Editorial Note: Spirituality, Management and Society, Issue 3 – Yoga

Download Issue 3, June 2020: English Edition ; Dutch Edition

Dear all

We are happy to share with you our third issue of OM RISE Magazine. We are delighted to inform you that the content of this magazine is now available online at: https://magazine.omrise.org

For this issue we have chosen the theme of Yoga to celebrate World Yoga Day. We hope you will be inspired by the insights on Yoga, its applications and some of the authors’ experiences shared in this issue.

Yoga is one of the Indian Schools of Philosophy (Darśanas). There are six main Darśanas: Mīmānsa and Vedānta, Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika, Sāṃkhya and Yoga. One can ask: What is the reason to have such philosophies? What message do they have for the world? Some philosophies acknowledge the existence of God while others do not. Indian philosophies give place to theistic, atheistic and agnostic perspectives. Each of these philosophies give their viewpoints on the concept of consciousness through different words, theories, and frameworks. Despite such perspectives, at the fundamental level, all human beings are inclined to know: ‘how do we get rid of sorrows and experience sustainable happiness?’

Happiness is a relative concept. What we experience as happiness in this time of the corona pandemic may be different from what we experienced as happiness in the past or what we will experience in the future. Is there a more sustainable experience of happiness which is less dependent on the environmental ups and downs? This question can be answered in different ways by different philosophies. We can state that it is the same consciousness in a person that experiences both sorrow and happiness. Sorrow and happiness both stem from an individual’s consciousness; they stem from the same place.

The practice of Yoga provides us extensive insights on the workings of consciousness and our mental construction. It tells us about possible mental deformations (vṛttis) that we have in our perceptions. It gives us insights into the kinds of obstacles we may experience. It tells us several paths to diagnose these obstacles and how to move forward in our personal development. Its main aim is to get rid of these deformations so that we may perceive things in their real form.

When deformations veil our true consciousness, they shape the reality we perceive. We inadvertently or even semi-consciously identify ourselves with these unreal perceptions. We then live in a fog. And yet, we do not know that we are unable to see the real things because of the fog. The importance of Yoga Philosophy is that it gives guidance to spiritual practice (sādhanā) and helps us to  understand this consciousness, to embody it as a way of living. Ultimately, we have the potential  to become one with it. Yoga, thanks to its practical aspects, can serve as a connecting tread to all philosophies.

A lot has been written about concepts derived from the Yoga Philosophy in scholarly journals as well as in professional journals. Moreover Yoga is being experienced and expressed across the world in several ways.

नास्ति मायासम: पाशो नास्ति योगात्परं बलम् ।
नास्ति ज्ञानात्परो बन्धुर्नाहङ्कारात् परो रिपु: ॥

nāsti māyāsamaḥ pāśo nāsti yogatparaṃ balam।
nāsti jñānātparo bandhurnāhaṃkārātparo ripuḥ ॥

There is no fetter like māyā (Illusion). There is no greater power than Yoga There is no greater friend than Knowledge. And no enemy worse than Egoism (Gheranda Samhita Verse 1.4.)

We wish you all a happy World Yoga Day celebration!

Chief Editor

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

Advisor

Harsh Purohit

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

Team Members

Language Editing

Artwork photos & Design Credits

This magazine is an initiative of the Chair of Hindu Spirituality and Society of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 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 Prabandhan (Indian Management). 

The OM RISE logo is freely available for OMRISE partners.