This paper is an inspired address by the author to engage in a momentous battle for character and human values in life and worklife. The keynote of the author's exposition on values-centred manage ment is the concept of dharma. Here the Indian ideal of dharma is compared to and contrasted with the Western notion of integrity. While integrity is based on the human virtues of wholeness, goodness and having the courage and self-discipline to live by the inner truth, dharma gives (...) a radically different orientation to any human endeavour by upholding the notions of spirit, rightness, and fearlessness. There is also a distinction between individual dharma and organizational dharma, which the author defines as the organization's inner law. In the concluding part of the paper, the author crystallizes the wisdom contained in the Bhagavad Gita and asserts that hidden away in our inner nature is the law, the writ of our life that enables us to transcend the purposelessness of pomp, power, property and pedigree towards a more meaningful human existence. (shrink)

This paper examines how the prevailing knowledge systems of the West reduce and divide us within and between ourselves. It also highlights how these are paralleled by the Wisdom tradition in theology which allows for a more inclusive model of relationality and becoming. The author sets out before us how western systems create and dictate the underlying binary oppositions by which we, almost unconsciously, live out our lives. New ways are suggested and new horizons plotted.