Comprising of 48 thought provoking Sutras for the Modern Mystic. BUY IT NOW

	AUDIOBOOK An amazing variety of people who share intensely compelling experiences of speaking from the heart. Narrated by Marcus Flanagan. BUY IT NOW

	Executive Spirit by Rebecca Fitzgibbon Patanjali's first Yoga Sutra is translated as "Yoga is stilling the modifications of mind." In so doing, the yogi experiences his or her union with the creative power of the universe — source consciousness. Source consciousness is a common goal and practice for most Yoga practitioners, but in today's heady rush for success many people don't have the time or energy for anything more than keeping their heads above water. This is especially true in executive professions. We all want to enhance our experience of work and enrich our work environments with greater meaning, vision and satisfaction. We want our work to be a creative outlet for our passion, vision and purpose. We all want to be fulfilled. But mention the words unitive consciousness, meditative mind, or even soul in the workplace, and people tend to avert their eyes. This is about to change due to Australian-based American Robert Rabbin. Eminent contemporary mystic Robert Rabbin spent ten years as a disciple of renowned meditation master Swami Muktananda (1908 - 1982), including four years living in Muktananda's ashram in India. Returning from India, he began the process of integrating his experiences and applying his spiritual insight to contemporary living and working. He is highly regarded as a pioneer in executive coaching and is an innovator in merging spirit and work. "I wasn't content to remain in what I call the spiritual ghettos, communities of like-minded people who aren't able to engage with the larger world," say Robert. "As my life kept pulling me into areas where no one spoke in terms I was used to, living as I did for 10 years in an ashram, I had to invent new ways of communicating. "I learned to speak with a very flexible syntax, linking my words to familiar and acceptable experiences and beliefs drawing on metaphors, analogies, and stories that anyone could understand. Somewhere within each person is that conscious spark of cosmic consciousness. I challenged myself to find creative ways to bring that forth in people, and then help them integrate and apply that perspective to their life and business." The vocabulary of spiritual awakening has begun to enter the most mainstream corners of society, penetrating the hearts and minds of a growing number of world leaders. The corporate world is flirting with innovative paradigms formed by moral and ethical values, as well as social and environmental responsibility. The tide is turning, and its axis is source consciousness. Words like spirit, soul, and sacred are beginning to be used as often in conservative boardrooms as in spiritual communities. It is this source consciousness that has informed Robert's work for more than 20 years. Sourcing at work According to Rabbin, cultivating source consciousness is especially important for managers and leaders in all organisations and sectors. The embodiment of source consciousness has powerful and innovative applications for problem-solving, future-visioning, communicating, developing tolerance and mutual understanding and for assuming an overall wise and compassionate posture in our interactions with each other. "The main tools in my coaching and consulting tool box were made during my years of sadhana (spiritual work), especially meditation. If we can appreciate Einstein’s comment, 'We can't solve problems at the same level of consciousness from which we created them,' then we can appreciate the value of the meditative mind," says Robert on business mentoring from a yogic perspective. "The inner qualities of calmness, quietude, steadiness, deep listening and sensing that we cultivate in meditation and Yoga are all incredibly important in the workplace. I've always thought my major contribution to any situation was what I could see from a place of inner silence." Authenticity, service, values, creativity, purpose, and passion are needed in every dimension of our lives — and professional life is no different. "Executive coaching from a source consciousness perspective helps increase our ability to effectively meet the day-to-day challenges of executive responsibilities, and is a catalyst for the exploration of the deeper dimensions of life," Robert says. Truth at work Meditative applications in the workplace encourage individuals to look within and not just to be machines in the workplace. Robert Rabbin challenges us to ask: Who are we? What are we doing? How and why are we doing it? Does our organizational culture liberate or suppress employees' spirit? What is the quality of our communications and of our relationships? What are our values, and how do we demonstrate them in our decisions? How do we serve the greater good of our community and the world? Big questions for big business — and big questions for our personal lives too. "Reality starts inside, within our own consciousness, and then moves outside, as our own creation," Robert explains. "This is why wise leaders seek to know themselves and explore their inner consciousness. Wise leaders cultivate the three strands of wisdom — a clear mind, an open heart, and present-centered attention." This is the essence of truthful wisdom in our real work. Truthfulness makes our professional life run smoother. People understand what we need from them, and know that we are doing all we can to fulfill our duties. Our motivations are transparent, we are up-front and genuine, and communication becomes empathic. This is an everyday, commonplace practicality — not just a mindful exercise of living consciously. Why do we do what we do for work, when work takes up so much of our lives? Robert explains that we often look to the world to give us a job that we love to do, when we should be giving the world the job that we love to do. "We seem to have lost trust and faith in the creative possibilities of our own life and we are usually too willing to betray our own unique expression of spirit. For many of us, the issue of authenticity is central to our spiritual lives. I think that most people are too big for their jobs, too powerful, too creative, and too original — if only they would be willing risk a bit of security and the opinions of others they would find this out." Ego at work Ego is a learned part of our social make-up, and especially so in the workplace. We establish our professional stance; we take initiative and take credit. We're proud of our achievements and bask in the accolades of respect amongst our colleagues — understandably so. Yet while we know the way of wisdom is a humble one, we struggle to release our ego and overcome our pride. As soon as we're proud of our humility and recognise our release of egotism, our ego is back, hiding in the corner of our mind, chattering away. "Ego is a limited frame of reference," Robert says. "We shouldn't get confused because of what some sage was reputed to have said 2,000 years ago. We won't win this battle of ego by making it our enemy — we jut need to understand that the egoic way of being in the world is an impoverished one. With this understanding we can expand our sense of self until we come to experience all of existence as our own self, and then we can begin living." Robert teaches, through his truthTalks, that there is no goal for Yoga; there is no Samadhi (oneness or tranquility) — there is only the nature of reality (Sati, or awareness). Source consciousness is not a destination we strive for, but our natural state, when not affected by our limited frames of reference (egoistic judgment). "Yogic traditions are based in a cultural reality that is not our own," he says. "The 'there' that we want to get to in meditation is the real 'here.' All spirit work does is help us understand our projections; our ego. We're in pain here — not because the world is bad but because we have forgotten what we once knew. The ego disconnects us. We need an umbilical cord of direct experience with the life force." Silence at work Yogic philosophy can help the workplace, using meditative techniques of inner silence to bring workers together in a humble, clear honesty. Robert Rabbin writes, "Silence is oneness. Silence refers to a state of fundamental unified existence; a condition of being in which all conflict, fear, doubt, projection, memory, and delusions — all subjectivity and objectivity — are dissolved and thus resolved." Silence is the pure and simple state of being; before words, before thoughts, before self. It is the place we dwell where we are timeless, boundless and full of grace. How does this work for us at work? How can we fulfill all our work responsibilities while still maintaining a peaceful and present clarity of mind? "We have all heard about what athletes call 'the zone,'" Robert says. "The greatest athletic performances occur because the athletes transcend the personal; they enter the zone. They reference the zone, where time stands still. This is a non-ordinary state. We can see that people will attribute their greatest performance to a non-ordinary state." He also acknowledges that there's actually nothing more ordinary. "Meditation is awareness of our thinking and feeling. The meditative state is just reality — this is just a natural state." When we are trying to integrate work and spirit, we assume that we are not already in a meditative state — that it is something we have to attain, rather than simply be. "We are either in virtual reality or actual reality," Robert says. "The reason it is so hard to maintain a meditative state is that it's impossible. The effort to maintain will always fail, because what we're really trying to do is what we are by nature, already. "The fundamental issue is of 'here' and 'there.' The only thing that exists is the real 'here.' Samadhi is the real here and now. The essence of that teaching is 'I am That.' We are the ones creating the dualism of 'self' and 'Self.'" Rebecca Fitzgibbon is one of Australia’s leading freelance journalists. Back to Media-Room - Print page