Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994, Page 23
According to Lessem,
People ...are viewed as “beings in progress,” as self-directed sources of energy.
They have no fixed position in the organizational tree. Formal reporting chains are
non-existent. People belong, not by virtue of having a place in the formal structure,
but by relating to the process of the flow. (1989, p. 579)
And according to The Vital Principle,
In BCC there is no hierarchy of management flowing from top to bottom ...We
should not allow our minds or our feelings to be contained by the present situation.
The aim, then, has been to liberate the God-self from the authoritative impositions of
conventional business. “interfusing” with Ultimacy, managers are supposedly able to operate
(at least in measure) without relying on the normal props of commercial activity. After all, as
Lessem puts it, “The moral, which is equivalent to the laws and principles of nature, governs
all that is material” [emphasis mine](1989, p. 578).
What a way to run a bank! Thiss cites the example of an international officer, posted to Africa,
who “sensed” that it was right to open an agency office (regional management was informed
only after the event). The official then proceeded with more ambitious plans, this time being
criticized for not having “interfused beforehand” (1986, p. 277). But would such inner
“interfusion” really have made much difference? Surely the correct decision would have
involved attending to the “external” logistics of the situation.
A major problem with management by intuition, relying on the Source that lies within, is that
the way is paved for corruption. BCCI might have expected its managers to be honest to God,
but many, it is clear, succumbed to the temptations which surrounded them in their wealth-
creating environment. Precisely because of the (relative) absence of formal controls and
accountability systems, precisely because of the freedoms afforded by the use of “intuition,”
precisely because of the sums passing through BCCI, it has been only too easy for managers
to succumb to their “base,” that is utilitarian, drives.
I have argued elsewhere (1991, 1992) that self religiosity can function to benefit capitalist
enterprise. Accordingly, it is possible that the rapid expansion of BCCI has owed something to
the motivational consequences of this factor. However, with regard to the overall
consequences of New Age application within BCCI, the monistic path within has played a --if
not the --key role in bringing disaster. It explains why the bank may not have made a profit
after provision for many years, if ever it explains why there were so many opportunities for
certain managers to feather their own nests it explains why the New Age teaching of Abedi
and his close associates has resulted in something as far removed from the spirit of the
genuine” New Age as it is possible to imagine.
Looking to the future, it will be interesting to see how New Age commerce progresses in its
original homeland--India. In this country, HRD is increasingly being formulated in terms of
monistic potential. At a high profile conference (Madras, 1991), for example, talk was of
“Divine sources for human resource development.” One senior participant emphasized that no
one should forget “the divine source within us, and that God dwells within us.” It is perhaps
not without significance that Abedi continually looked to this nation while planning for the
future.
References
Baldick, J. (1989). Mystical Islam. London: I. B. Tauris.
Evans, R., &Russell, P. (1989). The creative manager. London: Unwin.
According to Lessem,
People ...are viewed as “beings in progress,” as self-directed sources of energy.
They have no fixed position in the organizational tree. Formal reporting chains are
non-existent. People belong, not by virtue of having a place in the formal structure,
but by relating to the process of the flow. (1989, p. 579)
And according to The Vital Principle,
In BCC there is no hierarchy of management flowing from top to bottom ...We
should not allow our minds or our feelings to be contained by the present situation.
The aim, then, has been to liberate the God-self from the authoritative impositions of
conventional business. “interfusing” with Ultimacy, managers are supposedly able to operate
(at least in measure) without relying on the normal props of commercial activity. After all, as
Lessem puts it, “The moral, which is equivalent to the laws and principles of nature, governs
all that is material” [emphasis mine](1989, p. 578).
What a way to run a bank! Thiss cites the example of an international officer, posted to Africa,
who “sensed” that it was right to open an agency office (regional management was informed
only after the event). The official then proceeded with more ambitious plans, this time being
criticized for not having “interfused beforehand” (1986, p. 277). But would such inner
“interfusion” really have made much difference? Surely the correct decision would have
involved attending to the “external” logistics of the situation.
A major problem with management by intuition, relying on the Source that lies within, is that
the way is paved for corruption. BCCI might have expected its managers to be honest to God,
but many, it is clear, succumbed to the temptations which surrounded them in their wealth-
creating environment. Precisely because of the (relative) absence of formal controls and
accountability systems, precisely because of the freedoms afforded by the use of “intuition,”
precisely because of the sums passing through BCCI, it has been only too easy for managers
to succumb to their “base,” that is utilitarian, drives.
I have argued elsewhere (1991, 1992) that self religiosity can function to benefit capitalist
enterprise. Accordingly, it is possible that the rapid expansion of BCCI has owed something to
the motivational consequences of this factor. However, with regard to the overall
consequences of New Age application within BCCI, the monistic path within has played a --if
not the --key role in bringing disaster. It explains why the bank may not have made a profit
after provision for many years, if ever it explains why there were so many opportunities for
certain managers to feather their own nests it explains why the New Age teaching of Abedi
and his close associates has resulted in something as far removed from the spirit of the
genuine” New Age as it is possible to imagine.
Looking to the future, it will be interesting to see how New Age commerce progresses in its
original homeland--India. In this country, HRD is increasingly being formulated in terms of
monistic potential. At a high profile conference (Madras, 1991), for example, talk was of
“Divine sources for human resource development.” One senior participant emphasized that no
one should forget “the divine source within us, and that God dwells within us.” It is perhaps
not without significance that Abedi continually looked to this nation while planning for the
future.
References
Baldick, J. (1989). Mystical Islam. London: I. B. Tauris.
Evans, R., &Russell, P. (1989). The creative manager. London: Unwin.
