Meditation in Indonesian Business

It looked like a typical business meeting．Six men, neatly dressed in white shirts and ties filed into the boardroom of a small Jakarta company and sat down at a long table．But instead of consulting files or hearing reports, they closed their eyes and began to meditate, consulting the spirits of ancient Javanese kings．Mysticism touches almost every aspect of life in Indonesia and business is no exception．One of the meditators said his weekly meditation sessions are aimed mainly at bringing the peace of mind that makes for good decision-making．But the insight gained from mystic communication with spirits of wise kings has also helped boost the profits of his five companies．

Mysticism and profits have come together since the 13th century introduction of Islam to Indonesia by Indian Moslem merchants．Those devout traders, called ‘Wali Ullah’ or ‘those close to God, ’ energetically spread both trade and religion by adapting their appeals to the native mysticism of Java．Legends attribute magic power of foreknowledge to the Wali Ullah．These powers were believed to be gained through meditation and fasting．

Businessman Hadisiko said his group fasts and meditates all night every Thursday to become closer to God and to contact the spirits of the great men of the past．‘If we want to employ someone at the managerial level, we meditate together and often the message comes that this man can’t hole onto money or he is untrustworthy．Or maybe the spirits will tell us he should be hired．’ Hadiziko hastened to add that his companies also hold modern personnel management systems and that formal qualifications are essential for a candidate even to be considered．Perspective investments also are considered through mystic meditation．‘With the mind relaxed and open, it is easier to be objective in judging the risk of a new venture．Meditation and contact with the wisdom of the old leaders sharpens your own insight and intuition．Then you have to apply that intuition to the information you have and work hard to be successful．’ Mystic meditation helped reverse a business slide his companies experienced in the mid-1980．Operating with normal business procedures, he lost more than $ 3 millions in that year alone．Meditation brought back his peace of mind．Putting the right persons in the right jobs and gaining confidence in his business decisions were the keys to a turning around that has brought expansion and profitability．The mysticism in Handspike’s boardroom is part of a growing movement in Indonesia called Kebatinan - the ‘search for the inner self．’

One of his managers, Yusuf Soemado, who studied business administration at Harvard University, compared the idea of mystic management to western system of positive thinking．‘Willpower and subconscious mind are recognized as important factors in business．Such approaches as psycho-cybernetics, Carnegie’s think and growth rates, or the power of positive thinking are western attempts to tap the same higher intelligence that we contact through meditation,’ he said．

1．What is the most important factor in their doing business?

[A] Mysticism．

[B] Religion．

[C] Meditation．

[D] Investment．

2．Whom do they consult?

[A] The spirits of ancient Javanese kings．

[B] Wali Ullah．

[C] Old Kings．

[D] Carnegie．

3．Why did Hadisike hasten to add ‘his companies also hold modern personnel management systems…’?

[A] He thought Mysticism was not so good as expected．

[B] To show they too focused on qualifications．

[C] To show they hired qualified persons．

[D] To show the possibility of combination of the scientific management with religion．

4．According to the passage, the function of the meditation is

[A] to gain profit from the god．

[B] to gain peace of mind to make decision．

[C] to gain foreknowledge．

[D] to gain objective conclusion．

5．What does ‘operating with normal business procedures’ refer to?

[A] Adopting the western way of doing business．

[B] Ordinary way of doing business without meditation and fasting．

[C] Contact with God．

[D] Putting right persons in the right jobs．

Vocabulary

1．file into　魚(yú)貫而入，排隊(duì)進(jìn)去

2．Jakarta 　雅加達(dá)

3．meditate 　沉思，冥想，反省

4．Java 　爪哇

5．Javanese 　爪哇的

6．mysticism 　神秘主義

7．boost 　促進(jìn)，增加，提高

8．devout 　虔誠(chéng)的，熱誠(chéng)的

9．a(chǎn)ppeal (to) 　向……呼吁，求助于，魅力

10．legend 　傳說(shuō)，神話(huà)

11．fasting 　禁食，齋戒

12．hold onto　抓緊，保住

13．personnel management system 　人事管理制度

14．perspective investment 　遠(yuǎn)景投資

15．venture 　(商業(yè))投機(jī)，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)

16．sharpen 　使……敏銳/尖銳，磨尖

17．business slide 　買(mǎi)賣(mài)/企業(yè)滑坡，下滑

18．turn around 　(生意)好轉(zhuǎn)，轉(zhuǎn)變

19．subconscious　下意識(shí)的，潛意識(shí)的

20．cybernetics　控制論

21．Carnegie 　卡耐基

22．tap 　開(kāi)拓，選擇

難句譯注

1．Mysticism touches almost every aspect of life in Indonesia and business is no exception．

「參考譯文」在印尼神秘主義似乎涉及到印尼生活的各個(gè)方面，商業(yè)也不例外。

2．Those devout traders， called ‘Wali Ullah’ or ‘those close to God， ’ energetically spread both trade and religion by adapting their appeals to the native mysticism of Java．

「參考譯文」這些虔誠(chéng)的商人，叫做Wali Ullah，或者“接近主的人”，把他們的祈求呼吁跟爪哇當(dāng)?shù)氐纳衩刂髁x相結(jié)合。他們通過(guò)這一途徑積極熱情地拓展商業(yè)買(mǎi)賣(mài)和宗教信仰。

3．Putting the right persons in the right jobs and gaining confidence in his business decisions were the keys to a turning around that has brought expansion and profitability．

「參考譯文」恰當(dāng)?shù)墓ぷ鲘徫皇褂煤线m的人選，對(duì)企業(yè)決策具有信心使形式好轉(zhuǎn)的關(guān)鍵。它給你帶來(lái)拓展和利潤(rùn)。(或任人唯賢，指揮若定使扭虧增盈，大展宏圖的關(guān)鍵。)

4．Search for the inner self．

「參考譯文」探索內(nèi)心的自我。

5．Such approaches as psychocybernetics， Carnegies think and growth rates， or the power of positive thinking are western attempts to tap the same higher intelligence that we contact through meditation．

「參考譯文」類(lèi)似心理控制論、卡耐基思想、增長(zhǎng)率、或者積極思考能力等觀(guān)點(diǎn)是西方開(kāi)拓高智能的辦法，而我們是通過(guò)沉思冥想來(lái)和高智能聯(lián)系的。

寫(xiě)作方法與文章大意

這是一篇新聞報(bào)導(dǎo)，講述印度尼西亞商人如何經(jīng)營(yíng)公司。主要采用一般到具體寫(xiě)作手法。一開(kāi)始就點(diǎn)明他們以獨(dú)特的方式――不看文件，不聽(tīng)匯報(bào)，而是閉上眼睛沉思，向古代帝王的精靈請(qǐng)示來(lái)經(jīng)營(yíng)。這種神秘主義幾乎涉及印尼生活的各個(gè)領(lǐng)域，商業(yè)也不例外。后面每段都圍繞這一主題而寫(xiě)。第二段寫(xiě)來(lái)源。第三段，應(yīng)用于商業(yè)方面的具體例子，第四段，和西方管理方法對(duì)比。

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