Fifth Century Agile | Agile Story 31

Disclaimer: The article is an individual post and do not reflect the company’s opinions

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo & Learnings in Agile

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo popularly known as Lotus Sutra

Namis a Sanskrit word, derived from “namas” which is taken to express devotion.

Myoho — translates roughly to “Wonderful Law”, “Mystic Law”, or the karmic law of cause and effect, which is considered by Buddhists to be the ultimate law of the universe.

- translates to “lotus”. The lotus flower seeds and blooms at the same time, representing the simultaneity of cause and effect.

Kyo — translates to “sutra”, “teaching”, or “the voice of the Buddha”.

Spoken together, these words connect the chanter with the karmic law of the universe. The chant itself is said to be the most positive cause you can make, bringing about huge positive effects in your life.

Basically, this Mantra teaches us

• I devote myself to the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower.
• I bow to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra.
• I align myself with the Law of Cause and Effect.
• I connect with my inner Buddha nature.
• The creative energy of the Universe flows to and through me.
• I Am spiritual energy, incarnate.
• My outer life reflects my inner self.
• What I put out, I get back.
• I am a drop in the ocean of Universal energy.
• I am the Creator of my own Life.

In 5th Century, at age 29, Siddhartha, with his charioteer, went out of the protected palace grounds and, for the first time, encountered suffering, which he understood to be an inevitable part of life. He saw four sights: a man bent with old age, a person afflicted with sickness, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic had made him in pain and think of to take Nirvana.

As I played Gautam Buddhas role during annual function of my school when I was in class IV, I still remember, an injured swan falls down in front of Siddhartha & by seeing his blood, pain and then death Siddhartha and I as a Buddha were scared.

From class 4th till now those memories are very sharp in my mind and few years back I got introduced with Lotus Sutra. There was an interesting conversation with a Chant Practitioner and myself:

She told me that, “ Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō (南無妙法蓮華経) are Japanese words chanted within all forms of Nichiren Buddhism.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is not a mystical phrase that brings forth supernatural power, nor is it an entity transcending ourselves that we rely upon”.

She then told me that it is the principle that those who live earnestly and make consistent efforts will win over all obstacles and live fulfilling, happy lives.

I then introduced her to my belief/work- Agile that what she said has reminded me of 3 Pillars of Empiricism:

Inspection, Transparency, Adaptation means working in a fact-based, experience-based, and evidence-based manner with great emphasis on mind-set and cultural shift to achieve business and organizational Agility.

The Chant Practitioner acknowledged — woow..it’s so similar with Buddhism Principles.

Like Discuss, Commit, learn from failures, and deliver.

Similarly moving ahead with our conversation, I had related and discussed many of the things in common like — Our 5 Scrum values are also matches with the 5 Powers in Buddhism -taught us ages back:

The five powers of Buddhism are faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom.

These are similar to our Scrum Values: Focus, Openness, Courage, Commit, Respect.

The five powers of Buddhism and Scrum Values are actually the “controlling faculties.” When they’re strong and balanced, they control the mind, and generate the power which leads to liberation.

And as both of us found new learnings and conversation went ahead, we found that Buddha’s 7 Rules of happiness were very similar to our Agile Values and Principles …So 7 Rules of Happiness given by Buddha also matches to our work life manifested in Agile Ways of working (Wow):

• Clear Viewpoint. Don’t just believe anything just because you saw it, or you heard it -its similar with Backlogs we have- We need to know things in and out and then by the art of acceptance.
• Values. We end up digging a hole so deep that it is hard for us to find a way back home -Sprint Planning- More it’s clear and aligned more agility and value can be driven.
• Words that Inspire. Every one of us having a Buddha inside us -Collaboration as Individuals and Interactions are best to give maximum quality thruput.
• Actions in Positive Direction. Our prayer with positive mind changes our lives -Self organizing teams deliver Quality.
• Efforts with Impact. World is in constant need of healing -Change is Constant, and we should welcome Changing requirements.
• Be Mindful. Living your present and learn from past — Retrospection / Feedback Loops Used to improve .
• Concentrate Right. Most powerful tool we have is our Mind. Meditate to talk to your soul, feel it, and know it -Velocity / Agility -Deliver with Constant Pace.

Chant Practitioner Learnt Agile and I at the end of our conversation was in more peace and patience😊

We open our eyes to the courage and wisdom within as inside of every one of us is a Buddha, which fuels us to work hard and helps us to find the wisdom to move forward…

From both perspectives we learnt a great lesson in our Lives that-

#letscreate2succeed, #teamHCM, #manage2succeed, #ibmconsulting, #teamagile

This is the continuation of sharing our Agile Stories/Thoughts Series. I strongly recommend referring to the links below for previous 30 insightful blogs from our #teamagile in IBM.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.