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Mindfulness and Non-Violence in Doing Business

Gabor Kovacs and András Ócsai published the paper Mindfulness and Non-Violence in Doing Business in the book Ethical Leadership: Indian and European Spiritual Approaches (edited by Madhumita Chatterji and Laszlo Zsolnai, Palgrave–Macmillan, 2016, pp. 171–189.)

The authors start with the observation that in modern times more emphasis has been placed on mindfulness than non-harming. Mindfulness has become an important practice of many successful entrepreneurs, CEOs and other leaders. Kovacs and Ócsai recall that the most influential leader to integrate the principle of non-harming into daily practice was Mahatma Gandhi, who practiced non-harming as a fundamental governing principle for action.

Kovacs and Ócsai believe that nonharming is more important than even before, especially now that humanity has the power and technology to influence and change the vital functioning of the planet. The authors describe business models whose goal is to practically implement the principle of non-harming: Community Supported Agriculture, Ethical Banking and The Slow Food Movement. They also present cases of entrepreneurial initiatives that are based on the goals of non-harming: Windhorse Evolution, the Apopo Foundation, Interface and the Social Venture Network. The authors argue that non-harming is indispensable in the creation of a sustainable world. The balance between mindfulness and non-harming should be re-established.