Administration is believed to be root of all civilizations. As the administration, so is the nation. Even if we talk about a small system or an organization, the work culture and the environment within the organization depends a lot on its administration. And talking about administration, it is further the administrator who sets the rule or trend of administration and hence for the system. So if the administrator is aligned to certain value system, code of conduct, belief or principles, he aligns the whole system to it and the principle can be easily sustained within the system. While, if the administrator himself doesn’t follow them, it is difficult to sustain that value system or principle in the administrative system. It is by sustaining this values system and ethical base of the administration that the administration can be constantly progressive in nature.
In the light of the above conclusion, let us examine certain powers, which if executed with true knowledge about them, sincere efforts and conviction of fulfillment, can lead to a new era of administration- ethically powerful and admired by all.
First amongst these powers is the Power of Introversion.
• What is the meaning of Introversion?
If we look for the definition of introversion, it will range from the quality of being shy to the quality of being unsociable. And an introvert person is understood as someone who is predominantly concerned with his own feelings and thoughts rather than with external things. But being introvert in true sense is much more than merely being shy or reticent or self-centered. It is not an inactive or dull state of the person, where one is not concerned about the surroundings or external things; being introvert is rather a holistic state where one is in complete harmony with a balance between the internal and external environment.
So what is being introvert? Introvert (Latin introvertere) comes from the Latin words intro- ‘to the inside’ and vertere- ‘to turn’. Thus in spiritual contemplation, being introvert means to turn one’s attention on one’s thoughts and one-self.
• When to become introvert?
Each person is an administration in a sense. Whether a manager or leader in an organization, or a homemaker in a household, or a student studying in a school or college- each one of them have to manage their time, tasks, thoughts, emotions, resources, etc. So the concept of administration is not restricted to a few but is universal to all. So at any given time, we all are demonstrating our administration skills.
– But, there often comes a time when we find ourselves stuck in middle of anything; where we think we have reached far enough not to turn back or escape orClt+ Alt+Delete the situation (sometimes created by my own misunderstandings and actions done in the past) and nor can I proceed ahead. In such situations, we need a shift in our approach of solving things and coming out of situations. When old methods stop working, it is an indication or a call to devise something new.This newness cannot be a product of something old and already in use. It has to come out fresh. In order to allow this fresh idea or solution to come to our mind and also to be able to ‘catch’ it when it comes, we have to be observant towards our thoughts so that we don’t miss the right one. In fact the right one will strike when there are not too many waste one’s in our mind.
– It is also good to be introvert when you we are tempted to see the flaws in others. It is true that an administrator has to strive for and maintain the excellencies of the system, and for that it is necessary to be aware of the shortcomings of others. But in order to do so, he must be aware of the shortcomings of his own as well. If he has the charge and power to make reforms for others, he also has a responsibility to transform himself. Moreover, to be loud and extrovert in detailing what wrong others are doing, means to spread negativity in the atmosphere and in the minds of people around me. Instead of that, one has to focus more on what wrong I am doing and how can I rectify myself and others positively.
• Why should one be introvert?
“He who guards his mouth and tongue, Guards his soul from troubles” – New American Standard Bible
– By being introvert, we can give ourselves some time to think before we act or respond. We commonly advise others – ‘Think before you Speak’ or ‘Think before you Act’but being introvert takes it one step deeper to- ‘Think before you Think’. It is like detaching ourselves from the stimulus, which can trigger a sudden reaction and spoil the situation. We give ourselves an opportunity to pause, reflect back and ask ourselves- what will be the effect of my response? In this way, we can check the quality of our thoughts, words and actions and anticipate the outcome; as we sow a thought- we reap a word, we sow a word- we reap an action and we sow an action- we reap our habits, character and ultimately our destiny. Hence, by being introvert, we can easily avoid the situation of repentance after the task is done as we are no longer compelled by external stimulus and whatever we do say or do are products of conscious thinking and better decision making. In other words, by being introvert, I can better design my destiny.
– Also, take the case of a huge tree whose branches are wide spread, which bears beautiful flowers and fresh fruits, whose leaves are green and lively. In order to keep this tree alive and growing, one can water its each and every branch, leaf, flower and fruit on the tree daily. But does this make the tree really grow? Certainly not! All of these efforts will go in vain as we know that the tree doesn’t get the nourishment through its branches, leaves, flowers or fruits. If we have to nourish this tree, we have to water and nourish its roots. Similarly, our present state of life is like this huge tree bearing various roles, responsibilities, relations, attainments, etc. We can continue to be worried about the expansion of this tree of life and expend all of our energy in developing all of these; but without paying due attention on the inner self or soul, which is the root of all this, we cannot ensure that life will be flourishing the way we expect it to do.Being introvert takes us to the roots of this deeper self of ours.
– Just as the surface of the ocean is turbulent and noisy but the ocean bed is stable and silent and holds rare treasures and creatures which cannot be found on the surface of the ocean; our deeper self is full of virtues and powers. By just surfing on the surface of our identity, we remain devoid of these virtues and powers and start looking for them outside. Even though each individual has it in their deeper self, but since we again just look at their surface, we think that these virtues are no more relevant in the world today and even presume that it is very difficult to experience them in their true form and even believe that such a world- operating on the basis of all these virtues and powers cannot exist or is impractical; while it is already existing in each one of us. We just have to peep within… Thus,it is possible to experience an unknown- unseen world of true peace, happiness, love and power if we connect to ourselves and become introvert. This leads to a sense of fulfillment in the self and arouses a feeling of contentment.That’s why in Hindi, it is said ‘Antarmukhisadasukhi’ which translates to ‘one who is introvert is always happy’.
– When we taste a new dish, which we had never tasted before, even though the dish is new for us, we can still infer its taste- whether it is sweet or salty or bitter or sour. We can even comment on whether the quantity of sugar or salt is appropriate or not. How was this possible when we were tasting the dish for the first time? This is because the dish was new for us but the experience of taste was not new, i.e., we already have had this experience before. Similarly, when we meet a person and judge that he / she is honest or calm or friendly… it is because we might be meeting the person for the first time but we already have all these qualities and their experiences in store within us. It also means that if we notice other’s weakness, it is because we have it too within us. Thus, ‘as the Microcosm, so the Macrocosm’ – we have within us all that we look outside in the world- whether positive or negative.Being introvert creates for us an ‘Inner laboratory’ for all the virtues to work. We can experiment on these inner virtues and develop them within us.Being connected with ourselves and changing our perceptions about things we see outside in turn creates new experiences outside and lead to a new observation about the same person or event around us, strengthening our own set of inner virtues.
– When we are introvert, as a result of this self analysis and experimentation, we are able to transform ourselves also. Let’s see how… As discussed earlier, introversion followed by introspection leads to clarity of thoughts and feelings and hence better decision making. Through a better decision, we can discriminate between what is right and what is wrong. And through knowledge and experience of our inner world of power we can now transform our waste and negative thoughts and feelings into positive and constructive ones. So,to be introvert is not merely to be silent and inactive. It is a furnace in which we burn our old beliefs, behaviors and impressions, and create new ones.
It is said-
“Wise men speak because they have something to speak, fools speak because they have to speak something”.
– Plato
Hence being introvert doesn’t mean being meek. But it gives saves our energy from getting drained in external questions and wasteful conversations. This saved energy is utilized in strengthening our thoughts, words and actions, which further has the power to transform or influence others. Thus this transformation power, although silent, is not incognito, as its results are evident as power to transform others too.
• How can one practise being introvert?
It is easy to look outside and get influenced by things around us as our senses are developed to see, smell, hear, taste and feel whatever is external. Hence to be introvert, the first step is to know our inner world.
Spirituality provides us an opportunity to understand our real self- that we are not these roles or tags of our name, gender, nationality, religion, color, work that we do, relationships that we hold, etc. In fact, we are not even this body. Just as a machine has many parameters on which its functioning is based, our body also has these various parameters on which our functioning in this society is based. If we consider ourselves to be this body, with a change in these parameters (and their speed of change is very fast in this fast-paced world), our functioning, responses, moods, feelings, belief systems, principles and everything else changes. With such a fluctuating inner state, we cannot experience inner stability and peace. Thus spirituality helps us become soul conscious and not role conscious.
Once we know and understand the world inside, we can develop the practise of being introvert through Rajyoga Meditation. Rajyoga Meditation allows us to ‘see’ what qualities we have, ‘smell’ what wrong notions or perceptions are we carrying and what opportunity do we have in each situation, ‘hear’ our inner voices or intuition in every situation, ‘taste’ or experience inner virtues and ‘feel’ the virtues in others too. As we develop these internal senses, our quality of being introverted further enhances and we emerge as more stable beings.
Moreover, when we are silent, we can hear the silent whispers of God, the incorporeal Supreme Being, who has no face or voice to express His loveful feelings, no hands to guide us physically; yet who does all of these very subtly. In order to catch His inspirations and receive His help, we have to filter out any waste from our mind and senses and fine tune our subtle inner receptors to His frequency, which is undoubtedly very high and one cannot attain that level of frequency if one is still trapped in the web of our own creation of name, fame, role. For this, we need to be detached from our external world, go to the internal realms and experience the self and Him as it is. And when we become silent and detached, He speaks to us that which is required by us at this moment. When we get connected to Him at His frequency, we are able to raise our own level of energy.
