they may relate to man-environment and interhuman
relations. (1951, p. 411)

Based on earlier work by Clyde Kluckhohn (1951), his wife Florence

Kluckhohn and Fred Strodtbeck defined value orientations with a focus
on their directive elements as:

[C]omplex but definitely patterned (rank-ordered) principles, resulting

from the transactional interplay of three analytically distinguishable
elements of the evaluative process – the cognitive, the affective, and the
directive elements – which give order and direction to the ever-flowing
stream of human acts and thoughts as these relate to the solution of
“common human” problems. (1961, p. 4)
 2 BASIC CONCEPTS 25

Michael D. Hills (2002) asserts that while this definition utilizes the
constituent elements of values, the value orientation theory of Kluck-
hohn and Strodtbeck (1961) brings us closer not only to understanding
value orientation but also to understanding values themselves. Hills draws
attention to the fact that the related theory has inspired many schol-
ars’ inquiries into values and value orientations. Based on the work of
the former, Rokeach (1973), for instance, acknowledges the influence
of social processes on value formations and considers them as one of
the many features of the formation of value orientations. Vickers (1970)
attributes much greater significance to social, cultural, and religious
features in the formation of value orientations, which fact is of central
importance in the discussion about how Buddhism and Christianity influ-
ence the value orientations that affect and determine entrepreneurial
activities.
According to Talcott Parsons et al. (1951), the orientation of an actor
in relation to a given situation depends on their value orientation, which
means the observance of certain norms, standards, and the application of
criteria of selection. The attitude of individuals to given situations depends
on their value orientation or value commitment, which guides selection
from the available alternatives. A value orientation thus determines the
values that become dominant or peripheral in decision-making processes.
According to Schwartz (1992), general value orientations can be identi-
fied for each individual, for human groups, and for communities. These
value orientations have fundamental implications for people’s lives and
coexistence.
One potential means of aligning values is differentiating them by scope.
The personal values of an individual can influence others and their organi-
zations. Although values are connected to individual people, they can be
shared by large segments of the population and become standard guides
for action for organizations (Bem 1973; Boudon 2013). Yazdi Jehangir
Bankwala (2011) asserts that every organization possesses core values that
describes the given organization and which stem from its activities or from
the personal value commitment of its leader. This book investigates how
Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs infuse and effectuate their spiritual
values into their organizations and explores the constituent values of their
corresponding spiritual value orientations.
26 G. KOVÁCS

2.2 Spirituality
Spirituality is also a key concept in this book, because the constituent
values of both the Buddhist and the Christian value orientations originate
from spirituality, as Buddhism and Christianity are both ancient spiritual
traditions. Hence, this section of the book offers a review of the spiritu-
ality literature and gives a tentative definition of the concept. This section
also introduces how Buddhist and Christian entrepreneurs interpret the
term and shows that a standardized and substantive definition cannot be
given either in the case of Buddhist or Christian entrepreneurs.
Religion and spirituality have similar or sometimes identical meanings
for many people, although there is a distinction between them. This
section defines the concept of religion and introduces its relationship
to spirituality. The main argument of the book necessitates making this
distinction, as Buddhism and Christianity are fundamentally different spir-
itual traditions and cannot, or can only with difficulty, be categorized
under the same umbrella concept of religion.
The word spirituality originates from the Latin expression for “breath”
or “breathing,” but the words “spirit” and “soul” also describe an expe-
rienceable phenomenon which is closely connected to the meaning of
spirituality. In The Palgrave Handbook of Spirituality and Business , Luk
Bouckaert and Laszlo Zsolnai (2011a) emphasize that spirituality was for
a long time an exclusive area of interest only within the context of reli-
gion, but in recent years it has clearly moved outside the boundaries of
institutional religion. The concept of spirituality is approached from the
standpoint of the economics and management literature in this section
because the main argument of the book concerns the role of spirituality
in business.
The question may arise if there is any connection between these two
fields of inquiry—economics and management studies, and spirituality—
as they are seemingly quite dissimilar. Sporadic scientific inquiry into
the field of spirituality and management has been undertaken since the
1990s, about which precedents Eve Poole (2009) gives a comprehen-
sive overview. A pioneering book by Ian I. Mitroff and Elizabeth A.
Denton (1999), A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look
at Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace, represents another
cornerstone of the field. Since then, scientific interest in the influence
of spirituality on management practices has grown, and several eminent
business ethicists and management scholars have become engaged with
 2 BASIC CONCEPTS 27

the subject of spirituality from the standpoint of their own scholarship—

namely, economics and management. The scope of this book is also the
field of spirituality in business as it investigates the influence of Buddhist
and Christian values on entrepreneurship. Thus, the book approaches
the concept from the standpoints of economics and management studies,
although Kaien C. Cash and George R. Gray (2000) draw attention to the
fact that those who discuss the issue of spirituality in relation to the work-
place (e.g., management) consider it differently than those who discuss it
within religion.
Skeptics question the viability of using a scientific approach to
construct a definition of spirituality. Andrew B. Newberg and Daniel
Monti (2011) assert that as spirituality involves the merger of human
beings with something supernatural, then the scientific approach may only
be able to measure and describe the effects of spirituality rather than spir-
ituality itself. Nevertheless, numerous attempts have been made in the
economics and management literature to define spirituality, or at least
to determine its descriptive characteristics. What made these attempts
difficult, according to Judi Neal (1997) and Jutta König (2010), is that
spirituality is a term that is hard to define. Neal (1997) further warns that
many people who write about spirituality in management do not even
try to define the concept. Another issue is that existing definitions are
very different from one another, as they try to objectify and categorize an
experience that is at the core very subjective and thought by some to be
beyond categorization. What makes this task even more difficult is that
for most people spirituality is a rather vague concept (Bouckaert 2007).
Despite these difficulties, the following part of the book summarizes
attempts to define spirituality since the beginning of the 2000s.
Three edited handbooks about spirituality and management have been
published, involving many different approaches. None of them includes
similar definitions, and there are significant differences between the inter-
pretations within each volume, a fact which also highlights the complexity
of the concept. The Palgrave Handbook of Spirituality and Business, edited
by Bouckaert and Zsolnai (2011a), summarizes a number of common
elements shared by most definitions of spirituality. These include: (i)
reconnection to the inner self; (ii) a search for universal values that lift
the individual above egocentric striving; (iii) deep empathy with all living
beings; and (iv) a desire to keep in touch with the source of life (whatever
name we give to this). According to this handbook, spirituality is a search
for inner identity, connectedness, and transcendence. Neal (2013), in the
28 G. KOVÁCS

Handbook of Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace: Emerging Research

and Practice, intentionally uses the phrase “faith and spirituality” when
describing the phenomenon so as to be as inclusive as possible of all reli-
gious traditions, as well as of those who see themselves, for instance, as
“spiritual but not religious.” The phrase is used throughout the book to
ensure the largest possible scope of interpretation concerning basic ideas
about integrating spirituality into everyday life and work. In the book
entitled The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment ,
editors Gary E. Roberts, and Joanna Elizabeth Crossman (2018) do not
strictly define the term spirituality, but only acknowledge that it is a vague
concept. Their book is engaged with workplace spirituality. Thus, they
strive to define only this concept, intentionally avoiding attempts to define
the term spirituality per se.
The empirical research that defines the concept of spirituality in the
field of management studies shows similar divergence. In a research
conducted by Mitroff (2003), every participant employed some variant
of the same definition when asked for definitions of spirituality: spiritu-
ality is not only the intense feeling of being totally integrated as a whole
person, but also the feeling of being totally connected with everything
else in the universe. A research project by Peter Pruzan et al. (2007),
which included 31 business leaders from 15 countries and six continents
told of participants’ efforts to live and lead in harmony with their spir-
itual values, although they came from a wide variety of religious and
nonreligious backgrounds. Some of the leaders had no traditional reli-
gious affiliation, while others came from a range of fields of religion,
including Christianity (Catholics, Protestants, and Mormons) Hinduism,
Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. The respondents’ definitions of spiritu-
ality included, “knowing the true core of being,” “the essence of being,”
“our deep connection with a force greater than ourselves,” and “being
so in tune with … a universal spirit … that you are not acting from a
place of ego or desire or greed, but … on behalf of the welfare of the
totality.” In a paper entitled “Spirituality and Business” Sharda Nandram
(2010) draws the conclusion that spirituality is an umbrella concept under
which various interpretations and approaches fit; for instance, spirituality
could mean the source of good, interpersonality, or connectedness, or
association with a higher being. Caroline H. Liu and Peter J. Robertson
(2011) propose a new theoretical conceptualization of spirituality, based
on which a measurement of spirituality that can be used in management
research was created, validated, and cross-validated using independent
 2 BASIC CONCEPTS 29

samples. The 2455 survey respondents involved in this piece of quan-

titative research were either full-time or part-time employees working in
an organization. Findings show that the concept of spirituality, defined as
interconnection, can be measured by three correlated yet distinct factors:
(i) interconnection with a higher power; (ii) interconnection with human
beings; and (iii) interconnection with nature and all living things. This
empirical research highlights the wide variation of interpretations and
affirms the difficulties associated with creating a standardized definition
of spirituality, although it also highlights some of the features of spiritu-
ality emphasized by Bouckaert and Zsolnai (2011a) in their handbook:
namely, inner identity, connectedness, and transcendence.
There have been further attempts to define spirituality from theo-
retical and religious perspectives. Sukumararakurup Krishnakumar and
Christopher P. Neck (2002) reviewed numerous definitions of the concept
and identified their three broad categories. The first category is the
intrinsic-origin view, in which spirituality is considered to be something
that originates from the individual and which is closely connected to
the development of inner consciousness. The second category comprises
the religious views of spirituality that are specific to every religion. The
third category is the existentialist view, according to which spirituality
is the search for meaning in life. Josep M. Lozano and Raimon Ribera
(2004) offer a complex definition as they understand spirituality as: (i) an
opening, a journey, or a process; (ii) to a domain of experience and knowl-
edge beyond rationality that embraces the totality of human experience;
(iii) involving the removal of the ego from its central position in human
life as its key feature; (iv) which allows its replacement by a powerful,
indefinable, and fulfilling experience, an unshaped ground; and (v) histor-
ically expressed through different and complementary images and symbols
(Unity, Absolute, Void, God, Silence, Love, Wisdom, Energy, Mystery,
and so on). According to S. K. Chakraborty (2011), spirituality means
the acceptance of the principle that all beings are, in essence, more
permanent than their “body-life-mind” combination. Mike J. Thompson
(2011) considers spirituality to be the search for purpose and meaning.
Alpar Losoncz (2004) identifies the concept with connectedness to the
transcendent, withdrawal from the ego, and participation in something
that overcomes oneself. Sanjoy Mukherjee (2008) defines spirituality as
an all-embracing approach that advocates the harmonious pursuit of the
dimensions of existence, and a deeply felt connectedness with all things
and beings. According to Anjali Roy (2012), spirituality is the quest for
30 G. KOVÁCS

universal truth and the basis of self-realization, the discovery of the inner
self, and the realization of the supreme existence or the essence beyond
physical phenomena, which is global oneness. König (2010) considers
spirituality a sense of belonging to the One that we are all part of: a
connection between our core essence and the environment around us.
This implies a personal process of making sense and meaning out of many
congruent and incongruent life experiences through which we develop
an awareness of our personal talents and purpose in life. Finally, Paul de
Blot (2011) defines spirituality as a multiform search for a transcendent
meaning of life based on the reflection of our human experience on the
level of being that makes possible a conscious response to our connec-
tion with all beings and with the whole of creation. He further adds that
spirituality is also a theoretical approach and rational formulation of the
above-described spiritual experience.
Other authors have engaged in defining the fundamental features,
functions, and descriptive characteristics of spirituality. Robert A.
Giacalone and Carole L. Jurkiewicz (2003) emphasize that spirituality
may be an important factor in determining how individuals perceive
the ethicality of a situation. Mitroff (2003) characterizes spirituality as
the fundamental source from which meaning and purpose, faith and
will power, a feeling of sacredness, inner peace and calm, the awe we
feel in the presence of the transcendent, and the feeling of intercon-
nectedness originates. As Nandram (2010) asserts, spirituality can be
experienced and expressed both outwardly and inwardly. Outer spiri-
tuality refers to our relationships to others and the world, while inner
spirituality reflects an inner, transformative process that involves the tran-
scendence of our habitual state of being and expanding our consciousness.
Newberg and Monti (2011) confirm this idea. They assert that although
there are a wide variety of (inner and outer) spiritual experiences which
are fundamentally different, all of them may be located on a similar
continuum within which the realization of a feeling of unity plays a crucial
part. Besides these features, Bouckaert and Zsolnai (2011b) classify five
functions of spirituality that apply to both believers and nonbelievers.
According to them, spirituality is: (i) a suitable platform for interreligious
dialogue that can help go beyond the idea of a clash of religions and
cultures; (ii) a vulnerable public good which requires an appropriate form
of public management; (iii) a profane good that does not delimit the spir-
itual to a separate level but integrates it as a component of political, social,
economic, and scientific activities; (iv) an experience-based good that is
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 This clay ware is brought from Nebel, where, since very ancient
times, there has been a manufactory that produces pottery the same
to-day as it was a thousand years ago.
The gateway is deep, and has, as have most gates in this country,
recesses with seats on both sides, always filled by idlers and
beggars. Indeed, it is quite an Eldorado for the blind, halt, and
maimed, as well as for many who have nothing the matter with them.
The whole day they sit there and stretch out their hands for alms.
I placed myself near the corner stone of the gate, where the
shade was cool and pleasant; through the dark archway I could see
the sun blazing on the shore, and the road looking like a bright
streak of light, and, beyond it, the harbour and the beautiful blue sea.
 TWO KHRUMIR WOMEN.

In the space of half an hour, at least a hundred little donkeys

passed me, laden with vessels of water or bundles of straw, with
often a man or boy perched behind the load. A solitary rider also
passed, his small but wiry horse going at an amble. Along the
seashore came, picking their way, a herd of goats, most of them
wearing small bells that rang incessantly. The herd settled in the
corner outside the gates between the towers and the town wall. Then
came unveiled Bedouin women, dark-skinned almost as negresses,
but with very fine features. Then other veiled Arab women with black
masks that covered their faces. A number of boys followed these, all
good-looking and black-eyed. One held out his hand; they are
accustomed to European good-nature, and a copper is a foretaste of
Paradise to an Arab boy.
Lastly passed a strange couple. On an ordinary Arab saddle a
veiled woman rode astride, and behind her, on her horse, a little boy;
he held the reins in one hand, and a parasol in the other.
Towards evening it grew cooler. Amongst the shipping lay the Ville
d’Oran, which next morning was to take me south. It was lit up with
numbers of lanterns, and the town was illuminated and hung
everywhere with flags, in honour of the Russian fleet, which that day
was to enter Toulon. Festival was kept, not only all over France, but
also in her colonies. Illustrated editions of French newspapers, with
coloured pictures of Russian and French admirals and of the ships of
both countries, were displayed on the walls of all cafés, tobacco
shops, taverns and drinking booths in Susa.
The light on the Kasba had been lit. The moon rose over the town,
and lanterns gleamed along the seashore and the promenade. The
irregular line of the wall and the Kasba tower showed dark against
the heavens. Mingling with the ripple of the water against the quay, I
heard the Marseillaise played, followed by cheers, and on the
terraces and balconies appeared dark figures, enjoying the cool air
and the music.
 CHAPTER III

From Sfax to Gabés

At 9 a.m. on the morning of the 14th October, the Ville d’Oran

weighed anchor and left the roadstead of Susa in brilliant weather for
Monastir.
Monastir, or Mistir, has a population of nine thousand inhabitants,
of whom one thousand are Europeans. It was originally a
Carthaginian town; later, the “Ruspina” of the Romans. It is now
surrounded by battlemented walls interspersed with towers and
pierced by five gates. Ornamented with coloured tiles, the minarets
of several mosques rise here and there above the houses.
I crossed the town from the south to the opposite side. Here I
found an immense cemetery; grave upon grave grouped about
kubbas. In the very midst of the cemetery is a cistern, which must
supply remarkably good water!
Following along the walls of the town I soon reached the beach,
where before me lay three small islands—Jezirel el Hammam
(Pigeon Island), Jezirel Sid Abd el Fairt el R’dani (so called after a
Marabout whose kubba crowns its summit), and the third island
named Jezirel el Austan (Central Island).
Still following the walls, I passed Moorish women and children
washing clothes on the shore. A number of boats were lying in the
shallow water under the lea of the islands.
At ten o’clock I was again on board, and at eleven we started,
steering for Mehdia, some thirty-six miles farther south.
On the way we passed Cape Diauros, the site of ancient Thapsus.
It was a Carthaginian colony where fought Cæsar Scipio and Cato.
Numerous ruins recall the old times.
 In Mehdia harbour we anchored about three o’clock. Mehdia was
once a very important town; now it has only some ten thousand
inhabitants. The Sicilians besieged it in 1147; the Arabs in 1160; the
Duke of Bourbon in 1390; and Charles V. in 1557. The knights of
Malta took part in this last assault, and the grave of one of these
knights is still shown.
Some Europeans carry on a trade here in oil, dried fruits,
sponges, coral, and sardines. In the months of May and June there
are often a couple of hundred boats lying off the shore fishing for
sardines, and generally making good hauls. In one night a single
boat may take even as much as from four to six hundredweight of
fish.
Large vessels do not follow the coast from Mehdia to Sfax, but
make a long circuit round the island of Kirkennah, the water along
the coast being shallow. Along this stretch of sea have been placed
light-buoys to mark the course. These buoys are filled with
compressed oil, and burn incessantly day and night. They are
constructed to burn three months, but are inspected monthly.
Early in the morning of the 15th October we cast anchor about
two miles outside Sfax, of which the white walls glistened in the
morning sun. A steam tug took us ashore. The ebb and flow of the
tide here is very strong, with a possible rise and fall of as much as
eight feet, which accounts for the flatness of the beach.
The only ship in the roadstead was the Fæderlandet from Bergen,
lying-to and discharging timber.
Sfax was taken on the 16th July 1881 by a force under Admiral
Garnault, after a serious bombardment which laid waste a great part
of the ramparts and the town.
The walls enclosing the European quarter, which faces the sea,
have been pulled down lately, and here the French have established
themselves. To the rear lies the Arab town, still surrounded by its
walls and towers.
On landing I met the Vice-Consul for Sweden and Norway, Olaf
Henriksen, a young man who in the course of a few years has made
for himself a good position as partner in the large, and perhaps sole,
firm of timber traders in the place. His office and warehouses are on
the quay. Olsen, his co-partner, is likewise a Northerner. Henriksen is
agent for the United Shipping Co., but it is seldom that Danish
vessels touch here.

AT SFAX.
(From a painting by Mrs. Henriksen.)

After a stroll through the town, Mr. Henriksen led me to his home
and introduced me to his wife, a Norwegian lady from Christiania. I
spent a comfortable and most enjoyable day in their house, which is
outside the town and commands a view of the harbour.
 Mrs. Henriksen is a very fair artist. On the walls hung sketches of
her northern home and of Sfax, painted by herself and showing
considerable talent. The tombs of Marabouts, the cemeteries outside
the walls, and the Arab tents in the vicinity were the subjects that
pleased me most. She most amiably promised to be my collaborator,
by allowing me to make use of a couple of her sketches for my book.
Sfax is a large town, with about fifty thousand inhabitants, of
whom the eighth part are Europeans. A considerable trade is carried
on in sponges, oil, and esparto grass, this last being worked by a
Franco-Anglo-Tunisian Company; in addition to these, there is a
trade in fruit and vegetables, more especially cucumbers, called in
Arabic “Sfakus,” from which, no doubt, arises the name of the town.
In the neighbourhood are many villas and gardens, where the
townsfolk take refuge in the hot season, but beyond these is the
sandy desert.
In ancient days the Romans had here a large city, of which many
traces are found. In the covered streets I saw arches, which by their
capitals and columns were of Roman origin, and heard of old Roman
graves and foundations being frequently discovered.
Sfax is a garrison, and amongst the soldiers is a fine body of
Spahis, but at the time of my visit many were absent at the
manœuvres.
During the night we steamed in four hours from the roadstead of
Sfax to Gabés.
A golden strand: in the background some white houses, and to
the right a palm grove. Such is the view of Gabés from the sea.
The landing-place was only a short distance from the European
quarter. I called on the commanding officer, Colonel Gousset of the
Spahis, to whom the Regency at Tunis had recommended me,
directing that he should assist me by word and deed in my journey to
the cave dwellers (troglodytes) of the southern mountains.
It was the hour of muster, and the Colonel introduced me to many
of the officers, one of whom, Captain Montague of the General’s
staff, lent me his horse, and a Spahi was told off as my guide.
 “When one wanders towards the Syrtes and ‘Leptis Magna,’ one
finds in the midst of Afric’s sands a town called Tacape; the soil there
is much cultivated and marvellously fruitful. The town extends in all
directions to about three thousand paces. Here is found a fountain
with an abundant supply of water, which is only used at stated times;
and here grows a high palm, and beneath that palm an olive, and
under that a fig tree. Under the fig tree grows a pomegranate, and
beneath that again a vine. Moreover, beneath these last are sown,
first oats, then vegetables or grass, all in the same year. Yes, thus
they grow them, each sheltered by the other.”
Thus wrote Pliny of the oasis near Gabés over eighteen hundred
years ago, and this description can be applied in the main at the
present day.
Of this town, created by the Carthaginians, colonised by the
Romans, and later the seat of an archbishopric, and which stood
nearer the ocean than the existing villages, there remain now only
some crumbled ruins on the hills near Sid Bu’l Baba’s Zauia, now
difficult even to trace.
Remains of cisterns can be seen, built with the imperishable
cement of which the Romans alone understood the preparation. But
the stones have long since been removed to Jara, Menzel, and
Shenini, villages of the oasis, where are still to be found, in the
wretched native buildings, carved capitals and bas-reliefs, side by
side with sun-dried bricks and uncut stones.
But it is long since this old town vanished. The Arab geographers
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as also Leo Africanus in the
sixteenth century, mention Gabés as a large town surrounded by
walls and deep trenches, which latter could be flooded with water.
They tell us of a great fortress there, and that the town had a large
population and extensive suburbs. Then the Mohammedan
conquerors laid their iron hand over the country, and the inhabitants
were dispersed and gathered in the villages Jara and Menzel, each
now containing some four thousand inhabitants. Both villages were
situated near the river and close to the market-place, and were
continually fighting amongst themselves for the possession of these;
whilst other villages, of which Shenini is the largest, concealed
themselves amidst their palm groves.

TOWER IN THE VILLAGE OF MENZEL.

 JEWESSES AT MENZEL.

To keep these rival villages in subjection, the Turks erected, just

between them, a fort—Borj Jedia (the new fort). It was blown up by
French marines on the 21st July 1881, when they assaulted,
stormed, and seized the villages.
Later there arose by the seashore, huts, taverns, and eating-
houses, and, after the first occupation, these formed a place of resort
for all sorts of adventurers, and was therefore wittily named
“Coquinville” by the soldiers. Out of this has grown quite a little town,
known as the Port of Gabés. This is occupied by the European
colony, consisting of from one to two thousand persons of various
Mediterranean origins. The residence of General Allegro, the Bey’s
governor of El Arad, the most southern district of Tunisia, was
originally the only building on the spot, and here he still resides; but
now in the long streets there are commandants’ houses, officers’
quarters, the Hotel de l’Oasis, and a large number of offices of all
descriptions. Behind the town to the south, lie the barracks for the
garrison of Spahis and infantry. In former days the troops were
quartered farther inland, on a height near the Gabés River, as the
water was better; but now drinking-water has been brought to the
town from a near-lying oasis.
Wad Gabés, or the Gabés River, has its source about a score of
miles inland, and flows over its broad bed, through saline and lime-
charged soil, down to the oasis, wherefore the water contains much
magnesia, and is in consequence most unwholesome, and has
caused the death of many a young colonist and soldier. It is said that
the age of the eldest soldier buried in the churchyard was but five-
and-twenty.
In old times the water must naturally have been as unhealthy as
now, but the Romans, those masters of colonisation, used, on that
account, rain water collected in cisterns. Remains of such tanks are
found everywhere in the south.
The Arab rider, given me as guide, and I rode along the northern
bank of the river so as to cross the Gabés oasis from the sea
towards the interior.
It was the most enjoyable excursion I can remember ever having
made.
The sea roared behind the sand cliffs, while the horses panted
through the deep sand. From behind the cliffs appeared the tops of
palm trees, and presently we were in the shade.
The light gleamed through the palm leaves on lemon, orange, and
pomegranate trees, and on the trailing vines, trained up to the
beloved sun, and stretched from tree to tree in graceful festoons.
In the open spaces between the palms lay the orchards, where
grew all kinds of fruit trees—peaches, apples, pears, plums, apricots,
figs, olives, and many others.
The air was pregnant with the scent from the trees and plants.
Beneath the shade of the thick foliage overhead spread the most
beautiful green sward, intersected by flowing rivulets of water and
small canals, dammed by means of dykes and low banks, as in our
own land irrigation.

ON THE OASIS OF GABÉS.

By small paths and roads we wandered on, following the turns of

the canals, riding sometimes on a narrow track between two banks,
and if we then met Arabs on their little overladen mules it was a
squeeze to pass by them.
There was silence amongst the trees. Only now and then, when
we drew near to tents, or some straw hut concealed amidst the
foliage, could we hear voices and the barking of dogs. Women and
children peeped at us through the branches, and we saw men in
scanty clothing working with hoes in their gardens, or women
weeding the beds and gathering henna in baskets.
 Birds flew from branch to branch, or across the open spaces.
Wood pigeons called, and turtle-doves cooed, whilst the chaffinch
fluttered about on the tops of the almond trees, and in the distance
the sound of a shot proclaimed that a sportsman in a clearing on the
borders of the oasis had fired at hare, quail, or partridge. On the
extreme border, by the sea, was the tomb of a Marabout, built from
the ancient remains of the town of olden days, blended with new
materials. The columns supporting the entrance were of new rough
stone, with handsome carved capitals.
We emerged on the barren plain, and saw in the far distance, on
rising ground, other palm groves, but hurried back again into the
fascinating wood, till, by paths and over small stone bridges, beneath
which streams rippled sheltered by the arching palms, we came to a
broader road between high dykes. There it was difficult to advance,
as some artillerymen with baggage carts drawn by mules had stuck
fast in the mud, the waggons being overladen with stone.
The way now turned towards the river. As we left the palm grove
by the miry road to cross the bridge, the grey walls of a village lay
before us on the opposite side. The river bank was crowded with
women and children washing; clothes were hanging to dry on the
bushes, whilst shortly-kilted figures waded into the water, or sat on
the stones by the river side beating clothes with flat boards. Most of
them pretended not to see us, some turned their backs, and a very
few stole roguish glances at us.
 WASHERWOMEN AT THE JARA BRIDGE.

The whole scene was worthy of the brush of a good artist. The
grey-yellow water, the yellow shore and green wood under the deep
blue sky, and against this background the many-coloured figures of
women and children. All were in constant movement and chattering
loudly.
We rode through the gate. The village consists of narrow streets
and lanes of wretched low houses. The air was oppressively hot, and
dirt was everywhere. My guide rode in front, pushing people aside
with loud exclamations. They submitted quietly to being hustled;
“Kith to kin is least kind.” Then, again crossing the river, we rode
through the oasis to other villages and as far as the poor huts of
Shenini, then turned again down to the stream, which here ran
between high banks, and after visiting, just at nightfall, some
encampments close by, we hastened on our way back to Gabés.
 CHAPTER IV

From Gabés to the Matmata Mountains

Crouched in a wretched hut, which seemed to me then the

perfection of comfort, I sat writing by the light of a flickering candle at
the village of Zaraua, on the top of a mountain of the Matmata range,
south of Gabés.
Outside I could hear my horse munching, as he stood, his well-
earned barley; farther away dogs were barking. The moon sent her
rays through my doorway; and now and then came to my ear the
sound of human voices, but this soon ceased as the sun had long
since set: for in these regions all retire to rest early so as to rise at
daybreak.
The two previous days had sped as in a fairy tale. As I opened my
window at the Hotel de l’Oasis at 4.30 a.m. on the 17th October, it
was still half-dark, but I could distinguish a little way down the street
an Arab horse, saddled, and by its side a white bundle lying on the
footway. It was Hamed, the Arab horseman, whom the bureau de
renseignement had placed at my disposal, and who was now waiting
for five o’clock, the hour fixed for our start. A little later arrived my
brown steed, supplied by the Spahi regiment.
 MAP OF SOUTHERN TUNISIA.
(Large-size)

My small travelling kit, photographic apparatus, and breakfast

were packed on Hamed’s horse. The revolver I slung on my own
saddle, little realising that the same afternoon I should fire it on a
festive occasion; and we started, wending our way amongst the
showy, newly-built European houses.
Outside the town, the country is somewhat flat; we followed the
road. To our right, towards the north, was Gabés’ winding river, but
invisible to us, as it lies low. On the other side, the palm groves
showed us a dark forest. The villages by the river stood out clearly
against this dark background, and the rising sun shone on the white
kubba to our left of Sid Bu’l Baba.
On the road we met little groups of natives driving camels and tiny
donkeys, all laden with esparto straw. Their houses were many a
mile away over the blue mountains, which were dimly distinguishable
on the horizon, for they came from Hadeij, our destination, to sell
this, about the only product in which they can deal during the hot
summer season.
Now and again we also met small caravans of donkeys carrying
light loads of dry wood.
After a quick trot, that warmed us at this early chilly hour, we
turned to the left in a southerly direction, taking a path that wound
along slightly undulating ground. A brace of partridges rose, and we
heard the quail calling, and saw young larks running on the barren
ground. On a hill to the north-west we spied the camp of Ras el Wad,
erected by General Boulanger in his day. Once and again we
indulged in a quick gallop, but only in short stretches, when the paths
were not muddy or too winding.
Here and there stood a parched olive tree or date palm, on spots
where, in the wet season—if it ever come—a little water would reach
them. We were overtaken by a horseman closely enveloped in a
white burnous, the hood drawn over his head and sticking up in the
air in a peak. It was “Amar” from Hadeij on his slight but wiry pony.
He was acquainted with Hamed, so wished to join us. His hair, beard
and eyes were black, his expression good-natured, with an open
brow, and his teeth milk white.
After two hours’ ride, during which we only once met any people,
we reached the oasis of El Hamdu; near by roamed some miserable
cattle, grazing under the care of an old man; with these were also a
couple of goats.
On the border of the oasis we watered our horses at a fountain
surrounded by palms. Women peeped shyly at us over the walls of
the only stone building of the village that we could make out.
Riding on, we passed several tombs of Marabouts. On our left,
the palms of the oasis seemed drawn up in a long line, and smoke
could be perceived rising heavenwards from huts and tents beneath
the trees. From an encampment on the edge of the oasis the dogs
rushed out barking, the inhabitants standing stiffly, like statues, and
staring at us.
 PLOUGHING-GABÉS.

Along a shallow, stony, river bed—rough ground for the horses—

we pursued our way towards our destination in the hills, whilst the
sun burnt so fiercely that our senses were dulled.
After a couple more hours, we again met laden camels, and with
them some travellers on foot, one without a burnous or head-
covering, and clothed only in a shirt confined at the waist by a strap.
He wore his hair in a tuft on the nape of his neck, and carried in his
hand a banner on a pole. Amar told me he was a Marabout from one
of the villages near Gabés.
Of Marabouts there is no lack. This one was very poor, and was
returning from the mountains, where he had been begging for money
which he imagined was due to him. The banner he carried that
everyone might see that a holy man was coming.
 I gave him a few coppers, and the young fellow kissed my hand,
and wished me good luck on my journey. It is not everyone who is
wished good luck on their travels by a Marabout. I bought my
blessing cheap.
We now rode some distance amongst small hills, which are
scattered in the foreground of the mountains like islands on a coast-
line. On some eminences were heaps of stones.
“Those were there before our time,” said Amar.
In places where the ground was more or less level it was slightly
scratched round about the dry bushes. This is the arable land, that is
to say, it would be cultivated if rain fell.
We halted beneath some bushes to eat our breakfast. The bread,
butter, and cheese we could all enjoy, but I alone the wine and meat.
A pomegranate supplied our dessert.
Whilst we sat there, five women in blue dresses came by,
preceded by an old man driving half a score of camels. The women
wore bracelets and anklets. They glanced furtively at us and trudged
past. A negress only, who lagged behind, tried to attract our
attention. She was evidently not accustomed to be taken notice of.
Travelling was now easy, the track leading upwards over smooth
calcareous ground. In little watercourses, now dry, were planted
clumps of palm and olive trees, the soil being banked about them to
form dams. On an adjoining slope were numbers of small caves,
inhabited only in harvest time, when watch is kept over the crops.
We ascended higher and higher amongst the mountains, until
suddenly, as I turned in my saddle, I saw the Mediterranean like a
blue streak in the distance. We were at that moment at the highest
point we were to reach that day. At a distance here and there dogs
appeared, barking at us, and occasionally in their vicinity white
figures and rising smoke. Hamed said that these people were cave
dwellers, but were only a small tribe. A little later we were to arrive at
quite a subterranean town.
I halted abruptly on seeing below me a valley with, comparatively
speaking, many trees. On the farther side rose a long range of high
mountains. The valley itself was exactly like a large, old sand or clay
ditch, with sloping sides, pierced by a great number of neglected and
long-disused shafts, but planted with trees—palms, olives, and figs.
“Is that Hadeij?” I asked. Hamed nodded, and I pulled up to take a
photograph.
It was then exactly two o’clock, and we continued on our way,
walking for a time beside our horses. Just as we were about to
remount, a white sheep-dog bounded out of a hole we had not
noticed; it bayed at us in a most dismal fashion, and from the nearest
points of vantage its companions joined in chorus.
I rode up to look at the dogs, and caught sight of a deep pit with
perpendicular sides that had been dug in the ground from the top of
the ascent. Down at the bottom a camel stood resting. Round a
hearth were household chattels and large bins made of rushes,
containing barley, and amongst these a few fowls. Some women and
children looked up on hearing the tramp of my horse, stared at me
for a moment, and then fled into recesses in the walls.
Hamed now suggested that I should not remain standing there,
and I followed his good advice.
A path had been dug into the hillside, and terminated in a large
door or gate. This evidently led to a long underground passage, and
ended in the square yard, open to the air, which I had just seen, and
whence are entered the excavated rooms or caves, used as
dwelling-places, stores, and stables.
On the horizon the straight stems of palms stood out sharply
against the mountains. In the foreground were olive trees, and,
mingled with them, a few palms; beneath one of these was gathered
a group of men, amongst whom, Hamed said, was the great Khalifa.
I therefore drew rein. An old greybeard rose and strode forward,
offering his hand and bidding me welcome, the other men following
his example. They were fine specimens of humanity, with regular
features, black eyes, and straight noses—one saw at once that they
were not of the ordinary Arab type.