Tightrope: Making a spiritual connection with clients

— -- Hello, Gladys,

I want to apply spiritual practices to my new consulting business, but I'm not sure how to approach it. I have read many books on spirituality but I haven't found many that directly apply to running a business. What approach do you suggest?

K.V.

The spiritual business is booming in the American economy. Books, videos, retreats and tours to fit any pocketbook range in price from $8 for books to thousands of dollars for soul-searching retreats. While driving the other day, I listened to a radio interview of a woman who teaches how to eat your meals spiritually.

Many of these spiritual aids are aimed at entrepreneurs and corporate executives. Recently a friend was telling me about an executive retreat that she took geared toward executives of large corporations. She spent the weekend sitting in a circle with others listening to African drumming and chanting. Imagine that for getting "in touch" with yourself, and to help open your heart to compassion for your customers and co-workers.

And of course, there are spiritual supports for leadership, time management and business management. The list is endless.

Whatever you are looking for, there is a spiritual experience waiting to happen for you, or so we're told by new-age spiritual pundits.

It's nice to live in a time when it appears that the masses are ready and willing to plop down a few dollars to get in touch with their spiritual side. You might even think that at long last the various forms of discrimination, violence and world hunger will soon be coming to an end.

Let's look at another way to reach nirvana that is less costly.

On one of my regular morning walks in the park, I met Artie, who jogs there regularly. That morning he decided to join me on my walk and enjoy the unusually pleasant morning weather.

As we walked, Artie told me how the park's peaceful environment helped to clear his mind.

"In my line of work I have to regularly take time out for a mental break," he said. "I counsel recovering drug and alcohol victims. Most of them are between the ages of 16 and 25. It's a tough job seeing so many young people in this condition."