Reality as I see it: V- On achieving consistent quality

On achieving consistent quality

27th Feb 2007

Prashant wrote on 24th Feb, “How could you be sure that he hasn't applied the same in real life and has not had the same success or most importantly how does one measure success or failure in real life as it's definitely not simple as counting bad products in a box? Or is it based on the assumption that no human being is perfect and hence he must have sinned more number of times than the six-sigma limit in his lifetime…. If he has to worry about his next meal on an empty stomach it's more likely that he might go for a bodily need and hence be termed as a bodily person. But the same person, if he doesn't have to worry about his immediate needs, he might turn into a spiritual person. I also think depending on age, the older one gets the more spiritual he/she might become….Lately, I have been leaning towards another school of thought "Fate". No matter what one does there is still something that can go wrong or right that he/she does not control”.


As an engineer, you would realise how difficult it is to maintain consistent Quality in what we produce. You are aware of the SPC (the statistical process control) charts where we set the Upper limit and Lower limit and constantly check whether the production process is within control or not. We also know that if the process goes out of control, it will result in poor quality products; and the cost of poor quality is extremely high, far higher than the cost of improvisation needed for eliminating poor quality. When Motorola used the statistical concept of ‘six sigma’ to their production process, they were aiming to come of a difficult downturn, having been outwitted by the Japanese quality standards. To limit the number of defects to ‘2 per billion’ requires not just continuous improvement, but a comprehensive redesign of processes.

I said that the same man who used the rigorous six sigma concepts to the production processes, did not think of using similar standards for improving himself, his actions and his own living.

The allusion was deliberate.

I can see the question in your mind. How can you use a concept used in an inanimate circumstance (like production in a factory) to a human being, who is so live and complex? Let me use a live example. Two people in an equestrian academy learn to ride horses. One of them knows not how to ride. He is thrown about, jumping up and down, led by wherever the horse takes him. He ends with a rough ride and if the horse does not throw him down, would certainly end up with a back ache. The other person, who is trained about the techniques of riding, becomes adept and achieves a smooth ride. Where is the difference? Is it in the horse or in the rider? Just as an untrained rider, most of us ride life – as it comes, thinking that it is the right thing. We get battered by experiences and learn slowly. Too late; by then, you spend most of your productive life.

We operate at different levels at different times because we do not train ourselves adequately. Instead of realising that there is a deficiency in training ourselves, we feel that it is completely natural to behave differently in different situations and justify the same by statements that ‘to err is human’. How many times have we made a resolution only to break within no time? Isn’t it a very common occurrence? We make mistakes; and swear to learn from them. Many a time that learning never occurs, since we forget that lesson the moment there is something to smile about, feel good about. Most of us repeat the same mistakes, go down again till we come up all over again. Our moods swing also violently – up and down. We therefore are stuck in constant up and downs in life, since we learn very little from experiences. And certainly very late. What is the use of having a wise Old man who has no productive life left?

When I say that we must use the six sigma in life, I mean that we can achieve freedom from the ups and downs in life. A trial-and-error approach in life would drain our energies. We cry when lose, we jump in joy when we win. Isn’t that normal? We think, ponder about events in life. We cultivate fears, we get hysteric about things not there. We develop jealousies in life; pull competitors down; work hard – even at the cost of health- to make more money; don’t we? We consider all that very natural. We are playing the soccer hard – kicking the ball all around – without knowing where the goal is! In the process, we get dispossessed (of the ball) and lose. As and when we lose, we lament. Isn’t it? If we know where our goal is and train ourselves better, we can play the game better. Good footballers can see from the corner of the eye (or even the back of their head!) the person to whom pass is to be given. They are cool and calm, although they are competing to win. Aren’t they?

So, is there a better way to achieve stable and serene approach to events in life? Can we achieve a smoother ride of this life? Is there a better way to – remain in life – and successfully achieving our life’s goals?

Source of poor quality

Let us define a poor quality action as something, which is an inappropriate response to a given situation. I am not getting into the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ aspect now (what is good and what is not is a simple question that gave birth to a whole new subject called Philosophy). I confine myself to the appropriate reactions to outward stimuli and how these help in achieving consistency in life with better results. If there is a failure, we cry. If we land up a contract, we jump in joy, we party hard; forget about the implementation issues till we get pulled up. Don’t we? We lose interest in a thing the moment we possess it. If the person beside us does better, we feel jealous. Are these right responses?

You said you started believing in ‘fate’. That is nothing but an implicit surrender to the circumstances, rather than trying to analysing, understanding and mastering them. Can we behave in a more ‘professional’ way in real life?

For this, we should try and understand the source of our inconsistencies or poor quality actions. The obvious answer is that the environment is so complex and diverse that how can you expect the same consistent behaviour? Let us probe this further and ask how does one perceive this apparent ‘complexity’? Isn’t it through your senses and your own mind? Don’t we see two people perceiving the same situation in two different ways? If that is so, the complexity is not external, but it is internal. The complexity is actually, within us - developed, inculcated, entangled more and more by our own actions. We make a simple thing complex, by losing clarity; by associating emotions with it; by getting passionate about it. If you cut out the emotional web from the issues around us, we can think very differently. Not only can we think differently, but we can expect consistent reactions from all the people in similar situations. If I behave in the same manner irrespective of the environmental stimuli affecting me, focussing on a target of my choice, am not acting consistently?

But is it really possible to make human beings less complex? We have already seen how a detached person, who does not get into emotional web can turn out a better performance in life, by achieving his life’s goals better. To achieve that, we need to master the senses that crate this complexity. That is the key to achieving more consistent reactions to outward stimuli.

Simple isn’t it?

Absolutely not.

The senses are rooted within the body, which in most of us dominate in the Body Spirit Continuum. With the mind that acts on their inputs, man is actually at their mercy. We are like riders who go where the horse takes us, and end up bruised and battered. Achieving mastery over the senses is difficult but possible.

We need to first accept that we need to train ourselves. Recognition of the need to work on it is in fact, the most important hurdle to pass.
Normally, we need go to school to get trained. In this case, the school is within you. You can do self-study. The syllabus is known. Books exist. Techniques are well-researched. There are people who have travelled on the same path and wrote down their experiences. These ‘travelogues’ would help in traversing the course.

This is a course that we should learn to do better in life. It is not meant for old people. It has nothing to do with poverty or prosperity. It has nothing to do with the circumstances of life.

It is an essential education – acquired, faster the better.

Reality as I see it: I - Cosmic energy cycle

Have you ever observed the cycle of the day-night, of seasons, of water and ever wondered if they are all trying to communicate something to us? Why should all celestial phenomena always move in unending cycles? What is that makes our body move? What is this phenomenon called ‘life’ – that exists in myriad forms? Where does it come from and where does it go?

These questions have long bothered the thinking individuals across the world resulting in several theories, religions, symbols and rituals. All these theories aim to explain these basic questions in their own way. If we want to go from Delhi to Mumbai, we can take several paths, several modes of travel with varying speeds and costs. Sometimes when the choices multiply manifold, one gets confused about which way to take. Some of us have a preference to one type of travel mode and detest other travel modes. All the time when we debate on the best mode of transport, we ignore the basic fact that all these are only modes of travel, which are devised to attain the basic purpose of reaching Mumbai. Religious disputes precisely arise from this type of ignorance. Religion and Rituals are only modes of travel, which should not be confused with the fundamental truth that nature has been trying to convey. What is that truth?

We know that Energy moves matter, it cannot be created nor destroyed; it can only change forms. That is the matter of Physics. What is not understood by Physics is - what is the source and destination of this energy. When we investigate this, we are moving from the physical level to metaphysical level.

Let us start from the physical level. We know that light is made up of particles that move at rapid pace. Any movement needs energy. Light therefore is the repository of all energy. Since energy is what moves all life, and light is energy, light is life. To differentiate it from the light we see when electricity passes through a bulb, let us call this light as ‘Cosmic light’.

Unlike the light that is generated by electricity, this cosmic light has an origin that is self-subsisting. Let us call it the SOURCE. Why and how is the cosmic light generated at the source is not very clear and can be ignored for the time being. What is important is that the nature of the SOURCE is pure; and has low threshold levels to tolerate impurities.

The triangle shown above depicts the journey of the light from the source to Physical matter (Phase 1); movement from Physical matter to the destination (Phase 2) that is what we call death and from Destination back to source (Phase 3).


The 1st phase of the Journey

Transmission of cosmic light

Cosmic Light is emanating from the SOURCE in a constant flow of particles. In a way, light particles are thrown out of the source with great force. Why does this happen? Suppose you buy best quality Oranges and store them in a cupboard for 10 days. Many of them will go bad. Unless you remove the bad oranges and preserve the rest, over a period of time, all of them get rotten. Similarly, impurities develop in the light particles residing in the SOURCE. The original source of impurities is therefore in the source itself. This is what is probably conveyed in the Adam Eve story by the Christianity. Unless these imperfect particles are thrown out, the source cannot preserve itself.

These particles are thrown out from the source with a great speed. As these particles travel from the source, they get embedded in various physical matter. These light particles are free of feelings and desires. Let us call these light particles ‘spirit’.

Physical matter – the body

The physical matter is lifeless matter originated in the earth, which is made of physical elements. By itself, it cannot move. Let us think it is like the dust on the floor. It is full of all bodily elements – the desire, the greed, the jealousy, the anger, the possessiveness etc. Its primary aim is to fulfill its elements and to sustain itself. This would not be possible without energy.

That energy is provided by the light particles that are expelled from the source (the spirit). Now we have a physical form powered by an energy source. What we call ‘life’ has come up on earth in various forms and in enormous numbers.

The competitive coexistence

When we understand that light gets embedded in the body and activates it, you realise the DUALITY. Between YOU and your BODY. The truth is that YOU are not your BODY. You RESIDE in your Body to perform a journey - from the source to the Destination. In a way, Body is your vehicle to pass through this phase of the journey. Understanding this duality (Dvaita) between the two is the key to understanding the Advaita philosophy. If you are not your body, and body is only an instrument, an implement to perform the Journey, the question arises as to why we get so attached to the Body, its desires, its wants. Why we grieve when the spirit leaves the Body to perform Phase 2 of the journey?

Although Body is different from you, you are empowering the Body to seek itself. Body is therefore dependent on you; not the other way round. Both are however, coexisting in this journey on principle of mutual dependence. But it is not a collaborative coexistence, it is a competitive coexistence – since the wants of Body and the Spirit are completely different and each pursuing divergent goals. There is a competition between the two for control of the living being (being.

What Body wants

Body needs the spirit to fulfill its carnal needs and for its self-perpetuation. Spirit provides ‘life’ to the intent of the body- something like what a battery does to a transistor. With the help of the spirit, body can pursue its desires. Just as battery loses its power through excess use, the spirit loses its brightness and luster when engaged in bodily pursuits. Spirit actually does not lose its power, but it appears as though it has lost its power. Think of the coal covered with cinders. If you polish the cinders off the coal, it light up again.

What spirit wants?

Spirit needs the body because it is its vehicle on the round trip journey from Source–to–Source. It is used for the Phase 1 of the journey. Spirit wants that the vehicle for this journey is kept in good order instilled through discipline, concentration, good company and clarity of thinking. In short, unless the vehicle is good, one cannot reach destination safely. Spirit therefore wants to maintain the Body in a perfect shape.

Who is in control?

In a competitive coexistence, while both body and the spirit need each other, the issue is who will control whom. If the body is dominating, man gets to spend all his energies in bodily pursuits, which may dim the spirit. Dimmed spirit cannot attain its objective of reaching back the source. Not only does the spirit get dim; it can further get contaminated by the desires of the Body. Not only that such person experiences suffering in the life through the body, but would have to go through the cleansing process at the destination. So, it is a bad bargain.

If the spirit dominates the being, it will use the body purely as an instrument for its journey. In the process, it would refuse to lend energies to the bodily pursuits, which may emaciate the body. That possibly is the reason why many saints like Ramakrishna had frail bodies.

In an equilibrium state, the body and mind coexist. Both are in competition to dominate the Being; but both agree to an arrangement. In this arrangement, if the Spirit takes charge - lends power to the bodily pursuits in a miserly fashion. This will help in expending only on the essentials and using most of the energies on the spirit’s ‘journey-related’ issues. The equilibrium is therefore led by the spirit, which only accommodates bare minimum of the bodily needs, only to maintain ‘the vehicle’ for traveling the distance.

Equilibrium can also be established with Body in command. The spirit becomes subservient to the needs of the Body. Body demands not only fulfillment of all its desires, but would do so more increasingly. Fulfillment of one leads to coming up of another. It wants to accumulate, compete with others, win, possess and rise. The temporary nature of these victories are never understood. It would become arrogant, gets intolerant, jealous, irritable, unscrupulous and would expend all energy on such pursuits. As a living being In this state, man believes that contentedness is anathema of success. In the end, it would all come to grief since these so called pleasures will only lead to misery, ill health and unhappiness. None of the so called successful men in this world have ever lived a happy, contented life. After his death too, the disputes would continue spreading unhappiness among all people known to him. The only thing constant in this equilibrium is unhappiness which follows him.

Maintaining spiritual equilibrium

To maintain a Spiritual equilibrium, one ahs to clinically examine each bodily demand – whether it can be denied/postponed/reduced.
· Whenever an urge arises, identify its source. Is it emanating from the body or the spirit?
· If it is emanating from the body, ask the question whether it can be denied.
· If it can be denied, deny.
· If it cannot be denied, can it be reduced?
· If it can be reduced, reduce.

Remember that with each of the bodily pursuit, you are expending energy – which would dim the brightness of the spirit. If the light is dimmed, you cannot see your way in the darkness. The negative energies like jealousies, anger, desires to possess are all dissipating the power of your spirit and therefore are not in the interests of the spirit.

Recharge the spirit

Spiritual recharge is an essential element if the power of the spirit is not dissipated. Like a lighted coal, spirit is the source of light and heat. But its brightness is reduced when you don’t maintain the fire. After sometime, the fire may just extinguish leaving one in the dark.

How can you charge the spirit? The Yoga Shastra is all about this aspect. The asanas, pranayam and mediation is the three-fold path of Raja yoga. Yoga therefore is not a tool for body maintenance but for recharge of the spirit. The power of Kundalini, when aroused, can activate the spirit with enormous heat and power. That will, of course, tilt the equilibrium towards the spirit.


Can rituals recharge the spirit?

Puja and Rituals, per se, are instruments for understanding the real purpose of one’s life. They are instruments to realize the reality behind this journey. They can be used to recharge the spirit by connecting straight to the source. They can recharge only when they are connected with the source. If rituals are failing to connect you with the source, it is better to stop such rituals than wasting time.

So the fundamental things when we do Puja are:
· Understand the purpose behind the ritual
· Check whether you are able to connect with the source of not
· Ensure that you don’t mix up puja with the bodily wants.

It is essential to understand that rituals are tools to connect with the source and therefore for recharge the spirit. They have nothing to do with the bodily elements. So if you go to a temple or do a good puja and ask for fulfillment of a desire, you are using wrong instrument.

If you really want to satisfy a body desire, you should WORK for it. Puja is not the vehicle to get to the bodily elements. It is essential that we don’t confuse and mix up these two. Purpose of Puja and rituals is to charge the spirit so that it takes control of the equilibrium process. Do not mix the bodily issues and desires with the puja, a common mistake made by most. If you want to go to Mumbai, you don’t board a train that goes to Jammu. Nor can you board a train going to Jammu and pray that it goes to Mumbai. The right thing to do is to get off the wrong train and take the right train.