They don’t share things with you and would be happy to see you fail. I get agitated by their hypocrisy/ fakeness when I talk to them. I can sense they are faking and internally competing or jealous. What is the best way to deal with such people if we cannot avoid working with them? How can I see mother in such people? Should we continue to have goodwill for them?
The first thing to do is to ignore all that does not concern us and the work. One should be completely indifferent to what people are or do, let alone what they may be thinking and feeling. By letting our mind enter into thoughts about what they are or might be thinking, we get unwittingly identified with them. For there is in us something corresponding to what we see in others and in the world. That is why the safe rule, or rather the first rule in sadhana, is not to judge anything or anyone; stay focused on our core aspiration and, remember that the Divine dwells in all creatures. He is the witness of all that is happening in everyone and it is His business after all, to change others when they are ready. Our attention should be on what needs to change within us.
As to seeing the Divine in all or in ourselves, the first necessity is to get past appearances. Our mind is driven by the senses and personal interests as well as egoistic preferences. Hence, it gets entangled by appearances. The first thing needed for the yoga is to know that the mind does not understand anything. It is in an ignorant state, striving towards knowledge. Due to the ego, we almost instinctively believe our judgments to be correct. But it is only the Divine who knows and we should leave what others think and do in His hands. He alone knows how to handle it. Our focus should be on discovering the Divine within ourselves. And the more we discover Him in us, the more we shall discover Him in everyone and everywhere.
This is not to say that the Corporate world is not what you describe. Money and power, business and politics have always been known to be bastions of falsehood. Quite naturally, those who go into it cannot but remain unaffected unless they are truly yogis. It is a murky field and people are mostly driven into it by ambition, fear and greed. To live in that environment that is outwardly polished but inwardly hollow requires great degree of inner detachment and equanimity. It is not that everyone out there working in the corporate sector is bad. It is just that entering the field, one gets easily contaminated even though deep within they may be nice human beings. But their lower instincts get the better of them due to the collective consciousness driving them. Whatever it be, best to offer and leave it in Her hands and stay focused upon one’s own inner spiritual progress first and last. That is the first necessity, even if one were inclined or destined to do the Divine Work in the world.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
