[Vnbiz] Leadership -- Knowledge in Human Affairs (used to be "Nha Trang Bay")

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear CACC,

This message is from a comment brother Phong made to my quote "what comes
out of the right heart will be right."

I have said previously that leadership training is really the training of
the heart.  So this is a key point that we need to cover, as a part of my
series on leadership

We may think of the heart as a counterpart of the mind, like they are two
different things--the heart is emotion and the mind is logic.  But that
thinking is scientifically wrong.  Both our emotion and logic are in the
brain and they are not independent of each others, although may reside in
different parts of the brain.

In the Buddhist language, it is the word "ta^m," or heart/mind, or heart, or
mind--all indicate the same thing--our mental capacity.

Now let's look some common sense examples of how emotion produces knowledge.

Our mothers: Most of our mothers know very little about child psychology or
education or fancy training methods.  Most of them simply love their
children dearly.  And most of them raise their children well.  Conclusion:
Their love shows them what to do with their children, even though they have
very little training or knowledge on child rearing.  In other words, love
produces knowledge.

If a man truly loves his wife, he may be dumb in women psychology, may not
know how to communicate, may not know how to act properly, but if he really
loves her, he will eventually find ways to keep her happy.  If a man doesn't
really loves his wife in his heart, he may understand all the psychology of
the world and may be the great communicator, but he will not be able to keep
her happy.

Bush wanted to attacked Iraq, so the entire administration and Congress saw
lots of reasons to attack Iraq, and the entire US intelligent system--CIA,
FBI, the best of the world--saw only reasons to attack Iraq (which now are
said to be wrong).

If you truly want to have a lot of money to the degree that you dream about
money day and night, eventually you will know how to make a lot of money.

A man donates 100K to charity, if you love him you say "He is a great man,"
if you hate him, you say, "That is how he does self advertising."

The Vietnamese government has the tradition of giving amnesty to prisoners
on holidays, you would say that is a very humane and living tradition.  Many
anti-communists out here say the government have to get rid of some
prisoners because it has no more room to arrest more people.

And if you are a lawyer going to court every day, you know that each
sentence of the law can be interpreted at least two different ways and the
"facts" of the case are understood completely differently, depending on what
side you are on.

So does knowledge come independently or knowledge simply follow the heart?

Let me finish this message by a quote from the two persons who, in my
opinion, are the best masters on the human heart--Jesus of Nazareth and
Shiddartha the Buddha:

Jesus said,

"You may be hearing but never understanding
You may be seeing but never perceiving
For your heart has become callous."


And the Buddha said:

Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
        ruled by the heart,
        made of the heart.
If you speak or act
with a corrupted heart,
then suffering follows you --
as the wheel of the cart,
    the track of the ox
    that pulls it.

Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
        ruled by the heart,
        made of the heart.
If you speak or act
with a calm, bright heart,
then happiness follows you,
like a shadow
    that never leaves.
        (Dammapada -- Kinh Phap Cu
         http://www.buddhismtoday.com/english/texts/khuddaka/dhp/1.html )

So, work on your heart.

Have a great day!

Hoanh



On 6/7/07, Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
>
> Welcome back from your European adventure.
> Please share the 3 most important/impressive things from this trip.
> The idea of "what comes out of the right heart will be right" is an
> attractive, but somewhat Utopian notion.  That's not to say that it's wrong,
> just that it is too subjective by itself to be reliable and predictable.
>  Many of Vietnam's previous generations really believed and followed their
> hearts but ended up with disastrous consequences or bitter disappointment.
>  They would have been better served listening to both their hearts and
> minds.
> People everywhere has the right to petition their government, the
> difference is whether or not their government listen to them, which in turn
> directly depends on whether or not the people has the power to change those
> in power.  Culture plays a role, but there are more fundamental principles
> that transcend culture.  One of those principles is that no authority would
> willingly yield its power without a certain level of resistance.  In such an
> environment, raising your voice will ineviaby cause friction.  The critical
> difference between different system is whether or not violence is needed to
> affect changes in government.
> Best,  HPP
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Washington DC
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