Human Conduct

&
Guidelines for
Professional Ethics
 Implications of the Right Understanding

Contents:

A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical

Human Conduct

B. Professional Ethics in the Light of Right Understanding

C. Holistic Development towards Universal Human Order

D. Vision for Holistic Technologies, Production Systems

and Management Models
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Definitiveness of Ethical Human Conduct

Every Unit has a specific definitiveness

Examples:

 A mango tree has a definite ‘mango-ness’

 Iron has a definite ‘iron-ness’

 Cow has a definite ‘cow-ness’

Does the human being has any definitiveness ?

3
 Sources of Motivation for our Imagination its
Implications
Source of Motivations for our Desires - Its Implications
Power Activity Self verification on the basis
“kfDr fØz;k of Natural Acceptance
Self eSa 1. lgt Loh—fr ds vk/kkj ij
3 tkap dj
Preconditioning 2. Self-organised

ekU;rk 1
3. Desire Imaging Lora=rk √
Enslavement bPNk fp=.k
4. Thought Analysing-Comparing
ijra=rk X fopkj fo'ys"k.k&rqyu Imagination
5. Expectation Selecting-Tasting
vk'kk p;u&vkLoknu
dYiuk”khyrk
Information
Body 'kjhj 2 Sensation
laosnuk
Behaviour O;ogkj Work dk;Z
Enslavement ijra=rk X

4
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Definitiveness in Human Being

The right understanding gained through self-exploration

enables us to identify the definitiveness of human conduct
which may also be called the ethical human conduct. It is the
same for all human beings.

5
 Harmony in Self = D, T, E in accordance with Natural Acceptance

Harmony in Self = D, T, E in accordance with Natural Acceptance

Force / Power Activity
cy@“kfDr fØz;k
1. Realization
Right Understanding Natural
vuqHkoin the
to be ensured Acceptance
2. Self
Understanding
INTENTION
cks/k Guided
3. Desire Imaging
Content of
bPNk fp=.k
imagination
4. Thought Analysing COMPETENCE
fopkj fo'ys"k.k What You Are
Guided by
5. Expectation Selecting/Tasting
vk'kk Right
p;u@vkLoknu
Understanding
Information
Body 'kjhj
Behaviour O;ogkj Work dk;Z

Happiness = To be in a state of Harmony

Lkq[k ¾ laxhr esa] O;oLFkk esa thuk
6
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Definitiveness in Human Being
Definite human conduct is the sum total of the state of harmony within,
expressing itself and participating in harmony with the outside world. The
harmony in the Self is naturally expressed and extended at all levels of our
being as follows:

• Harmony at the level of Self - Happiness

• Harmony of the Self with the Body - Health at the level of body
• Harmony in the family, in human-human Relationship - Mutual
happiness, justice, fearlessness.
• Harmony with rest of nature - Mutual prosperity: prosperity in human
being and preservation of rest of nature
• Harmony with the whole of nature/Existence - Co-existence (mutual
fulfilment)

8
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Ethical Human Conduct

Ethical Human Conduct constitutes :

• Values
• Policy
• Character

9
Definite (Ethical) Human Conduct (Manaviya Acharan)
Right Understanding Values, Participation (ewY;] Hkkxhnkjh)
– What to do

Thought Policy (uhfr) – How to do

Behaviour/Work Character (pfj=) – Doing

Right Understanding  Natural acceptance of human values,

definiteness in participation, definite human conduct

(development of human consciousness)

10
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Ethical Human Conduct

Values: Understanding of role of Human Being in

Existence

Once we have the right understanding (relationship, harmony and co-

existence), we are able to see our natural participation or values at all levels
of being – from individual, to family, society, nature/existence.

This participation or the human values are definite and form the basis of our
ethical human conduct.

11
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Ethical Human Conduct

Policy: Thought of how to express (live with)

Human Values

Having identified the definite human values, these become the

guide to our imagination (desire, thought and expectation). Our
imaginations are always in terms of how to fulfil this
participation, how to live with these values. The comprehensive
analysis of how to live with these values, how to express these
values is what policy is. These policies are, therefore,
naturally conducive to human welfare – conducive to
enrichment, protection and right utilization of self, body
and physical resources; and at the same time, they are
conducive to the welfare of every unit in existence.
12
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Character: Expression of Human Values in Behaviour, Work and
Participation in the Larger Order
This can be understood in terms of the following:

•Chastity in conjugal relationship i.e. chastity in husband-wife

relationship.

•Rightful acquisition and utilization of wealth –

 Production through labour on rest of nature or physical facility
& artistic value
 Gift – wealth shared willingly / happily from one’s rightfully
acquired wealth on various occasions like festivals (ex. gift in
relationship)
 Award – physical facility / wealth given with joy in a function to
recognise one’s contribution to society and for motivating others

13
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct

 Kindness in behaviour and work – ensuring justice in behaviour and

preservation of rest of nature in work, leading to fulfilment of the
comprehensive human goal; at the same time, compensating for
deficiencies created in the past.

14
A. Knowledge of Human Conduct
1. Human Values – Understanding "What to do as a human
being" and "What not to do as a human being"

2. Policy – Detail, thought of "how to do" Human Constitution. Includes

plan, program, implementation, results, evaluation
 Policy for enrichment (arth neeti) of Self (I), Body, Physical Facility
 Policy for protection (rajya neeti) of Self (I), Body, Physical Facility
 Policy for right utilisation (dharm neeti) of Self (I), Body, Physical Facility

3. Character – Compassionate behaviour, work & participation in

larger order on the basis of human values
 Behaviour – ensuring justice, mutual happiness (while filling the gaps
created in ignorance)
 Work – ensuring preservation, mutual prosperity (while filling the gaps
created in ignorance)
 Rightfully acquired wealth (swa-dhan)
 Chastity in conjugal relationship (swa-nari/swa-purush)
15
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Ethical Human Conduct

• ‘Ethical conduct’ implies that it is naturally acceptable to me

and does not give rise to conflict within.

• ‘Ethical conduct’ implies that it is in consonance with the right

understanding of the reality – the underlying harmony at all
levels.

• ‘Ethical conduct’ implies that it leads to mutual fulfilment with

other people and mutual enrichment with rest of nature

Thus, the ‘ethical conduct’ is self-satisfying, people-friendly

and eco-friendly.

16
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Implications of Value-Based Living

At the level of individual:

• Transition towards happiness and prosperity will take place at the individual
level.

• The individual will slowly start getting rid of the contradictions and conflicts
within, and attain a state where he is able to answer hi(s)her questions by
exploring within the Self.

• This will help the individual get rid of the tension, frustration, depression,
one-upmanship, psycho-somatic disorders and other such situations that
(s)he doesn’t want to be in and facilitate definite and predictable human
conduct.

17
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Implications of Value-Based Living

At the level of Family:

• The value-based living will facilitate peace and harmony in the family, with
more occurrences of just and fulfilling behaviour.
• People will feel prosperous and the feeling to nurture others will grow in the
families. This will help raise the feeling of togetherness in the families, and
reduce the family feuds.
• The prevalent problems in joint families will also wane, once human living is
based on human consciousness.

18
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Implications of Value-Based Living
At the level of Society:
• When relationship gets higher priority over physical facility, fearlessness and
mutual trust develops in the society.
• Discrimination on the basis of body (in terms of gender, age or race), physical
facility (in terms of wealth or posts) and beliefs (in terms of isms, sects, etc.) will be
reduced.
• The conflicts between communities and nations which are manifesting in the
form of maladies like naxalism, terrorism, communalism and international conflicts
etc. can be solved to a large extent without any coercion or war.
• The feeling of undividedness will surface in the society. Fulfilment of human goal
will start getting to the fore in our plans and projects at all levels and gradually a

human order based on trustful relationships will slowly emerge.

19
A. The Basis for Universal Human Values and Ethical Human Conduct
Implications of Value-Based Living

At the level of Nature:

• Human beings will be in a better position to place themselves in relation

with other units in nature.

• The problems of pollution and resource depletion can be handled smoothly

when people are able to judge appropriately their needs for physical facility
themselves and the mode of fulfilment is eco-friendly.

• Better methods of farming and production will help cut down problems of
greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, ecological imbalance, etc.

• The population of animals and birds can be saved from extinction and
forests can be replenished.

20
Profession – In Context of the Comprehensive Human Goal
 A profession is a mode of participation by human beings in the larger
order in pursuance of comprehensive human goal-individual &
collective.
 The excellence or the success of any professional activity is to be judged
from this comprehensive point of view only and not in terms of merely wealth
generation.
 The profession is not only a means of earning one’s livelihood, but also a
means of one’s evolution by appropriate participation in the larger order.
 It is an important activity to authenticate one’s understanding, whereby we
interact with other human beings and with rest of nature in a mutually fulfilling
manner.

21
Professional Ethics
 Professional ethics can be seen as the code of ethical conduct of the
profession (as defined previously).

 Ethical conduct of profession implies the right utilization of one’s professional

skills for participation in the larger order towards the fulfillment of
comprehensive human goal.

22
Salient Features Characterizing Professional Ethics
1. Clarity about the comprehensive human goal

2. Confidence in oneself as well as confidence in the harmony,

coexistence and self-regulation prevailing in entire existence

3. Competence of mutually fulfilling behaviour

4. Competence of mutually enriching interaction with nature

5. Holistic vision about technologies, production systems and

management techniques.

6. Understanding of one’s societal responsibility

23
Issues in Professional Ethics – The Current Scenario

 The issues in professional ethics are becoming very complex in

the current scenario.

 The unethical practices are rapidly increasing and their impact is

also becoming far-reaching.

 As a result of this ‘epidemic’ of unethical practices, we are

frequently coming across serious scams, major economic
offences, kickbacks in large scale purchases etc.

24
Some Salient Categories of Unethical Practices Today

 Corruption in multiple forms and at various levels

 Tax evasion, misappropriation and misuse of public funds
 Misuse of political power and bureaucratic authority
 Misleading propaganda, unethical advertisements and sales promotion
 Cut-throat competition
 Exploiting the weakness of consumers through various enticements,
bewildering advertisements
 Adulteration and spurious production
 Endangering the health and safety of public at large
 Hoarding and over-charging etc.

The list could be much longer…

25
Prevailing Approaches towards Promotion of Professional Ethics
 Promoting awareness about professional ethics by introducing new courses,
refresher programs and case studies
 Administering oaths and prescribing codes of ethical conduct for specific
professional disciplines
 Setting up mechanisms for intensive audit inspection and monitoring the
activities
 Framing more stringent laws and devising harder punishments for offences
Promoting transparency in working systems through mechanisms like RTI
(Right to Information Act), etc.
 Carrying out ‘sting operations’ and widely publicising serious lapses in ethical
conduct of profession through media
 Encouraging whistle blowing by individuals or groups
 Setting up Lokpals, vigilance commissions, ethics committees, tribunals,
consumer protection forums, etc.
 Filing public interest litigations (PIL), etc.

26
Inadequacy of Prevailing Approaches
 Looking at the various methods and mechanisms which are being presently
employed to check these trends and their effectiveness, one can see that
most of the methods being adopted are either of symptomatic nature or
punitive measures or crisis management techniques rather than real solutions
to the whole problem.

 The focus in these methods is primarily towards curbing the ill effects rather
than rectifying the root cause, namely the faulty world-view which continues
to remain dominant (managing the disease rather than ensuring health).

 An effective way out is to work towards developing the ethical

competence by transforming the consciousness of people through right
understanding.

27
Inherent Contradictions and Dilemmas
 We can understand more clearly through examples how the contradictions
and dilemmas are inherently generated by the prevailing worldview in
which wealth maximization is perceived to be the prime objective.
 Thus, the other person’s happiness (assumed to be related to wealth
accumulation) seems to be in conflict with my happiness.
 In that case, the other people have to be exploited for one to gain affluence
and there is no possibility of mutual fulfillment in a sustainable way.
 In the same way, exploitation of nature also becomes inevitable as it helps
a person to accumulate wealth easily and there is no limit to this.
 Take the example of business circles, whenever there is a scarcity of
commodity due to say – monsoon failure or other natural disturbances or
wars etc., the people in general are in distress and need support. However,
in such a situation, the businessmen endowed with prevailing (inhuman)
world view will feel elated and look at it as an opportunity to make
maximum profit.
28
C. Holistic Development towards Universal Human Order
Visualization of Comprehensive Human Goal

29
C. Holistic Development towards Universal Human Order
The Vision for Holistic Development and Universal Human
Order
On the basis of the understanding of harmony, we get the notion of an
undivided society and universal human order. The universal human order
will involve:

1. A holistic pattern in all the dimensions of human activity in the society

including education, health-self-regulation, production-work, justice-
preservation and exchange-storage etc.

2. Harmonious networking between the basic unit and their clusters

successively moving from family order to world family order as follows:
Family Order ⇒ Family Cluster Order ⇒ Village Order ⇒ Village Cluster
Order ⇒ City Order… ⇒ Nation Order… ⇒ World Family Order

30
C. Holistic Development towards Universal Human Order
Paving Way towards the Humanistic Tradition
Humanistic education-Human Conduct-Human Constitution- Universal Human
Order

31
D. Vision for Holistic Technologies, Production Systems
and Management Models
A Holistic Criteria for Evaluation

Generally speaking, there are three broad criteria to guide the

development of such technologies and systems, i.e.,

(a) Catering to appropriate needs and lifestyles

(b) Eco-friendly (cyclic / renewable and mutually enriching)
(c) User-friendly – safe, economical and enhancing human
capability

32
D. Vision for Holistic Technologies, Production Systems
and Management Models
Criteria for Technologies
The above-mentioned general criteria can be itemized into more
specific form as follows:

• Catering to real human needs

• Compatible with natural systems and cycles Facilitating effective utilization of
human body, animals, plants and other natural materials
• Safe, user-friendly and conducive to health
• Producible with local resources and expertise as far as possible
• Promoting the use of renewable energy resources
• Low cost and energy efficient
• Enhancing human interaction and cooperation
• Promoting decentralization
• Durability, life cycle and recyclability of products
33
D. Vision for Holistic Technologies, Production Systems
and Management Models
Criteria for Production Systems
The specific criteria to judge the appropriateness of the production systems
may include the following:

• Optimal and efficient utilization of local resources and expertise, including human
beings, animals, air, solar, land, water, bio and mineral resources etc.
• Economic viability and sustainability
• Priority for local consumption
• Matching the pattern of production with the availability/producibility in the local
environment and the pattern of consumption
• Decentralized systems capable of meaningful employment of people in the
community
• Facilitating production by masses and not mass production in a centralized mode to
the extent possible
• Promoting individual creativity and sense of accomplishment
• Using people-friendly and eco-friendly technologies
• Ensuring requisite quality of production
• Safe and conducive to the health of persons involved in production as well as others
• Harnessing recycling, conservation and reuse possibilities
34
Working with Nature
Working with material things, we have two values:

 Utility-value: The participation of a human being in ensuring the role

of physical facility in nurture, protection and providing means for the
body.

 Artistic-value: The participation of a human being in ensuring the role

of physical facility to help and preserve its utility.

35
D. Vision for Holistic Technologies, Production Systems
and Management
Criteria Models
for Management Models
• The whole unit working as a well-knit family
• Cooperative, motivational and mutually fulfilling
• Ensuring correct appraisal of human labour and skills
• Targeting employer-employee as well as consumer satisfaction
and not profit maximization
• Sharing of responsibility and participative mode of
management
• Continuous value addition of the persons involved
• Effectively integrating individual competencies and
complementarity
36
D. Vision for Holistic Technologies, Production Systems
and Management
Typical Examples Models
from Traditional Technologies and Systems

• The water harvesting and storage and utilization systems through ponds
and other artifacts
• Traditional agricultural practices
• Traditional local remedies and health-care techniques
• Grain storage and food preservation practices
• Yoga, ayurveda, naturopathy-based healthcare systems
• The langar (sharing of food) system prevalent in religious institutions
• Family based rural enterprises
• The jajmani system – relationship-based village system to ensure rural
self-sufficiency
• Rural craft and artisanal practices

37