Editorial Note: Spirituality, Management And Society, Issue 7 – Yoga

Dear all,

We are delighted to share the 7th issue of OM RISE Magazine with you. For this issue, the theme is Yoga. The popularity of yoga globally was recognized when the United Nations declared 21 June as International Yoga Day. In the current issue we celebrate this day by sharing a collection of articles on yoga and other spiritual topics. 

Different authors express their views and experiences. They explain the word yoga in various ways such as: to concentrate, uniting the soul with the divine, linking or connection with the Supreme, as the transcending of the activity of the mind, taming and restraining, controlling the ‘personal’ self, elevation, upheaval, and transformation.

There are different philosophical systems of yoga which are derived from scriptures such as the Patañjali Yoga Sūtra, the Śrīmad Bhagavadgītā and the Sāṃkhya Darśana. There are different frameworks which are derived from scriptures such as the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, Kriyā Yoga, Haṭha Yoga, Triyoga, Rāja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jñāna Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Prāṇa Yoga and Dhyāna Yoga. Several spiritual masters have given their own interpretations and views on yoga based on these scriptures. Some of these are known such as: Iyengar Yoga, Amrita Yoga, Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa of Pattabhi Jois, yoga emerging from Kaivalya Dham established by Swami Kuvalayananda and Integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo. In recent years we have seen several new types mainly focusing on techniques such as Hot Yoga, Laughing Yoga and Facial Yoga. In this Special Issue we present a selection of these systems, frameworks, views and techniques. 

To give a variety of perspectives we have reached out to Spiritual Movements to learn how they apply yoga in their movements. Their contributions can be found in a special section “Spiritual Movements in the Spotlight”. We have also asked a few researchers to reflect on elements of yoga in their personal and professional lives. 

As June is celebrated as Pride Month, we share an article under the ‘society section’ on inclusiveness of Indian philosophy and ancient Hindu scriptures about diverse perspectives on sexuality. 

From this issue onwards, we introduce columns: “Śāstra Manthana: Churning the Ocean of Scriptures” under the Spirituality section and “Research for Practitioners” under the Management section. The column on scriptures introduces ancient scriptures which may be of interest to you for spiritual wisdom relating to the theme of the issue. In this issue, we present you a brief overview of one of the most popular yoga scriptures of our times, the Patañjali Yoga Darśana. In the second new column, we share a brief overview of a few past research articles authored by OM RISE research group’s researchers for the management context. 

Additionally, you will find some useful links, new courses being offered, and book announcements. 

We hope you will enjoy and be inspired to apply some of the insights gained.

Also available online: https://magazine.omrise.org.

ज्ञाता ज्ञानं तथा ज्ञेयं द्रष्टा दर्शन दृश्यभूः । कर्ता हेतुः क्रिया यस्मात् तस्मै ज्ञप्त्यात्मने नमः ॥

jñātā jñānaṃ tathā jñeyaṃ draṣṭā darśana dṛśyabhūḥ kartā hetuḥ kriyā yasmāt tasmai jñaptyātmane namaḥ (Yogavāśiṣṭha, Verse 1)

Knower, knowledge, and to be known; Seer, observation and object; Doer, reason and action; we pray to God from whom all of these come. 

ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं परिज्ञाता त्रिविधा कर्मचोदना । करणं कर्म कर्तेति त्रिविधः कर्मसंग्रहः ॥

jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ parijñātā tri-vidhā karma-codanā karaṇaṃ karma karteti tri-vidhaḥ karma-saṅgrahaḥ (Śrīmad Bhagavadgītā Chapter 18, Verse 18)

Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower are the three factors that motivate action; the senses, the work, and the doer comprise the threefold basis of action. 

Chief Editor

Prof. Sharda S. Nandram

Professor of Hindu Spirituality and Society, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands Associate Professor Entrepreneurship, Organisational Innovation and Spirituality, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, the Netherlands

Advisors

Prof. Harsh Purohit

Dean, Faculty of Management Studies – WISDOM, Banasthali Vidyapith, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Dr. Chinmay Pandya

(MBBS, PGDipl, MRCPsych- London, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Pro Vice Chancellor, Haridwar, India

Team Members

Language Editing

Art Photography

We acknowledge the assistance offered during different phases of this publication by many well wishers, especially Bikram Lalbahadoersing, the Foundation (Stichting) Diwali Festival Amstelveen, Sharan Keizer (Student, King’s College, UK), Rajeev Verma (Infogile Technologies), Utsav Sharma (Woodkins Design). We also acknowledge the support provided by the Chair of Hindu Spirituality and Society of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

This magazine is an initiative developed in collaboration with OMRISE. OMRISE is a research group focused on Organizational Management (OM), Research (R), Innovation (I) and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (SE). Buurtzorg Nederland, in The Netherlands has set up this research group in association with Praan Group, The Netherlands at Banasthali Vidyapith. It promotes research in Integrative Self Management inspired by Buurtzorg and wisdom from Bhāratīya Prabandhana (Indian Management).

The OM RISE logo is freely available for OMRISE partners.