Friday, June 19, 2009

Mindful use of financial systems...

Recently I was saddened to receive word of a former colleague and friend (called X here) whose mismanagement of funds had been revealed by an audit. This kind of event can be more common in some environments, and we can learn so much from it.  
  
I had heard from a distance about the outcome of the audit and was disappointed to hear of the rather long history of X’s dishonesty. On the positive side, this has now provided X with a wonderful opportunity to take full responsibility for her action, to make a clean breast of this and to reexamine his own standards of behavior. Far better for X that it was discovered - for her ultimate health and happiness. He cannot be spared the full consequences of her/his actions. 
  
For those of us who observe this event and the suffering and embarrassment that X is going through (and will go through), it is a wakeup call to us to apply the highest standards of honesty and transparency in our own behavior in our jobs. Whenever we are called upon to deal with other people's money, this deserves the absolutely highest level of awareness and transparency. For those who believe their honesty is above reproach, the most important reason for this is to guard against lapses in memory (e.g. "I'll write that transaction down tomorrow" - is simply courting disaster.)  

Another important reason is to take full advantage of the accounting systems so that we remove temptation from others around us who, in a moment of weakness, might succumb to temptation made available by our own lack of proper management procedure.  
  
What I'm saying is that when this kind of thing happens is not only X’s karma that is functioning. 
  
I too bear some responsibility for this situation as I was unsuccessful in my attempts to get the necessary financial documentation from the project. In that sense I have compounded the misery that X now faces, since she might have been presented with the opportunity to confess to this much earlier had I and others been successful earlier.  
  
We have a wonderful opportunity (because of the availability of so many great teachers of the Buddha's gift) to cultivate mindfulness practice and with that the insights into the shallowness of the way in which we normally experience the conventional reality. Surely, waking up is a full time job. "To take responsibility for where we find ourselves" is as appropriate at work as it is at home! 

What do you think of this?