News
Zen and the Art of Business Ethics
BY Song-My Tran
Contribution Writer
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Class begins in the dark. Students sit silently with their
eyes closed and relax into their chairs. The only sound is the
professor, who speaks soothingly through the darkness.
This is not your typical class.
But for business lecturer Jack Phillips, class begins like
this every day.
Phillips, who teaches Business Ethics for the 21st Century,
leads students through “centering” exercises at
the start of each class.
During the five-minute period, students rest with “sternums
forward, shoulders relaxed, surrendering their bodies into their
chairs.” The purpose of this exercise is to clear students’
minds for self-reflection, Phillips says.
“We get relaxed but stay alert so that we can spend a
few moments completely relaxing the body and mind,” Phillips
says.
Phillips, who designed the course in 2001, has used centering
as a tool since he began teaching on campus nearly 20 years
ago.
While Phillips stresses to every class that the exercise is
optional, most students participate and have found it extremely
helpful and relaxing, he says.
“Sometimes it’s the most important thing students
take from the class,” Phillips says.
The connection between centering and business ethics lies in
helping students distinguish between gut reactions and thoughtful
decisions, Phillips says, a skill that is imperative in the
business world.
“If you’re reacting, you’re just a robot,”
Phillips says. “Centering puts us all on the same page
and gives us a chance to be human beings rather than human doings.”
Phillips says he became involved in meditation through yoga,
an activity that initially led him to introspection and relaxation.
“Yoga got me to slow down enough so that I could finally
do meditation,” Phillips says. “After a wonderful
yoga workout, the body is completely relaxed. That’s a
lovely thing to feel.”
Last year, when the business school was considering cutting
classes because of the state budget crisis, Phillips offered
to teach his class for free because he says giving students
a chance to look at themselves as individuals is a crucial part
of business.
But the business school was able to find funds and Phillips
was reimbursed with full benefits.
Although students welcome Phillips’ methods, he says
he did receive criticisms early in his career based on the misconception
that centering is linked to religion.
“There is no organized religion in it,” Phillips
says. “There is absolutely nothing dogmatic, doctrinal
or religious in any sense like that other than perhaps getting
quiet and perhaps returning to your own sense of being.”
But despite these early criticisms, Phillips has an excellent
reputation with faculty and students, says Robert Holub, dean
of the College of Letters and Science.
While some students feel that centering is beneficial, others
remain skeptical.
“There are people who feel that it’s a waste of
time,” says Adnan Iqbal, one of Phillips’ students.
“But just like any new experience, if you try it sincerely,
you can gain benefits from it.”
The class provides a needed break from the rigor of other business
classes, says senior Reshma Nichani.
“As a business major, it’s a refreshing course
to take,” Nichani says. “This is a class that is
really for you. It puts a lot of things into perspective.”
Contact Song-My Tran at stran@dailycal.org.
(c) 2003 The Daily Californian
Berkeley, CA
dailycal@dailycal.org
Printable URL: http://www.dailycal.org/particle.php?id=17927
Original URL: http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=17927
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