One common question I encounter wherever I discuss the concept of spiritual management with people is, “How do you relate spirituality to management?”. The very next and obvious question that follows is, “What do you mean by spirituality?”. We have to remember that the field of academia, like many other domains, needs a rational explanation of things to put them in perspective. Rightly so, if a concept has been brought into the literary purview, especially something as subjective as the concept of spirituality; logical explanation must precede application. First question first. Why bother with spirituality in management? Management field, as it is, is replete with theories and models, many of which are yet untested. Then, why spirituality now? Doesn’t it add to the confusion? According to me, that is where the problem actually lies.
I am intrigued by the concept of time. We tend to believe, in support with the scientific facts that we are on a linear path of progression since the event of the big bang 13.7 billion years ago. It gives us a mental perception of time as a straight line where we are at the far end of the time as the time is ticking away. There are many problems with this view. The first is the assumption that the universe has evolved, and is evolving, only in one direction. The second is that everything that is contained in the universe is contained within one time moment – that is, the whole universe as a big, singular blob expanding in one direction.
Michael Shermer wrote that beliefs were biological imperatives; and that we believe because we have to believe in something. We all believe in things. Albert Einsten once said, “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen”. In psychiatry, beliefs are tearted as true properties of the mind and delusions are treated as genuine beliefs.