How often have you eyed a job or business opportunity that seemed like low-hanging fruit, but you didn’t get it despite having the qualifications and experience for it?
Most people can easily relate to this. People are forever applying for employment opportunities while chasing their dreams or simply trying to earning two square meals. This often leads to frustration in individuals who yearned to get the elusive job that they thought was the key to everything that could make life better. And then kicks in the phase of introspection: the phase of questioning oneself.
The answer to the cardinal question people ask themselves is whether there is anything lacking in them. The answer to this question, precisely, is the premise of Buddha At Work, a self-help book penned by India’s renowned Human Resources expert, Geetanjali Pandit.
She is Punjabi by birth and also nature but Buddhist by ideology and spiritual practice. Her book ranks amongst the top 20 in India this year, according to Amazon India, which has recorded its impressive sale. It has been nominated for an award in the English Non-Fiction category in the upcoming Valley of words International Literature and Arts Festival, to be held this November in Dehradun.
Geetanjali with former Indian cricketer Maninder Singh holding a copy of Budhha At Work. Source: Supplied
This book will now be released in Australia and New Zealand later this month by New Holland Publishers.
In an interview with SBS Punjabi, Geetanjali emphasises that to attain our goals, whether it is being successful in getting a job or succeeding in it once we get it, it is very important that we love, respect and accept ourselves.
“Life is inherently worthy of respect. Many people neither respect themselves nor others. This is an attitude of arrogance,” says Geetanjali, who has been a Buddhist practitioner since the 1990s.
“Buddha At Work is all about realising our dreams at the workplace,” says its author, who is a frequent speaker at motivational events and corporate talks.
There are not too many followers of Buddhism in the Punjabi community worldwide. When asked about this, Geetanjali explains that Buddhism isn’t a religion but an ideology or a school of thought.
“Perhaps, the reason why our community hasn’t benefited much from it is that people are sceptical that becoming a Buddhist is religious conversion. Far from that! Buddhism is only a calmer and more respectful way of approaching all life.
"This is the message of Budhha At Work also. Buddhism is quite similar to the teachings of Guru Nanak, the founding father of Sikhism. So it is all the more surprising why Punjabis haven’t taken to Buddhism yet,” she wonders.
Listen to this interview in Punjabi here.
