By E. Hartman Reckord
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Global humanitarian and spiritual leader, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, highlighted the importance of ethics in business for sustainable growth addressing a Business and Ethics event on December 13 at India House, 2 East King’s House Road, Kingston.
“Being a businessman, you wouldn’t want your vendors to cheat you and so we must apply the same principles to our customers. What you don’t want your vendors to do to you, don’t do to your customers. This is the basic goal of ethics,” Shankar said, at the event, hosted by the High Commissioner of Indian to Jamaica. His Excellency Mayank Joshi, was attended by senior government officials, members of the business community and the diplomatic corps.
The humanitarian said it is a misconception to think that one must be unethical and engage in “hanky panky” dealings to grow their business.
“You can be ethical and still grow. You don’t have to tell lies in order to grow in business; this is a misnomer. There are institutions, there are business owners, there are entrepreneurs who have toed the path of ethics and have been successful,” he emphasized, that business models that have achieved success without corruption should be promoted to inspire the younger generation and help dispel this misconception.
Shankar, who has a vision of a stress-free and violence-free society, said that negative emotions, such as anger, fear, anxiety, can be lessened through the practice of Sky breathing techniques.
This is a type of meditation that uses breathing patterns to bring the body and mind into a calm state. Shankar said that understanding the body, the mind and the emotions more deeply could help address negative feelings.
“If we learn a little bit about these, we can change the way we feel; we don’t have to feel helpless when we feel depressed or upset. We have the power to change our feelings. We have the power to rise above the negativity,” he explained.
The global humanitarian and spiritual leader has united millions of people around the world through his Art of Living Foundation, a non-profit, non-religious and non-governmental organisation that aims to promote peace and harmony through education and humanitarian projects.
