Conference in Chicago on integrating India’s spiritual traditions with the needs of modern entrepreneurship

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A Chicago-based foundation that has a vision of combining spirituality with organizational leadership and draws from India’s philosophical teachings to meet the needs of a fast-paced modern business environment is commemorating 125 years of Swami Vivekananda’s famous 1893 Chicago lecture by organizing the World Congress on Vedic Foundations of Management Science, Sept. 11-13, at The Oriental Institute, The University of Chicago.

“Integrating Spirituality and Organizational Leadership Foundation is a research based management education initiative with its head quarters in USA that draws insights from different wisdom traditions and integrates with modern management practices. It sources it’s inspiration from Swami Vivekananda,” said Sunita Singh Sengupta, founder and honorary convener of ISOL Foundation, in an email to Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh of Parikh Worldwide Media, who will be recognized at the conference. Singh-Sengupta is also the head and dean of the Faculty of Management Studies at Delhi University. The Conference will be hosted by ISOL Global Foundation.

The ISOL Foundation is an initiative that started in 2007 with a focus on emphasizing the role of spiritual values in enriching enterprises for creating sustainable, non-violent and non-exploitative organizations where the entire stakeholder get satisfaction by a meaningful and trust based association, according the website.

The Foundation believes that in the race for financial gains, modern business theories have lost touch with the basic tenets of moral, spiritual and ethical values; that the values that religions have infused into humanity have been thwarted in recent years.

“At this crucial juncture, we need to look forward by integrating religious institutions into integrated development and applications of spirituality and ethics to develop a consensus on Human Consciousness in Management Systems and global economic development,” says ISOL Foundation.

The World Parliament of Religions in 1893 was the first attempt to bring the East-West spiritual traditions into one platform to discuss the problems of the world, the ISOL Foundation noteS.

The Foundation draws attention to the 19th Century spiritual leader and guru of Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, who said, “As many views so many paths but God is one” and talked about the fellowship of religion for the religion of humanity. “This is the core of the initiatives taken by ISOL Foundation,” according to the ISOL Foundation.

In 2015, as a prelude to ‘Commemorating Quasi Centenary Celebrations of Chicago Lecture’ delivered by Swami Vivekananda on September 11, 1893, ISOL Foundation (India) had organized the 5th International Conference on Integrating Spirituality and Organizational Leadership during September 11-13. It was held in the same hall and at the same venue (The Oriental Institute of Chicago, University of Chicago) with the same ethos (interfaith perspective) to discuss ‘Spirituality for Global Economic Development’ the ISOL Foundation notes, adding that the 2015 Conference “had the moral support and encouragements from the Council for a Parliament of World’s Religions, Chicago and Ramakrishna Mission & Math, Belur, Kolkata, India.”

The ISOL Foundation says that as the core body, it has instituted the Vedic Foundations of Indian Management, and Academy for Value Based Management, thus creating avenues for the scholars from different parts of India and the world to converge and create a systematic approach in the respective areas.

“We at ISOL attempt to rekindle the same philosophy in the minds of people by including academicians, environmentalists, spiritualists, thinkers, scientists and representations from business houses, business associations and civil societies,” the Foundation says.

For more information on the Conference which also involves The Oriental Institute at The University of Chicago and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, visit www.isol2018chicago.in