A CEO and a Monk - Swami Pranavananda Brahmendra Avadutta !!

[Guest guest]

A CEO and a Monk

Swami Pranavananda Brahmendra Avadutta

 

 

http://www.shivaquest.org

 

 

Born in France,

Swamiji has spent the past 30 years in India. In 1988 received

sannyas dhiksha (initiation) from Vedananda Swamigal at the instructions of his

Guru Sarveswara Swamigal. After receiving a vision of Lord Shiva during

meditation, Swamiji set out in search of a location to build an ashram.

Once he found the beautiful location in Southern India,

he built his hermitage and temple to Lord Shiva.

The following is a talk given by Swami-ji given at a

business conference in Sao Paulo,

Brazil,

September 2004.

Aum Namah Shivaya

Dear friends Self,

Let me first of all tell you how my friends Benhur, Ani

and your servant feel deeply honored by your invitation to this meeting. We are

a very small company and we are not used to going about and giving speeches to

such a distinguished gathering. You must be very astonished to see this man

(pointing to myself) dressed in such a manner and addressing you as a CEO of a

small company from India.

 

My dress denotes that I am a Sannyasin (a Hindu monk) and

the marks I have on my forehead are not make up to beautify me but rather a

sign of belonging to a hindu religious order.A C.E.O and a MONK? How

could it be? Yes it can be as I do manage a company 80 employees strong called

Fashions International, based in Chennai, ex-Madras, a city a bit smaller than

yours but however with 6 million inhabitants.

Every time a journalist or a TV reporter comes to me, his

first question is: ‘How can you be a monk and the CEO of a

company?’ my answer to those journalists is the same as the one I am

going to give you now: When one is in love, one is in love all the time. There

is no time when one is not in love.

 

From the moment one wakes up in the morning till again he

falls asleep at the end of a heavy day’s work.During all those hours, whether

he was physically with the person he is in love with or not he never ceased to

be in love.

Yet, he fulfilled his duties as a lover, a friend, a

husband or wife, a son or daughter…a man or a woman, an employee or a

C.E.O. It goes the same for me. I am always a monk, a spiritual man, in love

with the Ultimate at any time, any place and whatever I am doing or not

doing…Hence, I can talk to you on Corporate Mentality and New Age and yet

seeing the Ultimate in what I am presently doing.

For me, there is no difference whatsoever. When One has

first understood with one’s brain Who one is, one has to understand it

with one’s heart…If this has been achieved, it never leaves him and

goes along with him any minute, any second of his life, in whatever he is doing

or not doing. This is called Awareness.

Therefore, I can very well start my day with my spiritual

practices we call ‘Sadhana’ and continue with meeting with our

staff, see the various issues that have to be tackled, strategies to put into

place, to put into implementation, have a hard bargaining discussion with a

customer or enjoy a joke with our staff, talk about the latest pop singer or

discuss the latest fashion trends with our Design Dept, analyze our financial

reports with our Finance Executive or chat on line with our Offices in China,

Delhi and Bangalore all at once…

Yet, I am a Swami, a Hindu monk, which I have never ceased

to be. As you can see I am of a European origin.

I am French by birth but Indian by heart, being a resident

of India

for the past 33 years now. India has opened up for me the gate of Knowledge of

the Inner Self.An Indianness which added to my French Culture loaded with stiff

Cartesian beliefs and way of thinking, a new yet ancient, fresh yet coming

through eons of time an ever indelible awareness of I AM THAT.

I am that man, that woman, that child, that boss, that

employee, that flower, that tree, that bee, that cloud, that space, that

emptiness as there is nothing I am not.Awareness is much more than a belief. One

can change one’s belief but one cannot escape one’s awareness.

Awareness that I am you…that I am my staff has made

me understand that their happiness comes first.

What more rewarding than the happiness of our friends in

Fashions International when they got good orders or a new customer or when they

get their share of our company Income. Yes, not only do they get their monthly

salary plus statutory government social security benefits, but also they get a

share of their company income, not Profit…Income.

What will more personal income bring me? More of this

dress? More food than what my stomach can accommodate? Jewels? I have no need

of them as I do not need to appear rich…..I am quite aware also that my

idea of Corporate Management is FAAAR from being ‘normal’ and I

have no pretension to say that it is easily applicable to any company. But, I

do believe that anyone with sensitivity and compassion for others, respect of

others, feeling concern for the well-being of others, and above all being and more

so remaining simply a complete human being at all times is what I would like to

be an example for all CEOs or would be ones.

I am giving you this excerpt from an internet site.

‘The Wealth of the top one hundred men in the World

is equal to that of approximately 3 billion men and women at the bottom end of

the spectrum, mostly in third World nations. We seem to have been accepting the

big winner scenario and attempting to ignore the even bigger loser scenario.

Big winners are rich and powerful and big loser’s babies die of bloated

bellies’

 

 

Located

in the beautiful, serene and peaceful Kolli Hills, in South

India, is the ashram of Pranavananda Brahmendra Avadutta Swamigal

(Swamiji). The ashram is 1160m above sea level and is isolated from human

civilization—surrounded instead by the wondrous beauty of the unspoiled

Indian landscape. The closest village is 3km away, hidden behind a nearby

hill. Residents and visitors to the ashram are very careful to protect

their natural surroundings. No littering, picking flowers, breaking

branches, spitting, shouting or smoking are permitted.

The

ashram was founded by Swamiji and it is surrounded by places that hold deep

significance for him. The samadhi (resting place) of Swayamprakash

Brahmendra Avaduth Swamigal is located nearby. Fifteen kilometers away in

the village of Nerur is the samadhi of Sadashiva

Bramendra Avaduth Swamigal. Both men were practitioners of Avadutha

Digambara (sacred nudity).

 

 

Swamiji

lives at the ashram where he offers service to the local communities and

practices various tapas, including the Avadutha Digambara. Though the

ashram has no phone, it does have a satellite internet connection.

Swamiji maintains several very well designed websites to assist in the outreach

of his work. He also uses the internet to keep in touch with his

sannyasins around the world as well as being available as a spiritual advisor

to anyone through live internet chat.

Swamiji’s Shiva Lovers’ portal is: http://www.shivaquest.org

 

Photographs ©The Swami Pranavananda Trust, used with

permisssion.