Buddhism Essay by Rev. Tse

Master of Buddhism

Applicant's name: Kenneth Yee Man TSE

Man's position according to Buddhism, is supreme. Man is his own master, and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgement over his destiny. Buddha once said, "One is one's own refuge, who else could be the refuge?" (Rahula, 1978).

Buddha has admonished his disciples to 'be a refuge to themselves', and never to seek

refuge in or help from anybody else.

Peter Drucker (1999) also claims that every individual should become his own chief executive officer (CEO) because we live in an age of unprecedented opportunity, but with opportunities comes responsibility, or accountability. Indeed, companies today are not managing their employees' careers; knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own CEOs.

Besides, the aim of Buddhist practice is to achieve liberation from suffering and to attain the realization of true reality (Sanskrit term for the nirvana) by escaping the cycle of rebirth (samsara ) and preventing the cultivation of unwholesome karma.

To achieve this, one should purify and train the mind, and act morally. There seems to be some similarities between Buddha and Drucker – both require us the need to cultivate a deep understanding of ourselves – not only what our strengths and weakness are, but also how we learn, how we work with others, what our values are, and where we can make the greatest contribution to the world. Only when we operate from strengths we can achieve true excellence – the ultimate goals of the "Great Learning" as well.

The research questions intended to investigate may be as follows:

Q1 Who Is Buddha?

Q2 Why Buddha CEO?

Q3 How to apply the teachings of Buddha for today's CEOs?

I would like to link up together as Theravada and Self Management (with reference to Peter Drucker, and the Confucian "Great Learning") will include self-evaluation, self control of temper and emotions (especially the "dukkha", or stress management) ; the recognition of personal mission statement (Direction) and achieving the inner peace of mind ("always balancing") as goal.

Zen and the Art of Living, as the concluding mark for self-management and the foundation for the next level via Sharing, Love and Care.  Mahayana and the Managing for Stakeholders Value: the promotion of achieving ultimate goals for Life contained in parts 1&2, including but not limited to:

a)  Managing the relationships with others: family members- attitudes towards parents

(piety); "strategic partner" for life; parenting and leadership;

b) Working partners: peers/ subordinates and/or supervisors as well; teaching/educating (mentoring), life coaching and leadership; Change management;

c)  Managing for Stakeholders Value- not only Profits for shareholders, but also respecting the environment, social accountability, as well as sustainable development.  Emphasis will be placed on the study and promotion of the concepts and practices of "Dāna".

The focus will be the applicability to daily life and to the workplace, with the concluding remarks as: "Every Sentient Being has the potentials to become

Buddha. Every Man is the Master (CEO) of his own life."