Being a social entrepreneur and a Buddhist monk

Bart Weetjens, a Belgian national, is a social entrepreneur and zen Buddhist monk based in Tanzania. At the workshop, Bart will talk about his unique experiences in trying to align the inner and the outer worlds within a business operation. Reading this interview, you can get introduced to some of his interesting thoughts and ideas.

What is the key objective of your business?
Bart: We train rats to save lives! To read more, visit wwww.apopo.org

Some people argue that Buddhism and Business should be separated. What is your take on that?
Bart: I have no hard opinion on this. I think that Buddhism and Business are indeed very different things, but I do not think that they should be separated at all. In contrary, I think that Buddhism can be a great source of inspiration to a fairer, more respectful mode of business which can improve the state of the world. The magic is that it is in the potential of every person, no matter what their background is, or whatever their position in a company or organization, to live this inspiring practice and externalize it in their lives, and thus also in their working environment. So this doesn't limit itself to the right livelihood, only one aspect of the eightfold path. Of course, it is easier to implement Buddhist values if you are in a strategic executive position, or if you, like in my case, start your own initiative as an expression of your practice. But in our Sangha I hear a lot of people witnessing the liberating aspect of their practice in their working environment. I think this liberating aspect is particularly important, but again it puts the emphasis on the inner spiritual life of the practitioner, not so much on the modus operandi of an organization or company. The Japanese founder of SOTO Zen school, master Dogen, described the resonance between the inner and the outer world, and as I continue practicing over the years I experience more and more that it is to the extend that our inner world is in harmony with the Way that the outer world resonates with this and automatically, naturally phenomena harmonize. To me that is really key, because it is there that the 'change' has to start, and it is wonderful that we have that opportunity for change every moment again. 

Your business is based in a non-Buddhist country. Has it been a challenge? Wouldn't it be easier to operate in a Buddhist country like Thailand?
Bart: We also have operations in Thailand, not because it is a Buddhist country, but primarily because of the suspected minefields on all of its borders. Our operational headquarters are situated in Tanzania, which is not a Buddhist country (it is mixed 35% Islamic, 35% Christian, and 30% animist).
I am not necessarily convinced that it would have been easier or success would have been guaranteed when establishing in a Buddhist country. Some cultural aspects would have been taken for granted for sure. But Buddhism historically has adapted to different cultures, and though on the African continent there is a very limited exposure to various Buddhist schools and their practices, I am convinced that there is a huge potential for Buddhism in Africa, which is based on the experience I had with the zen group in Tanzania. Initially, I was the only zen practitioner in Tanzania, but then some folks started sitting with me, and I started teaching zazen in the Theravada temple in Dar Es Salaam. Currently we are over 20 people there sitting together on a regular base, and that simply grew organically, most of them Tanzanian nationals, so there is definitely potential. 

What are the key Buddhist values you have tried to integrate into the business operation of APOPO?
Bart: Clearly, the basic value motivating the mission of APOPO is one of compassion, a wish to help vulnerable populations help themselves. Starting from the observation of social and economical injustice, cultivating compassion 'hands-on', becomes a cure for the ego and in the same time source of social and environmental responsibility. In the case of APOPO, it was the observation that vulnerable populations in Africa depend on expensive imported know-how and technology to tackle the landmine threat, which provided the spark for social commitment. I would like to stress on the aspect of empathy, as an essential building stone to enable later development of compassion, which is why it is so crucial that our children learn to master empathy at a very early age in a caring environment.

I often refer to the heart sutra which describes how Kanon, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or bodhisattva of compassion, through a deep understanding of impermanence and interdependence, interacts with the world with an ego-less attitude helping others to help themselves. The bodhisattva helps him/herself and others alike to cross the river of samsara, our world conditioned by greed, hatred and ignorance, which make us suffer, and reach the shores of nirvana, a state without suffering. The bodhisattva is liberated, and uses all kinds of skillful means to help others help themselves. The bodhisattva practices the paramita's, or Buddhist virtues, values, often referred to as perfections: generosity, moral discipline, patience, energy or effort, attention and wisdom. 

Even if these perfections sometimes seem distant in the complex reality we live, they may serve as a compass in all situations, and when sincerely practiced on an individual level in any professional environment, they directly influence the person's thoughts, speech and action, developing a compassionate corporate or organizational culture.

What have been your key challenges?
Bart: On an organizational level, at least in a secular organization/company, it is a bigger challenge to integrate these virtues and implement them into the business processes, simply because in essence they are virtues to be developed on a personal level, internally but in relation with the external world. So it is in this field of relationship with the external world that occurs an enormous challenge, say enormous opportunity!, to crystallize values in the processes. This can be done consciously, but not necessarily so. In the case of APOPO e.g. the early days I wasn't occupied as such with setting up a value-based organization, but rather - as an expression of my practice - naturally made an effort to help those affected by landmines, mostly in remote African villages. Even the choice for rats came natural as I had been breeding them during childhood and knew they were very sociable and intelligent, lovely creatures. To see them as a valuable and sustainable resource rather than a pest is something that came natural to me. In the early days my idea was laughed at a lot, and my main concern was to find people to take it serious, and I found those in Antwerp University professors, which in itself created a secular platform. It took over two years for my proposals to be granted, and the initial grant provided space to attract researchers, a biologist and a product designer. Gradually we provided evidence, built and tested prototypes and developed training protocols, until the technology was validated and accredited in Mozambique in 2004. By then we were an international group of around 20 people, mainly based at Sokoine University in Tanzania. When APOPO was setting up international operations and getting more and more institutionalized, we did a strategic planning exercise with the entire management team, and focussed the value set on 4 core values after countless hours of discussion:

Quality – Demonstrating and promoting high standards in research, design, training and implementation of detection rats technology.
Social Transformation – Developing skills, creating jobs, improving socio-economic and environmental conditions, releasing land for development, and combating public health issues.
Innovation – Pioneering creative research and innovative solutions within a participatory learning culture.
Diversity – Embracing diversity in all facets of the organization with respect to age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, physical abilities, nationality or ethnicity.

Strikingly, none of these are in the end values specific to Buddhism as such,  they are rather a distillation of value sets from a culturally very diverse team of people with the same humanitarian objectives: empowering vulnerable communities with a locally sourced, appropriate and sustainable technology! 

Are you aware of other businesses in the world that are based on Buddhist principles?
Bart: I know several of them, mostly non-profit organizations. Some of these are highly recognized social enterprises, lead by Buddhist inspired entrepreneurs, like e.g. Kiva in San Francisco, who do online micro-lending. Matt Flannery, founder of Kiva, is also a Zen practitioner. But I don't know many who manage to incorporate or chrystalize Buddhist values all the way through the business processes, HR, etc. as a Buddhist enterprise by way of speaking. I think Bernie Glassman and the Greyston Bakery is a good example of a social enterprise that managed to interweave buddhist principles all along the business operations. Bernie Glassman's greyston mandala is a successful, replicable and scalable model of sustainable urban community development. 

What is the difference/similarity between a social enterprise and a Buddhist business?
One could say that  Buddhist businesses could automatically qualify the (currently trendy) label of a social enterprise. Of course, when acting from the insight of interconnectedness, automatically we act in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. But not all social enterprises are of course Buddhist. Nevertheless we see many social entrepreneurs developing business models which are inspired by their spirituality, or by their religious values. Many social enterprises are driven by practicing Christians, or muslims alike, who manage to translate these religious values in their organizations in various ways, sometimes very direct, like e.g. Taddy Blecher, a 'serial social entrepreneur' in South Africa, who meditates with his staff in the mornings on a daily basis before they start to work. In social entrepreneurs' networks like e.g. Ashoka Innovators for the Public, there are significantly more leading social entrepreneurs driven by a religious practice of some kind, rather than social enterprises lead by agnostics or atheists.