Today, we had an Awakin Conversation with Vallabh Bhanshali, a visionary businessman, meditator, a seeker of truth and a philanthropist on the theme of Profit and Love.

Below are some nuggets from the call.

Favorite words: My favorite words are in the first verse from IshaVasya Upanishad. If we just remember one verse, this will be enough to preserve the sacred. All the essence of the world is contained in this Shloka/Verse. There is a natural order in all of the universe but sometimes due to our lack of awareness, we are not able to recognize it. Then, we try to impose our order rather than seeking to harmonize ourselves with the natural order.

The Rishi (seer) who wrote this said, everything you see has an order. Enjoy it. Just remember to not try to own it. It is a stream that does not own the land but flows over the land and nourishes it. You can consume, but you can only do so with a sense of renunciation. When you do that, it morphs into Aham Brahmasmi, I am the Universe.

For example, a young child goes into somebody else’s home and breaks a toy because he is not contaminated with the sense of ownership. He does not have the sense of “my toy” and “not my toy”. At the same time, if you secretly covet to possess something, you become a thief.

Early adulthood: When I was 19, I was a bit depressed with myself. At that time, I came across this book “Talks on the Gita” by Vinoba Bhave and half way through the book, I was a changed man. I was in a depressed state because of my own mistakes and I was trying to impose my order than aligning to nature’s order.

Half way through reading the book, I could see that there was one reality of Vallabh which wanted to suppress the other reality of Vallabh. However, truth doesn’t change merely by turning your face away from it or wishing it was some other way. For example, you are a student and if you know something, you know. If you fail, you fail. If I am not a good student, I am not a good student. But if I don’t know that, if I don’t accept that, and still keep wanting to be a good student, then that is a problem. When I first accepted my weakness consciously, then, it was easy to become a good student.

I was intrigued by the power of truth. Then I started examining the truth about relationships and institutions. I started examining my own existence -- if I did not start my life, then is there is a reason why I am here? That big question came alive for me -- Why I am I here?

On family and gifts: At some point, you start examining your gifts. I have had so many gifts.

A few days after my mother passed away, my elder brother wrapped his arms around us and said “Now, I am your mother.” One of my sisters would give up anything to be with us as a mother. My Uncle and Aunt stayed with us for 9 years till we grew up. My neighbors were so kind and my father would invite so many people who needed a space, to our home.

As I reflect back on these innumerable acts of kindness, I can’t even lift my head or open my mouth without being overwhelmed with gratitude.

The Ashram (Hermitage): When I was studying to be a Chartered Accountant, we lived in a joint family in a small house. My aunt one day went and asked our neighbor if they could spare a room for me to live and study. Much to our surprise, the neighbours kindly gave me a room. It became my ashram for 3 years. With this room, I got a private space that was not available in my own home. I filled it with positive vibrancy. I had many pictures of inspiring people there. And good books. I would have important conversations with my brother and cousins here.

Power of Thoughts: I read the tiny booklet “Thoughts of Power” by Swami Vivekananda every day. In those days, it cost 25 paisa. I gave hundreds of copies to other people. Once you put your mind in a certain space and nourish it, what can happen is unimaginable. I went from a struggling student to a Chartered Accountant who finished the course in 3 years instead of 4. And I was reading 50 books on various subjects and realized how powerful your mind can be once you open it and surrender to the natural order.

Two Business Rules: All the success of my business is due to my colleagues. I just put forth this question in front of them -- “Can we be the person we want to deal with?” As simple as that. I am lucky I had colleagues who understood that. A lot of moneyed people don’t have reputation. If you build reputation, money will flow. These truths are in alignment with the highest class in business -- “Are you a kind of person you would want to deal with on the other side? Do you value reputation over money?” The universal law of love and fairness will get established in business once these rules are clear.

Testing My Alignment: Very early on, in our underwriting business, a foreign bank came to us with a proposal for sub-underwriting an issue. In those times, underwriting work was considered money for jam. It was common and easy to make excuses if a claim were to devolve upon you, and anyway enforcing the law was very difficult.

We agreed on the deal verbally, but somehow the officer at the other end never completed the formal paperwork. And co-incidentally, a claim came up on that underwriting and this person at the other end became worried thinking I will likely not honor it since there was no formal paperwork. I said I would still honor the claim because I accepted it verbally. That made me unpopular in my community because if one of us pays up an underwriting claim, then all other sub-underwriters will also have to pay up, as the fact of underwriting is established!

It was a bit strange for my colleagues also, but then we discussed that we would have been in the counterparty’s shoes, we would have wanted the claim to be honored, so let’s also do that. We didn’t have large incomes, but still we paid.

By and by, we became the most chosen underwriter, because people trusted us. We wanted to work with integrity and keep our word. When you make a promise and you are committed to keep it, you work harder and smarter. Sadhana makes you smarter.

Inspiration: One of the persons I am deeply inspired by is N R Narayana murthy, the co-founder of the Indian tech giant Infosys. If you look at wealth distribution, his ability to think, work hard and renounce are unusual. The boy who served coffee in his office is a multi-millionaire. He thought about all his colleagues that way.

The team had a big software contract in their early days and they were working on it day and night. At midnight, they found a snag and called Narayana Murthy who said let’s wake up the client. He said if you are complacent about your reaction, it will have a different effect down the line. When you are in client service, if you find a bug, it is something very big. Truth has to hit us very hard, with love. He saw the truth and acted upon it.

Another thing about him is the way he holds gratitude. In a country like India, when economic constraints are removed, businessmen either want to exploit it or they are grateful. India’s economic reforms would not have succeeded the way they did, without his leadership which changed it for everyone’s good.

Seeds for Working in Social Sector: The foundation was my father. It came naturally to him. He came from Rajasthan and at age 12, he started cleaning the street and soon many joined him. When he made Rs 25 a month (with a need of Rs 100), he would still give a part of that 25 away. He would lift people with his own arms from the streets and take them to hospitals. He had no hesitation to help. Another time, when a poor young person with a spark came to him, he gave the boy Rs 100 and this boy became a very successful businessman in 10 years.

Today, we work in the 5 areas of strengthening democracy, self-transformation, focus on issues of farmers, water issues and value education.

Meditation as a core practice: I have seen my father sit in meditation and it was mesmerizing to see him that way. I read Jiddu Krishnamurti’s book Commentaries on Life and later, listened to him live. I came across a book on how you can withdraw your senses. Then I heard about Vipassana when I was a student and found the pointers to answers. It is the most silent transformative revolution going on around us.

Renunciation in Business: To have a deep sense of service to your clients and their interests under all circumstances is to renounce in the context of business. Renunciation is primarily that of the ego. One should feel “Oh I am lucky to get this client to trust me!” If someone trusted me, I would fulfill my duty. When you are hungry, if you can think of someone else’s hunger, when you get that bread, you want to share it. If you understand the essence of renunciation, it is about dissolving ego and waking up to gratitude.

Changing systems from within: There is a compromise. At least if you are conscious of boundaries that you will not cross, then by the examples you will set, your own colleagues and family start seeing it and they start changing, that is how you bring the change in systems from within.

On Becoming a Person/Business with Values: All values have to be lived values. If you are not able to live a value, the first thing is to accept that. If you are able to work that in a gentle, insightful manner, you will find the balance. You will not go bankrupt. If you force yourself, then it becomes an ego thing. I don’t try to make a statement that I am a Gandhi. I just say I am trying to be like this person. Just by reading a book about Gandhiji, we think we can bypass the Sadhana (living values with the objective of self realization) he went through. How did he become Gandhi ji from Gandhi? To become a valued person and do business or any profession accordingly, one has to go through the process of Sadhana. Recognizing that there is a period of Sadhana when failures may happen will help us a lot. Law of Truth and Love are very powerful.

On Change: When we address people with principles and possessions, things don’t change. When we address with love, things change. We need to keep more love in us if we want to see these changes.

On Results and Impact: As Buddha asked. “Is your principle well articulated? Is it self-evident? Can it be experimented upon? Is it eternal?” My responsibility is to make it work in my life. My challenge is fighting my own laziness and mental problems. And if I have done my best in these areas, that’s all I can do. I can only work to change my own order. If I can not get someone out of poverty even after the best of my effort and I feel depressed by it, I am in the wrong place.

One thing you would like to go back and change in your life, if you had a choice: Paying more attention to health and recognize one’s fears and seek help in that.

Meaning of Truth: Truth is what I know to be truth now.

Can you share a bit of your poetry: I had high and low moments in my journey. I had a sense of loneliness that was beautiful also. I wrote a poem about how the world will not be able to understand the beauty of it. The other poem is a conversation between a hill and the river where the mountain is proud and the river just flows.

Motivation for Bringing Love in the world of Profit: Seeing my own difficulties when things go wrong in my life, I feel called to support others for a happy and wholesome life.

Experiencing the Law of Love: When my little brother offered to be our new mother when she passed away. My Dad’s mentors like Dr. Rooshi Kumar Pandya. When a colleague would be standing with me in a crisis like a rock. My wife’s unquestioning loyalty and love and saying yes to all my crazy experiments (like my first Vipassana retreat).

On socially conscious business: To expect Amazon should stop selling is difficult. Can we help people examine their consumption, can they wake up? It is possible. Today things are more abundant and so is inspiration and spiritual knowledge. Young people are coming to Vipassana retreats and ServiceSpace because they have already seen the hollowness of a life of consumption.

On his upcoming 30day meditation retreat: There are so many responsibilities I carry and I wish I would do better at simplifying my life . I should be able to do things like going away on a long meditation retreat in a more simple manner. Now my determination is to simplify my life.