Sri Ramakrishna Math : The Vedanta Kesari, JUNE 2002

There is an awakening in India today in the context of the demands of a global market. Shoddy products won't do! Inefficient processes won't do! Ineffective personnel in industry are becoming redundant and quality is back into focus. Quality Improvement and Quality Management now comprise an integral part of the value basket of major consultancies. What are the pillars of this quality philosophy? Philip Crosby advocates a Zero defect quality policy, which has four absolutes:

1. Quality is conformance to requirements.
2. The system of quality is prevention.
3. The performance standard of quality is zero defect.
4. The measurement of quality is the Price of Non-conformance (PONC).

Some critics are of the opinion that the term 'Absolutes of quality' smacks of divine inspiration. Criticism notwithstanding, Crosby's absolutes have proved to be winning principles for a large number of companies, resulting in turnarounds and waste reductions. The critics, however, may have a case in point. Incidentally, whenever one invokes the term 'Divine', Indian culture begins to loom large on the horizon. Is there, then, an Indian model of quality also? An investigation worth risking for all Indophiles!

The Indian cultural approach to quality has been holistic and comprehensive. Its point of focus is the individual himself and at the centre of study of quality is man himself, as the subject of investigation. The philosophy of an Indian model of quality is also based on a zero defect model. Only, it does not seek to adjust that defect by reducing the scope of process variability. In other words, this model does not reconcile to defect as an inevitable systemic evil. It seeks an individualistic transcendental solution to the issue of defects by striking its root cause. The Indian paradigm presupposes a primordial defect in the very human system itself, which is responsible for delivering quality products and processes. Nature, according to Vedanta, is susceptible to an initial defect and this defect is characterized by self-multiplication, if left unaddressed. Any production issuing out of a human system in which this defect has been left unattended will deliver surface level quality, that warps on being subjected to rigorous application. Remember your endless rounds to the next-door Dealer workshop in a bid to permanently repair your locally manufactured tape recorder?

What, then, is this primordial defect? The opening verse of the first chapter of part two of the Katha Upanishad says that Nature constructed this human organism with an initial defect. Many powers were put into this system but all these powers of higher creativity are attended by a primordial defect--that the psycho-sensory apparatus of the human system is outwardly driven in its tendencies and therefore, highly susceptible to errors of perception. It perceives the earth as flat, when it is actually round! Therefore, an unrefined human psycho-sensory system is laden with an inherent limitation of producing surface level quality. So, when you are in a long queue at the Bank, desperate to put your signature on a cheque and the ball pen does not eject even a dot, do not be exasperated! But, is there a solution to our disappointment with the issue of quality? The ancient Indian thinkers left no facet of life untouched and quality too did not escape their attention. They, however, employed their characteristic inside-out approach here also. Instead of trying to handle the issue of quality from the objective world of products and processes, they first investigated the subjective universe of defects and errors. Instead of attempting to control quality, the Indian thinker of yore tried to undertake a Root Cause Analysis of the very absence of quality. Long term? Yes. Short-lived? No! Indeed, a very enduring approach.

As they initiated their investigation into the human personality to configure a causal model of quality, they found that quality-centric activity demanded a deeper level of penetrative capacity of the human psycho-organic dimension. Such concentration would enable the human apparatus to develop a probing power into the deeper levels of consciousness and churn out quality goods and services, rooted in that consciousness. In the annals of Indian history, a penetration into the deeper levels of consciousness produced quality education even from a butcher and even from an ordinary housewife. As we scan these episodes of history, the issue becomes more and more intriguing! What was this individualistic quality system of India in place that led India to generate such abundant wealth, peace and prosperity which attracted foreign plunderers even till the late 17th century? When did you last marvel at the awesome architecture of the Tanjavur, Belur, and Halebidu temples and tried to grasp the quality craftmanship that shaped stubborn blocks of granite? What was this secret of India's glorious past? Let us attempt to understand.

The research of the ancient Indian analyst became more demanding now and thereby, the entire human personality came under still sharper focus. The first conclusion followed soon. As was found in the verse of the Kathopanishad, the ancient Indian understood one fact very clearly, that the three primary human resources of the body, mind and intellect ordinarily languish in a state of non-quality and non-refinement. To generate quality output from these three resources, these primary human endowments have to be refined in a systematic educative process. This process of refinement, they termed tapas. Just as heat refines iron ore into iron, the rishis found that tapas refined the human resource into a quality producer and also a quality enhancer, the latter to signify the dynamic nature of tapas. The Upanishads declare: Chara eva iti, chara eva iti; move on, move on in your journey of tapas. This tapas actually meant imparting a high frequency training to the human psycho-sensory equipment to make it more sensitive and error-free in perception and thereby, also in action. Quality creation follows quality perception--goes the ancient Indian maxim. Yatha dristi tatha srishthi. The Indian philosopher soon found to his great satisfaction that when these three primary human endowments receive this high frequency training of tapas, the composite human system starts manifesting quality not only on the shop floor but in every action that issues out of its human capacities. Zero Defect did not, then, remain a standard of performance alone; it became a realizable benchmark. But, the question still remains--what does this high frequency training of the body, mind and intellect entail? In short, it means making these three dimensions transparent enough to allow a certain transmission. When the psycho-sensory human system becomes pure and transparent, it allows the free transmission of its trans-quality personality through these equipments. The body-mind-intellect system then becomes a perfect conductor of error-free quality. This was the reason that the ancient Indians attempted perfection and not AQLS (Acceptable Quality Limits). This trans-quality, trans-personal dimension of the human personality is his quintessential Divine dimension. To the extent this Divine dimension is manifested, to that extent the human system will express quality and perfection. In other words, to the extent fulfilled consciousness directs an action, to that limit will every action be rooted in quality. This definition of quality draws from an indepth penetration into the deeper recesses of pure consciousness and the Indian philosophers also assigned a matrix to this consciousness hierarchy. They called it the Guna dynamics of Tamas, Rajas and Sattva.

At the lowest rung of penetration into pure consciousness is Tamas and it denotes an obtuse psycho-sensory equipment present in the human system. Non-alertness, inactivity, sloth characterize this system. Even state economics lend themselves to this consciousness matrix. Is it not possible to explain the developmental indices of national economics by mapping the collective consciousness of citizens onto this three-fold matrix? The next matrix level of the human apparatus corresponds to Rajas, full of activity and energy but disoriented and haphazard. Remember the bright lad in your class, who always topped the exams, but eventually led a dissipated life of drug abuse? High level of sensory energy wasted in indulgence marks the disoriented face of this consciousness. As the human system becomes more and more refined through tapas, it achieves a certain power of release from the limitations of its sensory dimension. The body-mind-intellect system slowly arrives at a profound level of poise and acuteness in perception. Self-directed growth and integrated thinking, feeling and acting, now becomes possible. Such a human system is located at the apex of the human conscious matrix--Sattva, and demonstrates the capacity for silent, dynamic and refined action. Every action of this personality is full of consciousness and direction. In the words of Swami Vivekananda: 'Like the gentle dew that falls unseen and unheard and yet bringing into blossom the fairest of roses.' Quality is natural to every output that issues out of this personality. This is the penultimate arrival of the human system at the summit of quality-consciousness. He is now ready to take a frontal leap into the realization of his trans-quality personality.

Is this concept of Human quality development lost for ever in the pages of history? Is it still executable in the context of today's global consumerism? Can we still find one such universal practice of this quality model? We turn our attention to an avant-garde institution of India, little more than a century old--The Ramakrishna Mission. What is the kind of training in quality being imparted by this organization? Holistic quality! Every sphere of life has to be made quality-conscious. So, if you pick up a broom from one corner of the room to sweep the floor, take care that you replace it in the same location. If small acts do not represent conscious actions, large productions will also resist quality. Life itself, then, becomes meditation in action and the resultant acuteness of perception generates spontaneous quality. Story after story of human quality development abound in the Ramakrishna Order.

Legend has it that the 9th President of the Order, Swami Madhavananda, would manifest quality even while washing his hands after food. He would open the tap to allow only as much water as would suffice; not a drop would be wasted. A lesson in waste reduction? While he edited manuscripts, his extreme physical suffering due to eczema notwithstanding, not a single error would escape his attention. Interestingly, his biography is amongst the many chapters of Total quality development in this frontier organization. Is this model of quality worth investigating today?

Swamiji says, 'He who can properly prepare a Chhilam of tobacco can also properly meditate.'

A State Government had a scheme for construction of Timber Treatment Houses in tribal areas. The money allotted to each scheme was Rs.80,000 and a number of NGOs including the Ramakrishna Mission centre in that tribal belt had taken up this scheme. The Ramakrishna Mission, however, completed and finished the construction according to specification in Rs.66,000 only. The balance Rs.14,000 was promptly returned to the Government through a draft. The Divisional Collector was surprised, not only at the construction at such a low cost, but also at the refund of surplus money by the Mission, which had never happened before. A lot of money can be saved by the practice of honesty and a little austerity.

The following is a part of the Citation of the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 1998, which was awarded to the Ramakrishna Mission:

The Gandhi Peace Prize instituted by the Government of India honours those who are dedicated to the thought and action that reflect the Gandhian world view. It is for the first time that this prize is being awarded to an institution, the Ramakrishna Mission.

Sri Ramakrishna and his great disciple Swami Vivekananda were symbols of true Indian character. They embodied spiritual strength, scientific mind, all-embracing compassion, and universal brotherhood. Swami Vivekananda's exposition of ancient Vedantic wisdom to modern scientific minds bridged the gulf between spiritual knowledge and scientific understanding.

Instead of saying 'God exists,' if individuals can be helped to see God that dwells in themselves, the human spirit blossoms in the spark of divine light. Vivekananda was a prophet of spirit who wanted to enable direct communion with the divine. For him Nar Sewa was 'Narayan Sewa' both in social and spiritual sense.

The ideal state was described by Sri Ramakrishna as follows: 'When the heart becomes pure through the practice of spiritual discipline, then one rightly feels that God alone is the Doer. He alone has become mind, life and intelligence.'