There is a lot of talk about importing spirituality into business as an antidote to various forms of malaise. I think it's important to ask, "Will it fit?" Personally, I don't think so, because it would be like trying to bring the ocean into a cup. Who can do this? If one is thirsty for the ocean, one must dive in, clothes and all. One must become drenched, and finally drown. What life there is after that, no one can say. Drown first, and then see.
There is no bottom line benefit, no strategic advantage, to be had in recognizing the truth of one's Self, which is the essence of spirituality. Self knowledge pays dividends, but not the kind stockholders hope for. To know the subtle essence of being is the very opening to life. When life opens before us, the tension and anxiety of holding it away dissolves.
This is not an uncommon experience. Each of us has been pierced by the silent knowledge of life, in which we appear different than before. The world, too, appears different than before. In this opening to life, there is a clarity that cannot be measured.
In this clarity, the orderly dance of creation is unveiled. We see ourselves within this dance, and our dancing, our whirling, is greater than our reason, our doubt, our insecurity. We become free to speak the truth of silent knowledge in each thing that we do. Certainly, this newfound freedom and expansion and joy will have an effect 'on the job,' but it won't fit within the parameters of managerial projections. The effect won't be predictable or controllable.
The Sufi poet Rumi exclaimed, "God has revealed to me that there are no rules for worship. Say whatever your loving tells you to. Your sweet blasphemy is the truest devotion. Through you a whole world is freed. Loosen your tongue. Don't worry what comes out. It's all the light of the spirit."
Why is it so easy for us to forsake this silent beauty? This beauty is the breath that keeps us alive. Our skill should come from this knowing. Our speech should come from this knowing. Our actions should come from this knowing.
We should not fear deep meditation. We should not fear our soul bursting from the constraints of our caution. Who will reproach us for being the light of this clarity? No one, because we are all longing to emerge into this light.
But this knowing is silent. This knowing is a mystery, revealed in the drenching and the drowning. Deep meditation means to suck into our body through the straw of silence the entire ocean of life. We can have no further certainty than this drinking in. One does not need anything but to love this silent knowledge.
Never mind about spirituality in business. Never mind about new theories of leadership, or about restructuring the workplace. First become your original presence. This presence will remake everything in its own image. Let the silent poetry of this presence take your mind, your hands, your tongue. Your secret heart of longing is already taken by this poetry. Turn towards it again and again.
May everyone be at peace, in love, and know their most perfect Self.
"Echoes in Silence" is a bi-weekly column by Robert Rabbin--author, speaker, and advisor--who has spend thirty years using self-inquiry as a means to explore the true nature of self, mind, reality, and consciousness.
His new book, The Sacred Hub (The Crossing Press, ISBN: 0-89594-837-0), is available through the bookstores nationwide.