Conflict or Confluence of Interests and Ethics

1. Conflict or Confluence of Interests and Ethics
Corporations place restrictions on employees engaging with other corporations or from having more than one source of income. Restrictions, explicit or implicit, on citizens acquiring foreign citizenship(s) can be seen as an extension of that principle but more stringent; restrictions could be from the home country or, the foreign country or, both. Restrictions on spiritual shopping placed by Masters (typically in the east) on their students or disciples can be seen as most stringent with the most noble interest to make one's mind one pointed qualifying one to absorb the highest knowledge. One with a noble sense of life purpose is likely to treat restrictions as challenges to be overcome with patience and self-effort. The terms 'Conflict of Interests' and 'Confluence of Interests' are pregnant with clues on the reasons behind

2. restrictions and could be ethical or unethical; conflict or confluence of interests and the corresponding restrictions can be seen as unethical when it brings short term joy and long term pain. Unfortunately, most of us learn (and continue to learn) of these issues on our own in the real world. One's mere intention or willingness to abide by the restrictions helps one progress in the direction of gaining more insights into the thinking behind the restrictions which can be seen as the first step to bring about positive change, if needed. A wise person with a stress free mind is most likely to see the conflict of interests as superficial, while these conflicts can be seen as eating into the life of a stressed and ignorant person. The skill to be restful, to be relaxed, in the midst of countless restrictions is more of an art and less of a science. That said, a layman in India is less likely to be aware of issues around Conflict or Confluence of Interests, except perhaps in bigger cities; in contrast, there is greater awareness in Corporate America with a significant immigrant population and conflicts or confluences that are international and multi-cultural in nature.