Buddhist principles for business

Monday, 15 November 2010 23:51 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

World Fellowship of Buddhists organises the first ever business forum to infuse religious teaching into sustainable practices

Assimilating Buddhist principles to found sound business practices based on inclusivity and sustainability to get maximum use of the post-war environment in Sri Lanka was emphasised during the business forum organised by the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Colombo yesterday.

By Uditha Jayasinghe

While celebrating the 25th General Council the organisation held the much anticipated business forum as a value addition that was deemed to be necessary for the times. Head of the Bodhinyana Monastery, in Western Australia, Most Rev. Ajhan Brhamvanso from the United Kingdom delivering the keynote address emphasised on the importance of Buddhist teachings to build sound and sustainable business in a post-global financial crisis era.

Putting a new twist into the traditional idea of doing business sorely for profits he pointed out how trust was an important part of business.

“Studies have shown that as much as 5% of transaction cost is incurred due to lack of trust. If you send a product, or expect a delivery or want payment on time there is no real guarantee. So we have evolved complicated processors but the real value of trust is immeasurable when it comes to business. If we have more honest people doing business then there would be more gain for everyone,” he explained adding that simple strategies work best when based on human qualities.

He pointed out that the top business minds of the world use Buddhist principles and produce cutting edge business practices and yet do not live in Buddhist countries. The Thero insisted that Sri Lanka recovering from a three decade conflict would do best to focus on its rich heritage of Buddhism to maximise of economic development in a sustainable format.

“When I was growing up in London we could not swim in the Thames River. All along the shore there were boards saying “if you fall in then go to the nearest hospital” — it was that toxic. But within my lifetime I have seen how the Thames became clean. It was through a very simple strategy. Legislation was introduced demanding the factories along the bank put their water out-supply pipes upstream from their water sourcing pipe. This meant that they were directly using the polluted water that they emitted into the river. This simply mechanism healed the Thames and it is this same ingenious yet simple methods that we must use to sustain our world today.

Given that Buddhists believe in reincarnation and rebirth, if they pollute the world then they themselves will return to inhabit it, the Thero pointed out to entertained tittering from the audience. “If your company causes an oil spill in the gulf then you can be reborn as a fish in that same sea; if a mine shaft collapses then you may be reborn as a rat in that same place. I don’t know... but don’t you think it makes sense to be careful now?”

Taking care of customers was important, he noted, as the same people have to remain as customers for the next few decades if the company is to grow. Damaging the consumers in any way will result in the company losing business in the long term. Finding a method to take away rewards from executives who made shortcut decisions based on profit was also advocated by the Thero.