Prof. dr. Sharda S. Nandram
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, dear children,
Namaskar,
Pranaam to the elders here in our midst.
In the next 40 minutes, I would like to talk about Divali, also known as the festival of lights. Yet you yourselves already know so much about Divali. How many Divalis have you celebrated in your life, in Suriname, in India, in the Netherlands or somewhere else? Did all these celebrations change you in any way? Or have you remained the same and do you wish yourself and your family a shubh Divali every year? You repeat the message to yourself and your loved ones: light conquers darkness; good conquers evil. What else do you do? You do some in-depth cleaning of your house, you buy new clothes to wear on the day of Divali, you do a pūjā (worship), reciting mantras addressed to Goddess Lakṣmī, you offer sweets and light small lamps, you wish each other a beautiful Divali, you eat fully vegetarian treats and other food. You mark it as a day of beautiful beginnings and perhaps you have some beautiful resolutions in mind. Many of us, however, soon forget these resolutions and continue merrily in our old ways. And this ritual repeats itself every year.
Currently, there is far too much focus worldwide on the physical presence of lights around us, while we face an ever-increasing darkness of ignorance within ourselves.
Knowledge and wisdom are in danger of dissolving into a blind spot. Prosperity is being reduced to a selfish race for money and possessions. Divali is becoming a big shopping or marketing festival. In some places in the world, this gives rise to a compulsive consumption disorder. There is too much emphasis on replacing items instead of repairing or repurposing them. Material matters like money and expensive gifts are emerging as the dominant expressions of our love and affection. Our physical cleanliness gets more attention than our mental cleanliness or spiritual purity.
Have you ever wondered how this festival could become more meaningful to you? I did, when I was preparing for this National Divali Address, and I feel happy and privileged to share my insights with you. Let me thank the organizers and all of you in the audience for this opportunity. My chair as a professor at Nyenrode Business University and VU University Amsterdam focuses specifically on the subject of spirituality. It is no wonder, then, that this address will center around the same topic.
I asked myself: What is the situation in the world today and how can spirituality help us deal with some of the big questions in the current context? I will address this question specifically in the light of Divali.
Shortly, I will share with you what answers I found as I pondered this question. Let me just lift a tip of the veil for you: from the perspective of Divali, spirituality will help us shine new light on some major social issues and business developments.
This address does not contain any pretty pictures on a screen. Instead, I would like you to solicit your participation. Part of this address will be a guided contemplation which involves listening with your eyes closed, to let the deeper meaning of the words that are spoken sink in. After all, spirituality pertains to our innermost drive. It requires deep insights. Spiritual knowledge and understanding cannot be conveyed solely through cognitive discourse. Above all, we must experience it ourselves. I call this contemplation because it involves reflection and hopefully appeals to another level of consciousness. With your eyes closed, you can think more deeply about the things you hear and they will make a more lasting impression. But first, let me exchange knowledge with you in the cognitive way.
In doing so, I want to elaborate on the questions:
1. What is the current context in which we live?
2. How can spirituality help with this? Of course, in doing so, I will briefly address the question of what spirituality is.
3. How do we give space to spirituality?
What is the current context in which we live?
Over the past 100 years, the world has made great progress in several important areas. For example, in the area of health, infant mortality worldwide has decreased more than 10 times. In terms of freedom, about 60% of the world’s population lives in a democracy. Literacy has quadrupled and about 850 million people have graduated from higher education. As for economic growth, the per capita GDP has increased more than tenfold in Western Europe alone. People also feel happier. Over the past four decades, the percentage of people who feel happy has increased by 8-10% in many countries, while the satisfaction parameter has increased by 10-12%. The unequal distribution of happiness is also steadily decreasing.
Despite this progress, however, people are experiencing a lack of control over their lives due to the fleeting nature of current developments. Many also feel a sense of insecurity when it comes to finances. The high inflation rate and energy crisis add to this uncertainty. Through increasing technological advances, a plethora of information becomes available, but this actually makes life even more complex for many.
It brings unnecessary levels of stress. Living in a more visibly connected world than ever before brings feelings of ambivalence when it turns out that others do not hold the same values or derive the same meaning from events, and we realize that the same event or information may be interpreted in differing ways.
A recent Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum describing “Worlds Apart” shows that only 15% of two thousand world leaders surveyed in various sectors are optimistic or positive about the next 10 years. Concerns about global warming, social inequality, racism and polarization, and workforce shortages give rise to important questions, including:
● Are we doing things right as a company, organization or society as a whole?
● What constitutes meaningful, useful work and how can we facilitate this to achieve more together?
● Aren’t we ourselves part of the problem?
● Shouldn’t we become self-reflective, take responsibility and solve these issues ourselves?
We live in a time of war on our continent and massive inflation. Hence, our happiness and prosperity as human beings seems to be at stake. This leads to disappointment and frustration which may express itself in various ways. There seems to be a great deal of chaos, very little cooperation, little leadership or accountability, and a good amount of impatience.
Could spirituality bring some order to this chaos?
“Yes!” is my answer.
Spirituality gives space to our lifeworld. Nowadays, our decisions and actions are largely determined by systems – whether these be procedures or technology. We tell ourselves that everything must be objectively measurable, because that means it is true. Anything else we may sense or experience as human beings gets discarded as soon as we enter our professional context. We thereby keep a large part of ourselves in darkness.
More and more, we are trying to manage things and lead people by keeping as much as possible under our control, imposing rules and regulations, often topping it off with the implementation of technological systems. As a result, the input we receive for our decisions (even if we are leaders), tends to be distorted. The system is the dominant factor. Diminishing the lifeworld has an oppressive effect and will make people feel constricted.
The solution lies in combining lifeworld and system, yet in a professional context we allow our decisions to be be guided mainly by the system. In our private lives, however, we know all too well that the lifeworld is integral to our existence. As such, we have built a schizophrenic frame of mind which leaves no room for our real selves, for our own authentic traits as individuals.
What is spirituality?
In my research, I define spirituality as follows. The ability to connect is central to the definition. Spirituality is about developing the ability to connect. For this to happen, one must be open to the connection a person makes with their perceived reality and with the reality they cannot perceive. Spirituality is about the ability of entities (e.g. people, organizations or society at large) to connect with a reality beyond their perceived reality. This definition allows for acceptance on the path from what is objectively perceivable, to what is experienced, to what happens to us and which we cannot grasp with our rational thinking. If we only take into account what is perceivable, we reduce ourselves and miss out on relevant information. Spirituality, then, is essentially about connecting, and Divali gives us a great opportunity to connect. Let me mention three types of connections:
● With our Self (deeper self). By this, I indicate that we are more than our bodies. This connection is available 24/7 as an anchor within us.
● With others, because this brings about a sense of belonging, being recognized, respected and appreciated as a person, as a professional, as a craftsman or craftswoman, as a student or in any role.
● With the unknown. This is something we cannot ignore. Everyone experiences things that cannot be explained. People make sense of this by believing in something. For some, it is a higher energy and some call it God.
What do we gain from these connections?
These connections give space to both the system and the lifeworld. This creates space for doing, being there for yourself and for others, participating based on inspiration and recognizing that there are things we cannot explain. Paying attention to these connections, becoming conscious of them:
● creates peace because people will feel that there is room for being human, for the human dimension, for human values.
● allows for initiatives of self-reflection to arise, which means taking ownership.
● leverages the powers of imagination and creativity, which may lead to entrepreneurship and innovations.
Spirituality gives us access to untapped resources. In a world besieged by so many persistent problems, we desperately need such untapped resources.
How do we create space for spirituality?
Leveraging spirituality takes some effort. It requires developing a different infrastructure when it comes to our perception and actions – in companies, organizations and in society as a whole. It also requires accepting that certain aspects of this consciousness will remain unknown to us, due to our limited cognitive and intellectual abilities. The alternative infrastructure I would like to propose develops in the interplay between doing, being there and allowing things to unfold.
We need to awaken the part of our consciousness that has become dormant. If you don’t use it, you forget that it’s there. That’s what happened to us. We have come to see people as machines; we have reduced them to objects. As a result, there is less room for inspiration and for the untapped resources within each of us. If you misuse it, sooner or later it will come back with a vengeance. The current climate crisis bears witness to that. We are trying to control nature. We take an arrogant stance towards the environment. What if we think of ourselves as a grain of sand in the totality of the universe. How would we act? Wouldn’t we be more deferential? Wouldn’t we be more ready to serve nature and others, making conscious use of resources and carefully weighing when enough is enough? In any case, we cannot ignore spirituality. If we do, we ignore our own humanity. Deep down, everyone knows that there is more to the world than we can perceive with our senses.
To leverage spirituality as a potential direction for solutions, we must act on it ourselves. We have to start realizing that we ourselves are the instrument. We need to allow for additional ways of knowing and create space to base our actions not just on rational thinking and measurable data, but also on what we sense to be true. We must leave room for what we are convinced of and believe in. Thus, we can tap into another level of our consciousness.
One method I find particularly suited to this is asking deep questions or ‘Slow Questions’. The phrase itself already implies that it takes time to answer these questions, and the answers may not always be unambiguous or they may not even exist at all. The instructions I am about to give you for your contemplation will also contain some probing questions. Thinking about these will help us explore new directions for solutions.
So let us now focus on the second part of this address. After this part, we will light the dīyā and you will experience what it is like to see the external dīyā. But first, we will take the journey inward to our internal dīyā. Let us enjoy seeking the spiritual light (the dīyā).
| [Contemplation instructions and guidancePlease close your eyes now and make sure you are comfortable in your seat. I would like to request the children in this room to also sit back and close your eyes. It’s okay if you fall asleep but I don’t think that will happen. Let us go on a journey with our eyes closed and experience the wisdom given to us through our sages. Listen carefully while keeping your eyes closed and let it all come to you…] |
Find the dīyā, the light within you that has been burning since eternity. You may call it your spiritual light.
This is the dīyā that has never been extinguished through the karmic cycles, that was always there and will always be there.
It is the spiritual light, the eternal light that has never stopped shining. I am going to recite two mantras about this light.
The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad puts it very beautifully:
| asato mā sadgamaya, tamaso mā jyotirgamaya, mṛtyormā’mṛtaṃ gamaya. From evil lead me to good, from darkness lead me to light, from death lead me to immortality. (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.3.28) |
The Ṛgveda also puts it beautifully:
| oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya dhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayātLet us meditate on that exquisite glory of the divine Light (Enlivener, Sun). May he stimulate our understanding (in the form of knowledge and intellectual enlightenment).(Ṛgveda 3.62.10) |
Who is that light? This is the light that guides you in answering the questions: Who am I? How am I connected to the world around me? It is the light that lights the way from knowing to experiencing, the light that illuminates the path from knowing to experiencing and then to self-realization.
The light that is so beautifully expressed by Shri Krishnaji in the Bhagavad Gita:
| kaviṃ purāṇam anuśāsitāram aṇoraṇīyaṃsam anusmared yaḥ, sarvasya dhātāram acintyarūpam ādityavarṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt. Whoever meditates on the Omniscient One, the Ancient One, the Ruler (of the whole world), smaller than the atom, the Sustainer of all, of Unimaginable Form, Abundant as the Sun and beyond the darkness (of ignorance)…(Śrīmadbhagavadgītā 8.9) prayāṇakāle manasā’calena bhaktyā yukto yogabalena caiva,bhruvormadhye prāṇamāveśya samyak sa taṃ paraṃ puruṣamupaiti divyam.At the moment of death, with an impassive mind full of devotion, by the power of Yoga locking the entire Prāṇa (breath) between the two eyebrows, he (the seeker) reaches the Supreme magnificent Purusha.(Śrīmadbhagavadgītā 8.10) jyotiṣāmapi tajjyotistamasaḥ paramucyate,jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ jñānagamyaṃ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam.That (Brahman), the Light of lights, is said to be beyond darkness; (It is) Knowledge, the Object of Knowledge, seated in the hearts of all, to be attained by Knowledge.(Śrīmadbhagavadgītā 13.18) |
Let me summarize these verses in my own words:
The light that is radiant like the sun and beyond the darkness of ignorance…
The light that is more subtle than the subtlest, and also greater than the greatest light…
The light as a source, beyond the darkness of matter…
The light that stands for knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge. The light that is present in everyone’s heart. This is the light that introduces us to additional dimensions of knowing, and that tells us about the interplay between our reason and our beliefs. This light also leaves room for us to believe in things we do not know, things that we may be able to experience partially, or even things that will always remain unknown.
This journey you are embarking on with me is a tribute to the infinite, eternal spiritual light that is within us all…
It will lead us to even deeper questions about reality. To questions about the existence of everything we perceive. To questions about how everything, all of creation, came into being. The nāsadīya sūkta from the Rig Veda guides us to beautiful insights about this. Let me share those with you now. You can listen to me with your eyes still closed.
I will read a free translation of the nāsadīya sūkta from the Ṛgveda. The translation from Sanskrit to English comes from Swami Tadatmananda.
| 1. nāsadāsīnno sadāsāttadānīṃ nāsīdrajo novyomā paroyatWhen the universe was unmanifested, it remained in an intermediate state. In that unmanifested state, the universe was completely absorbed in maya, or illusion. There was no world below, nor space above. None of the fourteen lokas or worlds described in Hindu mythology existed then.kimāvarīvaḥ kuhakasya śarmannaṃbhaḥ kimāsīd gahanaṃgabhīramWhat was covered? What then was veiled or obscured by the mysterious darkness of maya (the illusion)? Where? Where could something exist? Even space itself did not exist then. For whom could there be happiness? Not only was the universe unmanifested, but conscious beings were also unmanifested. No beings were present to experience the existence or absence of anything. So what was present? Was there only water, mysterious and deep? No. Even fundamental elements like water had yet to emerge. 2. na mṛtyurāsīdamṛtaṃ na tarhi na rātryā ahna āsītpraketaḥThere was neither death nor immortality then. And, there was no sign of night or day.There was no moon or sun, no months or years. Time itself did not exist.anīda vātaṃ svadhayā tadekaṃ tasmādadhānyanna para kiṃ ca nāsa Although there was no air, no air to breathe, the One breathed through the power of maya. Breathing here is a metaphor for the source of prana, the source of life. And other than that, other than the One, the non-dual brahman (or universal consciousness or spiritual light) accompanied by maya, nothing else existed as long as the universe remained in an unmanifested state. 3. tama āsīttamasā gūḍhamagre’praketaṃ salilaṃ sarvamā idaṃIn the beginning, before the universe became manifest, only darkness was covered by darkness. Everything was covered with the mysterious darkness of maya. All this, the unmanifest universe, was like unfathomable water. Nothing at all could be observed until the power of maya made the universe manifest again.tucchyenābhvapihitaṃ yadāsīttapasastanmahinā jāyataikaṃNow comes the actual moment of creation. That which was completely covered by darkness, the unmanifest universe, merging into maya and covered or hidden by its mysterious power, emerged as the universe through the power of creation, through maya’s extraordinary capacity for unlimited creativity. 4. kāmastadagre samavartatādhi manaso retaḥ prathamaṃ yadāsītFirst arose the desire or urge or first impulse to make the universe manifest. Emerge in what form? As the primal seed for the spirit of all. As a result of the karmic impulse, maya created intelligent beings so that they could receive the results of deeds committed in their past lives. sato bandhumasati niravindanhṛdi pratīṣyā kavayo manīṣā To discover the connection, to understand the relationship between the unmanifested and the manifested world, the sages, the enlightened rishis and yogis have given these truths. These truths they could discover that no one else could discover. For this they sought wisely in their hearts, turning their attention inward, away from the world, and toward divinity, the spiritual light. 5. tiraścīno vitato raśmireṣāmadhaḥ svidāsī3dupari svidāsī3tEverything, the elements of space, air, fire, water and earth created by the power of maya, spread rapidly, extending to every corner of the cosmos, like rays of light radiating outward. What might be underneath? What spread into the lower parts of the universe? What was above, in the higher regions of the cosmos?retodhā āsanmahimāna āsantsvadhā avastātprayatiḥ parastāt There were living beings, capable of action and experience, and material elements, objects experienced by those living beings. Objects like food were below, with an inferior nature. Beings they consumed were above, with superior nature as conscious, living beings. 6. ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocatkuta ājātā kuta iyaṃ visṛṣṭiḥWho really knows? Who knows how the world was actually created? Who, of all the people here, can really explain it? Explain what? From what and by whom was this world created? Who exactly is the intelligent creator of the world, and from what substance or material was it created? arvāgdevā asya visarjanenāthā ko veda yata ābabhūvaEven the gods, such as Indra, Agni and Vishnu, came after the creation of the world and therefore they could not have perceived the moment when the world became manifest. Who then knows where it came from, from whom or what the cosmos originated. No human being and even the gods could NOT know that firsthand. 7. iyaṃ visṛṣṭiryata ābabhūva yadi vā dadhe yadi vā naHe from whom this creation arose, the One, the non-dual brahman associated with maya, who is known as Ishvara, the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the universe, He knows whether He is its creator or not. Who else could know? No one else was present at the moment of creation.yo asyādhyakṣaḥ parame vyomantso aṃga veda yadi vā na vedaThe supreme ruler of the world, who is, omnipresent and omniscient, He indeed knows. He alone knows. If not, no one knows. Fortunately, this knowledge of creation was discovered by the ancient sages, those who were blessed with the extraordinarily rare ability to see what others could not see, to understand what others could not comprehend. Those rishis expressed their discoveries in the Vedic scriptures we study today |
These were the seven verses from the nāsadīya sūkta. Now that we have tasted who we really are, let us reflect on some probing questions with an inquisitive mind. How do we deal with material prosperity? How does this relate to the spiritual deepening and inquisitiveness we develop sooner or later? Can material needs coexist with spiritual needs? What is our perspective on the way we treat Mother Earth? What is our perspective on how we deal with climate issues? Should we control and dominate nature as if it’s an object, in order to fulfill our material needs as much as possible? Is nature our best friend? Is nature our guide? What are we doing to combat the loss of biodiversity? What are we doing to combat polarization?
When our innermost, spiritual light becomes our anchor in everything we do, how do we deal with differences? If we are all connected – if at a deeper level you and I and every other person, being or thing have descended from that one consciousness, from the same spiritual collective light – what is our perspective on problems in the world? Both large and small problems, both your own and those of others? How do we deal with each other in our professional contexts?
In our businesses, do we give each other the space to make the most of our hidden capital and let it shine? Do we take time for other people? For other points of view? Do we give others enough space to feel at home regardless of their choices, regardless of their faith communities or cultures? Aren’t we ourselves part of what we call nature? What role do we play in all of these important social issues? Divali centers on Goddess Lakṣmī, who is the symbol of prosperity. Is this just about you and your family’s prosperity, and is it just about prosperity in a material sense? If we assume that material light is nothing but darkness, would we still take part in the same race of pursuing ever-increasing prosperity just for ourselves? Or would it become a concerted effort to ensure prosperity for all?
I leave these questions for you to enjoy pondering in the light of our Vedic wisdom. I hope we all feel connected to the light within and are preparing to connect to the external light.
I would like to end this guided contemplation with a mantra:
| oṃ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idam pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥOm! That is infinite (man), and this (universe) is infinite. The infinite arises from the infinite. (Then) takes the infinity of the infinite (universe), what remains is still the infinite (Brahman) alone.Om! Peace! Peace! Peace! |
Summary
My Divali message is that we seek the spiritual light. This spiritual light will help us make connections on various levels: with our deep Self, with others and with a higher energy. We need a different infrastructure for that, as you were guided to experience just now. I hope you are now able to see the material light with the help of your spiritual light. And that you will be able to illuminate the external light even more.
Divali does not just tell us about the external light in the form of the dīyā, but also about the spiritual light within that has always been there, often as an untapped resource, which is especially needed in our present times. When we become conscious of this, we give space to the lifeworld as well as to the system. After all, both draw from the same consciousness. This way, Divali becomes an expression of material and spiritual prosperity at the same time.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Namaskaar and Pranaam!
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