Tara's business name was chosen for her by a high lama in Delhi.

SPIRIT IN BUSINESS

DIMIHN BUSINESS By Helen Chang

As the CEO of a large fashion company in Singapore, Tara Melwani

did not expect to find out about a senior manager's

extra-marital affair. Nor did she think of Buddhism as a business

guide. And she certainly did not believe that either of these had

anything to do with the high staff turnover her stores were

experiencing. Yet, as she was to learn, everything was connected.

T am Melwani is a high-profile businesswoman

and a director of Jay Gee Enterprises, a S$60 million (US$35 million) turnover company with 350 staff, based in Singapore. When she was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) in 1997, she joined the ranks of several elite groups: the Young Entrepreneurs' Organ-ization, for business leaders under age 40, with at least US$1 million in turnover; the Young Presidents' Organ-ization, for business leaders under age 50, with minimum US$8 million turnover; and the first female to head the company founded in 1883. She was also a young Buddhist student, who would eventually turn to the Dharma for all aspects of running her business.

For Tara, business and Buddhism now go hand in hand. Business is her Dharma. Money is her practice. And profits are her vehicle for guru devotion. She uses Buddhist principles to create company values, diagnose business problems, and generate profits to fund the projects of her guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Last year, she stepped back from Jay Gee Enterprises to further serve her guru, as Singapore fundraising director of the Maitreya Project.

For those who believe business and Buddhism don't mix, Tara is living proof that they do. Tara is a businesswoman who uses money, business and profits to express her devotion. She looks to the Dharma to determine business principles and diagnose challenges. And she shows how business and Buddhism can come together to inspire loving kindness.

"The point of business is to make money," says Tara. "But the motivation behind the money is what is very important. It either becomes a benefit, or causes suffering. If my motivation is good then I plant the causes for good results. If my motivation is bad then I plant the causes for bad results.

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SPIRIT IN BUSINESS

"I would like to make lots of money, to be able to contribute to my teacher's wonderful projects, that make a difference to so many sentient beings."

FROM THE GROUND UP Born as Mona Moti Melwani, into a Hindu family, Tara

grew up learning business. Her family's company, started by her grandfather importing textiles, now sells up-market fashion brands, such as Levi, Dockers, Liz Claiborne, OshKosh B'Gosh, and Escada. At the age of 22, she joined the family company, as an advertising and promotions executive. Over the next nine years, she learned the ropes of the business as an operations manager, brand manager and general manager. In 1997, after her father suffered a

stroke, and the Asian economic crisis hit, she was appointed CEO at age 32.

That year, she also met Lama Zopa Rinpoche, with whom she felt "instant recognition." Although she was known as Mona, he immediately called her Tara. Within a year, she legally changed her name to Tara Mona Moti Melwani and took lay Buddhist vows.

As CEO of the business, Tara was pressed. The Asian economic crisis had hit hard. "Suddenly, there was no reference point from where bankers, businesspeople from all industries could make assumptions about the future, and where rapid change was the only constant," says Tara. So she turned to the Dharma. "I was desperately seeking answers. That was such a beautiful time for me to receive Dharma teachings, because it

BUSINESS AFFLICTIONS AND ANTIDOTES Tam's experience in using karmic principles to solve

business problems shows the far-reaching applications of Buddhism in the business world.

Tara had engaged the services of Geshe Michael Roach's Enlightened Business Institute to do a diagnostic test of her company. The test — based on the 10 non-virtuous actions as framework — analyzes business afflictions, causes and antidotes. Here's what they found:

AFFLICTION: Financial losses, pilfering of inventory KARMIC CORRELATION: Stealing ANTIDOTE: Stop stealing time and money APPLICATION: Tara discovered that the company often did not pay bills on time, which was a form of stealing from others. The company changed its policies so that creditors were paid on time, or informed of a new date, and paid promptly.

In another instance, a manager had come to her, telling her how the company could add S$200,000 to its bottom line. Another company had made a mistake on a contract, which would add to Jay Gee's coffers. Tam realized that sign-ing the contract would be acceptable legally, but it would sow negative karmic seeds, because it would be a form of steal-ing. This would result in even more losses later. The con-tract was corrected. RESULT: Within a year, financial losses were stemmed, and pilfering stopped. DHARMIC LESSON: Tara realized that taking advantage of others and stealing time and money would lead to even more financial losses, if "not in this lifetime, maybe in my next lifetime."

AFFLICTION: Management conflict KARMIC CORRELATION: Divisive talk ANTIDOTE: Bring people together APPLICATION: Tara needed to stop moving between two

management camps, bring them together and make cohesive decisions. Although she feared losing favor from either camp, she made decisions based on the highest good of the company, and accepted the fallout. RESULT: Peace. Management and staff forged one clear vision and direction for the company. One dissenting camp eventually left the company. The remaining staff ral-lied around Tara and the vision, creating a harmonious company. DHARMIC LESSON: "I wanted to create a happy, harmonious environment for people to work in, so that they could be happy in their jobs," says Tara. "I want to benefit. How can I benefit [others] if the company is disruptive, people are unhap- py, they are going back to their families unhappy?"

AFFLICTION: High staff turnover KARMIC CORRELATION: Sexual misconduct ANTIDOTE: Stop it APPLICATION: Tara did not know how to apply this, since she did not know of anyone, including herself, engaging in such behavior. Four months later, when two senior man-agers resigned from the company, she found out they had been having an extra-marital affair. RESULT: Staff turnover fell DHARMIC LESSON: Tara says, "I had a karmic relation-ship with them. If I experience the effects of someone's mis-conduct, for as long as it comes to my awareness, then it's my seed too, because we have similar karma.

"I came to realize that you cannot escape from any inappropriate behavior — even if it's clandestine. Because karma catches up with you, no matter what, and its correla-tion shows up in the most extraordinary places, where you couldn't possibly imagine. It made me even more conscious of how I need to be so aware of my thoughts, my speech, and my actions. Because everything I do plants a seed that can manifest in my life." *

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SPIRIT IN BUSINESS P

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was a foundation based on 2,500 years of research and develop- ment, from which I could make confident and sound decisions.

"I discovered that the Buddha's instructions are similar to the basic assumptions of a business plan and could be applied in the workplace. If your basic assumption in a business plan is wrong, then the forecasting and all the projections are going to go wrong."

BUSINESS AFFLICTIONS In her search for a business mentor, she found Geshe Michael

Roach, author of The Diamond Cutter, a business book based on the Diamond Sutra. Geshe Michael had also developed a business diagnostic test, based on the 10 non-virtuous actions. The assess-ment identifies 64 common business problems, their karmic correlations and business antidotes.

One of Tara's challenges was figuring out why so many new staff left, after less than three weeks into the job — a turnover rate much higher than the industry norm. The diagnostic test shocked her. The high staff turnover, it said, was due to sexual misconduct. Even if none of the new people knew of such conduct in the stores, somewhere in the company, or the company's history, the karmic seeds of sexual misconduct had now ripened into a result of high staff turnover in the company.

Tara knew she had to stamp out these karmic seeds, in

Tara Melwani with her teacher, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

PAGE 20 MANDALA • SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2002

order to create new results of stable staff. But she did not know exactly what to do, since she did not know of anyone, including herself, who engaged in such behavior in the company. Nor did she feel comfortable ferreting out such personal information from her staff. She focused on other afflictions in the business and let it ride. Four months later, two of her senior managers resigned, one after another. At that time, one of Tara's colleagues expressed lack of surprise at the two of them departing so closely together; after all they had been having an extra-marital affair for years, and even used the office to liaise and set up their own business together. Tara was astounded. So the diagnosis had been right. She learned that many of the managers had known about it, but no one dared say anything because the two managers had held such senior positions. Now they were gone, the others felt free to tell her. The diagnostic tool proved itself correct again; not long after the two managers left, staff turnover in the stores stabilized to industry norms.

Tara has continued to identify karmic correlations in her business. Finding these causes and applying antidotes has been the key to business health (see box page 19).

DHARMIC BUSINESS Tara has also used the Dharma to launch new business. In

2000, she opened a store selling contemporary Asian home accessories, called TARAhome. (No, the name was not an ego exercise; it was chosen by a high lama in Delhi).

The new business was set up with the intention of giving the profits to Lama Zopa Rinpoche's projects. And the company's mission and values are based on Buddhist principles — specifically the 10 virtuous actions, but put into lay language. For example, one virtue is to act with absolute equanimity. Tara does this by hiring staff based on their abilities, rather than physical appearance, age, gender and so on. And Tara herself does mantras and practices to increase merit, as one way to generate profits.

BUSINESS AND SPIRITUALITY Tara sees no difference between business and spirituality.

"People think that there's a conflict. If you are a businessperson, you must be ruthless, as the modem workplace values competi-tion, efficiency and profit. In contrast, the spiritual realm is about meaning, wholeness and cooperation, better suited to a social worker or charity fund-raiser. But once we understand cause and effect [karma], then we can create the "real" causes for the results we want in any part of our life, including business.

"So you can be a business person and be a spiritual person at the same time; make money and make a difference. It's all in the motivation behind the activity."

While Buddhist masters have thrown away gold, as a symbol of their commitment to the Dharmic path, Tara has no qualms about making money. "Money itself is empty [of independent existence,]" she says. "Everyone has issues about money. But it's the motivation behind it, that it either becomes a benefit or suffering. I want to be able to benefit." *