Question 1 : You are a civil engineer and pursued masters in Structural engineering from IIT madras and now heading an ancient spiritual mutt. How do you connect two sides of your life….?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: Reflecting on my education & spirituality…I had two phases in my education. One was the conventional education of schooling, college and finally IIT madras; the other most important education that I had received from our Guruji, Byravaikya His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Sri Sri Dr. Balagangadharanatha Mahaswamiji.
Phase 1 – I refer to it as “shaping me” – My conventional education gave me enough opportunities for “Learning to Know, Learning to do, Learning to Live and Learning to Be” and made me a Confident individual, Active contributor, Self & self directed learner and a Concerned Civic Citizen of this country. For that, I am very thankful to my teachers, institutions, friends and various other people / groups and communities.
Phase 2 – I call it as “transforming me” – In several years of my association with Guruji, I learnt and experienced his “wisdom, pure desire, knowledge, self-mastery, compassion, collectivity and diplomacy, forgiveness, forbearance, and an unshaken and proven knowledge of the existence of the divine power”…Throughout this transformation process, I’ve earned the main elements of this spiritual life: Love, grace, mercy, selfless service, faithfulness, and humility. There are no shortcuts when it comes to these learnings, I had seen him / heard him / experienced him every second of my association…and molded myself towards spiritual life.
What I also practiced during this transformation is to build characteristics of spirituality with in my self – that include: meaning, value, transcendence, connecting with oneself, others, God/supreme power and the environment…
One shaped me up and the other transformed me…..together, both crafted me as a Learner and spiritual leader…
Blending both, in our 500+ institutions, we do bring the element of spirituality while educating them, across all the institutions and all the streams. We fulfill the divine potential of children, and prepare them for life by giving them the tools they need to keep on learning throughout the many experiences that will come to them. They along with my staff and the teaching environment we do learn important life learnings like faith, meaning, love, belonging, forgiveness, and connectedness…and also togetherness.
My both sides come together when I meet children and guide them to become more responsible and accountable for themselves, their families and the society they belong to….
I strongly feel that Education is key & critical irrespective of what fields / roles we choose. Whether it’s entrepreneur, professional, technocrat, athlete, civil servant, politician or a spiritual leader….Education helps you to become the finest individual in the space / profession you belong to.
Before concluding, let me remember the words of my
Guruji…”Live like a butterfly. Take the best without destroying or hurting anybody but giving the pleasure to everyone”. These words are a guiding force for me everyday in whatever we think and we do.
Question 2: How is your technical education aiding you in your spiritual journey..?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: Let me connect both…Structural engineers ensure structures can withstand the stresses and pressures imposed by use and the environment. They calculate stability, strength and rigidity and make sure the right materials are used for each project, whether it is a new- build, conversion or renovation. The same I also apply & do in my Spiritual Life…..To enhance the Stability & Strength of people, community and society…We, through various activities of mutt, we support / train / coach / empower & strengthen many groups, individuals, organizations, communities to withstand the stress and pressure imposed on them in their life & living.
Definitely, an engineering background comes as an added advantage.
Whenever / Wherever I see an opportunity to solve a problem or to scale up an existing solution, engineering outlook helps me in setting up the right systems (systems thinking), building & deploying competent talent around the system (nurturing teams work & Hi potential talent), governing the system with analytics & insights (Data / Performance driven governance) and deriving & delivering the right outcomes / results (outcomes / results driven). It’s all to do with engineering the perfect methodology for a problem /
issue solving and strengthening our value contribution to society.
Let me also speak on recent developments that we defined & deployed to enhance a specific offering in our medical super speciality services through our 1200 bedded hospital echo system that we created for the poor.
We adopted the BOT (Build – Operate – Transfer) model in teaming up with external medical experts to build a new offerings in cardiology, renal sciences. This model helped us to partner with “talent pool of doctors”, gave access to “Shared knowledge and Resources”, helped with “Short setup time” for the benefit of our patients.
We keep exploring new models and new approaches for Speed and Agility in delivering our services to humanity and society.
I also make it a point to constantly update / upgrade myself so that I stay relevant to various industries, our institutions and mainly to the children around me. I love to teach Design thinking, Lean & Agile mindset when I get into a class room next time. I like to say here that education makes you a lifelong learner.
Of course, being masters in civil engineering makes me to get the best quality in all the infrastructure projects that mutt takes up…..I participate in design reviews, estimation, construction plans / progress, quality checks / assessments and get “right value” for every rupee we spend on creations / developments..
My sincere thanks to engineering education…for helping me out in delivering my responsibilities and duties as the leader of the spiritual mutt.
Question 3: In what ways do you think the integration of modern science and technology helps spiritual – religious organizations. How is mutt integrating science and technology..??
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: YES, Technology has been the key driving & deciding force in the organization of our ever expanding religious and spiritual agenda, over the years.
In recent years, technology has been rapidly advancing, and with it, the way we live our lives has changed significantly. With the rise of social media, virtual reality, and online resources / transactions, spirituality is becoming more accessible and available to people from all walks of life and we were able to get increased reach out in expanding mutt related activities. Due to online platforms, more people across the world are now participating in various events / activities. The means and methods of reaching out to our devotees / volunteers / audience are high due to technology adoption.
As we have several engineering / technology courses in our institutions, it always helped us to track the trends, advancements, applications in technology and adopt them appropriately to the benefit of the education / students and also in strengthening the participation in mutt related activities. Technology adoption is a journey that we embarked on several years ago and we made significant investments and we continue to nurture the technology usage.
The new idea that we are exploring now is to bring our devotees / supporters / contributors on to a single
digital platform, so that we can have all the religious, spiritual, philanthropic needs seamlessly met; whether it is a simple temple darshan, offerings, performing specific rituals, getting helping hands, consultations or even making donations. The fact that the entire offline ecosystem has to be made available online….and also use the advanced topics like AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning), VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) for better devotee experiences is our Digital Strategy for the future. We also would line up to build Real-Time Personalized Experiences that Foster Loyalty, Collaboration, Belongingness with our devotees.
Question 4: India is rich in culture, heritage, and spirituality. Yet, our school/college curriculum does not teach much about how to deal with life? Should spirituality be an integral part of every student’s learning and life? Should every of course, professional or otherwise have at least an elective in ‘spirituality’ for holistic development of students so that they are able to deal with different life situations effectively. Your views.
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: In recent years, I definitely see few schools & institutions teaching more on culture, heritage, and spirituality. This has to go more broader and deeper in every stream of education and to every student. That would make spirituality becoming an integral part of everyone’s life from the initial days of life.
Spiritual teaching must help children to attain higher levels of awareness and meaningfulness of life.
In the classrooms / sessions, we must provide experiences of awe to the students through art, fine arts, music, nature, or studying great people and help students connect to something larger than themselves. We could also teach cultural skills such as gratitude, compassion, empathy, mindfulness, to help our children develop excelling relationships. I see this as the path to creating holistic development of students so that their social and emotional health is excellent.
Abraham Lincoln, had written a letter to the principal of the school in which his son was studying in a different way of saying that, “Please provide him education which becomes instrumental in becoming a ‘man’ who understands the reality of life, can be useful to the society at large”. I strongly say, having Spiritual education is the solution to such outcomes of education.
The caption of our university (Adichunchanagiri University) is “sa vidya ya vimukthaye”, it means “knowledge is one that liberates”. When students are given right education, they will reflect on the world they live in and they will become the change agents for betterment of the self and the society.
Finally….I have been thinking about this in recent times, why can’t we introduce an elective / additional course on our ancient Vedic literature / Upanishads / Indus civilization in all our institutions, for the benefit of all the children / students / Faculty & Staff. This does not call for heavy lifting as we do have Sanskrit college in our group and we would utilize the expertise to create the course with the right and apt curriculum to meet learning outcomes.
Question 5: In what ways do you feel the common people can integrate spirituality in their day-to-day life?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: To me, it’s doable and not a complex act….common people can integrate spirituality by Praying more, meditating more, attending gatherings more often and joining a yoga group or meditation group are just a few ways you can put your spirituality into practice.
To integrate spirituality into common people, we have our own offerings. Our 8 limbs of services (Asthanga seva) – Anna (Food), Arogya (Health), Akshara (Education), Adhyathmika (Spirituality), Ashraya (Shelter), Aranya (Afforestation), Akalu (Cattle Protection) and Anukampa (Helping Hands) does provide opportunities for millions of individuals / devotees to participate and contribute to the spiritual philosophy of our ancient mutt.
“यतो अभ्युदय िनःश्रेयससििद्ध सह धमः।”
The above sutra states Dharma to be that from which results the accomplishment of exaltation and the supreme god. According to vedas, the path to a balanced and meaningful existence generally requires holistic pursuit of right actions (dharma), material security, material happiness and spiritual liberation.
These lines would help us to understand the importance of spirituality in everyone’s life.
Question 6: What are your thoughts on Science and Spirituality? Do they complement each other and can go along? Often, Science and Spirituality are looked at as two distinct paths with little convergence. What are your thoughts?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji:
“I have made the Bhagavad Gita as the source of my inspiration and guide for the purpose of scientific investigation and formation of my theories” – Albert Einstein
We have two paths to understand, relative consciousness and absolute consciousness. One is the path of science, empirical, physical and the other being the path of spirituality, eternal, metaphysical . The convergence between these two has been a matter of discussion / argument / talking point both for the scientists and the spiritual realisers / leaders. My simple answer to this is “both are co existing” and “Sustainable development is possible only with the coordination of science and spirituality”. They must be united, we can not see, explore or expose them as two independent things / entities.
“Both religion and science require a belief in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end of all considerations… To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every generalized world view.“ — Max Planck
Question 7: Do you feel there is a general misconception that ancient Indian tradition and philosophy does not encourage and inculcate scientific temper?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: India was the motherland of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe’s languages.
India was the mother of our philosophy,
of much of our mathematics, of the ideals embodied in Christianity
of self-government and democracy.
In many ways, Mother of India is the mother of us all.
— WILL DURANT
My response is a simple “yes”, it’s purely a misconception.
For our ancient India, this science and technology in its own way was never a strange phenomenon. Ancient India was advanced from the point of view of science and technology. India has achieved significant achievements in the fields of Mathematics, Physics, and Medicine in ancient India.
There is no denying that we need to break with some aspects of our socio religious heritage or other superstitious beliefs to encourage scientific temper. Scientific temper is known as an individual’s attitude of logical and rational thinking & that must be taken up from early days of education through Discussions, arguments and analysis and aim to inculcate the values of scientific thinking, appreciate scientific development, and drive away superstition, and all forms of pseudo- science.
No Problem Can Be Solved From The Same Level Of Consciousness That Created It.: Albert Einstein, the same is apt for this question. To understand ancient Indian traditions and philosophy, we need to rise up to a new thinking and maturity.
Question 8: Where do you see the IITs in the next 50 years?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: Back into the history, the vision behind the creation of the IITs is to have them as cornerstones in building the industrial, scientific and technological edifice of the nation. It also is to provide affordable quality education, while equipping students with knowledge and skills in their chosen stream, inculcate values, identify hidden talents, provide opportunities for students to realize their full potential and thus shape them into future leaders, entrepreneurs and above all good human beings.
Our demography, diversity and culture are our strengths. It is time for us to focus on creating more job creators as India has the potential to become the innovation capital of the world. For India to become a product-oriented economy, entrepreneurship skills & leadership must be more included and built – this charter must be owned by IITs more for the country in upcoming decades. Students must be trained to become entrepreneurs, not just job seekers with high financial benefits.
In addition to IITs, the end to end entrepreneurship ecosystem has to be developed through collaboration between IITs, universities, government, and entrepreneurs themselves, and become a critical source of fostering the entrepreneurial environment and embracing a culture of in-depth innovation to promote entrepreneurship and become a global power.
Next 50 years…we need to produce more “Leaders,
Entrepreneurs” for India & by India.
In fact, all of us must work together, not just the IITs. In simple terms, we must have a secret sauce of scaling up Innovation & entrepreneurship.
Question 9: What do you think the IITs need to do to be among the best institutions in the world? What are the hurdles in the way?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: My few insights / observations on this subject.
IIT is seen as the best option for students looking forward to making a bright / successful career in Science and Technology for Indian students. But what I understood after careful / insightful study on international institutions is that they are well known for its courses across the globe, their variety, their volumes of educational offerings, and Velocity at which they bring new courses / streams / certifications / case studies / curriculum revisions is at much higher levels. There is a need to introspect and learn from them, keeping the country’s priorities and our youth aspirations into consideration.
Also…the research component does play a vital role to position the institutions around the world. The major difference between IIT and other global universities is exposure, funds for research and curriculum. We have an opportunity to create the best research opportunities in the world for the faculty and students. Our existing industries / corporates / startups have to take the lead in achieving the progress.
Question 10: IITs have immense potential to make considerable social impact, to solve existing social issues of India. But we do not see much of that happening over the years. Often, innovations out of IITs do not change the lives of the common people. What are your views?
Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji: Why only IITs, the entire education system must self-assess on this topic, and it’s not right or reasonable to put the entire load / responsibility on just IITs. Talent is in many places, but not the opportunities and the environment that nurtures “innovations / ideas to solutions / products”, we are all losing out because of this.
I see a 3 point agenda to counter this issue.
High support / funding for Research & Development: There is no solution to this without research and development. The myth that R&D is expensive and time-consuming must go out of all our faculty members & institutions, especially the resources with doctorates must drive / inculcate a research and development mindset in every student in the classroom. No R&D in institutions drives Brain Drain or Brain Migration, that’s what is happening in our country. This must be the first priority.
Entrepreneurship in Education:
With my experience of running academic institutions, 7 to 14% of students would like opt options in entrepreneurship, that’s a good number to start with. We must rightly work up on those students with personalized mentoring / support and investments. I strongly believe that We don’t have a proper investment plan for these students in most of the institutions
including IITs. This must be our second priority.
Networking and nurturing the RISK takers:
Not everyone in this world is gifted with opportunities. Many are out there building their own, and we have to find them and encourage them further. And if they fail, what’s our action plan must be thought of.
If policy makers, academicians come together to put together a framework to address the above agenda, the country can realize its potential.
