The Principle of Emptiness

By JOSEPH NEWTON

Have you got the habit of hoarding useless objects, thinking that one day, who knows when, you may need them ?

Have you got the habit of accumulating money , and not spending it because you think that in the future you may be in want of it?

Have you got the habit of storing clothes, shoes, furniture, utensils and other home supplies that you haven’t used already for some time?

And inside yourself...? Have you got the habit to keep reproaches, resentment, sadness, fears and more?

Don’t do it! You are going against your prosperity!

It is necessary to make room, to leave an empty space in order to allow new things to arrive to your life.

It is necessary that you get rid of all the useless things that are in you and in your life, in order to prosperity to arrive.

The force of this emptiness is one that will absorb and attract all that you wish.

As long as you are, materially or emotionally, holding old and useless feelings, you won’t have room for new opportunities

Goods must circulate....

Clean your drawers, the wardrobes, the workshop, the garage...

Give away what you don’t use any longer...

The attitude of keeping a heap of useless stuff ties your life down.

It’s not the objects you keep that stagnate your life...

but rather the attitude of keeping...

When we keep in store, we consider the possibility of wanting, of penury..

we believe that tomorrow it may lack, and that we won’t be able to fulfil those necessities..

With that idea, you are sending two messages to your brain and to your life:

That you don’t trust tomorrow...and you think that the new and the better are not for you,

For this reason you cheer yourself up by storing old and useless stuff

Get rid of what lost its colour and brightness...

Let the new enter your home... and yourself.

For this reason, after reading this...

Don’t keep it...Make it circulate...

May prosperity and peace reach you soon

'Y' Handshake

A handshake is a short ritual in which two people grasp each other's right or left hand often accompanied by a brief up and down movement of the grasped hands. While its origins remain obscure, archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that handshaking was practiced as far back as the 2nd century BC

The handshake is initiated when the two hands touch, immediately. It is commonly done upon meeting, greeting, parting, offering congratulations, expressing gratitude, or completing an agreement

Its purpose is to convey trust, balance, and equality

Initiating a proper handshake will make an incredibly positive impression. You will be perceived as a person who is knowledgeable, possesses excellent social skills, and has leadership capabilities.

An excellent handshake shows your charm and self-confidence. It becomes an integral part of your style.

“Any person who has charm and some confidence can move in and through societies ranging from the most privileged to the most needy. Style allows the person to appear neither inferior in one location nor superior in the other.”

—Maya Angelou... (noted poet, educator, and best-selling author)

The group has discovered the ‘Y’ handshake that has resulted significant impact and connection with the people we touch. It goes this way:

1. Gently look 'through' the eyes (not stare);

2. At the same time, put your hand on your chest and then extend your hand;

3. Do a warm handshake (not hard shake or quick shake): feel the energy before you withdraw your hand.

We will from now on use this new form of handshake whenever we meet Clients, Candidates, Colleagues and Suppliers.

What is X and Y

Contribution from the leader of Greater China

Conflict with self (X)

Outlook

• critical


• negative; closed-minded


• see problems mainly: everything is "hard", "difficult" and "tough"

Behaviours

• avoidance


• denial/defensive/justifying/reasoning


• focus on "lack"

Outcome

• life is hard


• self-critical


• take things personally/ seriously


• unhappy

Harmonize with self (Y)

Outlook

• face issues squarely (because can face self)


• positive


• open minded


• see "solutions" - there is hope!

Behaviours

• less concerned with the words and comments of others


• sense of fulfillment, at ease, at peace

Outcome

• take things lightly


• lets go easily


• goes with the flow

Mechanics and Outcomes

Optimism is not equal to positiveness, but pessimistic is X
Y sees opportunities, X sees obstacles
Y is giving, focus on what we have, satisfied
X is taking, focus on what we lack, dissatisfied
Y sees solution; X sees problem
X and Y energy Not X and Y people
Its not one or the other; we all have both
We have a choice; its within our control
X wants to live up to expectations; Y embraces Self
X tries very hard; rather than being
X dwells on things; Y moves on

Its not one or the other; we all have both but We all have a Choice

How to switch?

--> Embrace yourself, love yourself

--> Count your blessings

--> Remember everything happens for a reason

--> Focus on others (Giving), not yourself (Taking), avoid self-pity

** Don't ask for Y outcome, it will come "packaged".

True Y is at Ease & at Peace

Sharing through Positive Energy Card (Y card)

HPC have conceptualize the design of Positive Energy Card (Y card) that is able to help and assist all of us in the office to cultivate Inner Positiveness and embrace a healthy positive working environment.

We believe that the Positive Energy Card will be able to help unleash positive energy to whoever we interact with; be it our clients or our colleagues. It helps to generate a SMILEY face and open up the third eye to see beyond inner positiveness.

How does it work?

· Whenever you feel tired, whenever you feel miserable, whenever you feel down, take one Positive Energy Card and read. And you will feel better after that. Once you open the card, the fragrance of virtues will be spread all over you.

· Whenever you are going out to meet a client, whenever you are meeting a potential candidate, whenever you go out for a BM, take one Positive Energy Card and read (bring it along as a lucky charm with you if you want, but remember to put it back so that others too can benefit from it) to see your clients. When you open the card infront of your clients, if spreads a huge strong fragrance of inner positiveness to them.

The Production

We had 2 batches of innerpositiveness card production. 1st batch was for internal and 2nd batch was to extend and to spread to external.

The production process noted below involves all the team members :

- conceptualization
- design
- selecting and buying of material (paper & ribbon)
- searching & selecting of quotes
- printing of the cards
- cutting
- folding (1st batch only)
- tie the ribbon (1st batch only)
- the final product
- etc....

The production took us about 1.5 hrs to complete. Not too long to produce these cards together. What wat most important, we all had a lot of fun and we used our heart, positiveness and happiness in producing these cards. These cards are priceless. No one will be able to purchase these with money.

Real Experiences

In most occasions when we passed a Positive Energy Card (Y card) to our client during our meetings, you can see the glowing change to their face. They shared their gratitude to us for sharing the positve messages especially after a challenging day in office. They were impressed by our positive actions and energy and want to know more about us and our services .

Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous (VUCA)

The followings are shared by our friend from Japan

A military term coined by the Americans to describe a military situation which is difficult to plan strategy for, recently adopted by business community to describe the state of events that have hit us since sub-prime collapse.

V = Volatility　 : Continuous Whitewater in Organizations
U = Uncertainty　: Degrees of Confidence in Future State
C = Complexity　 : Ever Increasing Complexity of Organization & Processes
A = Ambiguity　 : Black and White Yield to Grey and Beyond

The leadership forum reminded me of the importance of persevering and keeping focused on the prize while remaining open to new possibilities.

It's easy to say we should be teachable and humble, especially when you consider that the world we live in today is captured very aptly in the acronym VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.

But exceptional governance is captured in the face of ambiguity, inspiration and pragmatism.

—Tesse Akpeki, "Boards must focus on what is right," Third Sector, March 7, 2007

Switching from innernegativeness (X) to innerpositiveness (Y)

Wisdom from our Chairman on innerpositiveness
(X to Y Approach)




Introduction

1. Innerpositiveness & exuding positive energy is an approach that would bring us forward exponentially, create meaning and joy with increasing reward. Everyone with intention to grow with us will benefit from this practice.

2. This approach sets us apart from our competitors & clients.

3. An unique approach for now till many other forward organizations catch up.


Mechanics

1. Y refers to Innerpositiveness; and X refers to Innernegativeness.

2. Energy vibration frequency range differs between X & Y.

3. Y frequency tends to attract similar frequency range of positive circumstances, events & people; similarly, X attracts the negative ones. It's the Law of Attraction at work.

4. All of us have both X & Y. It's whether we decide to have X or Y to occupy our mind & heart.

5. Y can be merely switched on like an electric power switch, anytime, anywhere, whether with negative or positive circumstances, events & people. And you can leave it on all the time. In switching it, you don't have to 'psycho' yourself; and it's also not a function of time. Just switch it.


6. This Switch from X to Y calls for:

- consciousness of X presence.
- awareness of your ego at work & its negative reaction.
- a firm decision to choose Y.


Outcomes

1. The outcomes of Y presence are:

- happy spirit.
- healthier mindbody.
- open mind; can absorb well.
- greater creativity.
- guard against external factors tt may influence your inner state of mind.

2. Outcomes of X practice are the opposite of Y's. To the extreme, X destroys your spirit. However, focus on the Switch, not on the Outcomes.


Conclusion

1. Finally once there in Y mode, you would not want to get out. And you can discern X presence easily. Avoid, ignore, or walk away from X people or negative situation when you coueold not outcome it.

2. Y approach is the foundation for turning our people to Business Saints.

3. Collectively practice Y, nothing will be impossible for us. Do you know why?

What is happiness?

When we read the newspaper or listen to news everyday, it is always the negative news that is floating around us. The recent sub-prime crisis that triggered the downfall of the financial giant like Lehman Brothers and AIG had created grave concern to many people around the world about their job security and family future. The negative news of melamine in food resulted fear on whether what we had eaten was safe. Previous news on various natural disaster like earthquake in Sichuan and the flood in Myanmar that killed many innocent people further triggered much negative thoughts in our mind everyday.

How can we deal with all this negativity that is surrounding us if we want to remain or become happy?

When our Chairman shared with me the concept of innerpositiveness, I quickly recollect the first book on happiness that I had read many years back when I was a teenager i.e. Being Happy by Andrew Matthew. The book had many illustration of enlightened moment in cartoon and it had helped to keep me happy and positive despite facing setback at times and when dealing with negativity.

When the HRnet group roll-out the innerpositiveness concept through a global campaign, I thought it is timely to create this blog to share the experiences of a group of happy people that had change the life of many others through their work as human resource consultant.

To kick off this blog, I have tried to research into the definition of happiness. I am glad my colleague has sent me the following teachings from Dalai Lama.

There are many facets to leading a happy life. It begins by understanding the true and legitimate sources of happiness. The Art of Happiness is based on a few basic premises:

- The purpose of life is happiness.

- Happiness is determined more by the state of one's mind than by one's external conditions, circumstances, or events - at least once one's basic survival needs are met.

- Happiness can be achieved through the systematic training of our hearts and minds, through reshaping our attitudes and outlook.

- The key to happiness is in our own hands.

~ Dalai Lama ~