Arjuna's Paradigm Shift

23.06.2010

I have been recommending the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as propounded by Stephen R Covey to Mr. K Sriram executive taxation at Ma Foi. He has sincerely taken up a reading of the book. Today, while speaking to me, he expressed the view that after reading the first chapter of the book, he has experienced a Paradigm Shift. He was able to look at his long term goals and aspirations from a totally different perspective. I gave him some more inputs on this, especially about the Maturity Continuum and the need to internalize the private Victories that take us from Dependence to independence first. Thereafter we are ready to transition through Habits four, five and six to attain the Public Victories and thereby appreciate the need for Interdependence.

Sriram felt that the transformation that Arjun under goes around the middle of the second chapter is a Paradigm Shift. Arjuna’s problem or the Arjuna Problem as Swmi Chinmayanandaji calls it is typical and not essentially different from the problems of a professional or of an executive in a large corporation. Before we can even start the therapy or the Krishna Solution, there is a need for a shift in Paradigm from a self centric, money centric or even family centric one to the Principle Centric Paradigm. This is the Shreyas that Arjun asks of Krishna in Chapter II Verse 7 of The Gita. Do you notice that he is asking for that which is “Shreyas” or the “Best and Unalloyed Good”. Thus he is actually asking not only for himself but for all of us.