Table 2.

Coding template and themes

Integrative theme	Main themes	Example verbatim quotation
Interpretation of non-self	Reduced ego-serving expectations	Reducing my expectations is part of non-self because it helps me to empty out my ego and my personal expectations that come with it Expectations are suffering. The moment you cling to your expectations, you are attached to your ego. You suffer if your expectations are not met
	Reduced ego-centric desires	Non-self helps me out of my illusions. It constantly reminds me of my desires and my personal pursuits that can affect my life and my relationships at work The practice of non-self is aimed at eliminating suffering. Because you get rid of your greediness and your self-serving pursuits, you don’t have to wait for expectations to be met
	Reduced ego-serving knowledge	Ego is part of suffering. It controls your mental awareness and behaviour which can lead to harmful relationships at the workplace Non-self helps me to correct myself, my judgements and misunderstandings at my work
Agency Tensions	Justifications	I think about motives of my actions. It is crucial to identity whether I am serving myself or the benefit of others. What is the final outcome? Having a positive karmic consequence to benefit others is important As long as it generates good karma, the practice is working for me. The outcome is what proves your effort
	Attachments	Impermanence is the key to practice non-self. It is important to follow it and accept that there are external factors beyond control I cannot control everything. This is how I learn to practice non-self. My employees should learn to not always rely on me as well
Organisational Institutional Tensions	Organizational constraints	Non-self is practiced in caution and in a calculative manner, at least in my case because I have been taken advantage of so many times. You cannot compassionate all the time Non-self can be an easy target for others as well. If people do not understand why you are sacrificing things, especially other shareholders, they just exclude you gently step by step from important meetings
	Institutional constraints	Have to bribe to make something meaningful happen because this is how business works here The law enforcement is weak, this is why you can get away with bribery. What can I do? Sometimes you just have to go with the way people are doing business otherwise you are risking your employees’ job
Mechanisms	Skillful means	Wisdom and skilfulness is needed to master non-self. It is not a universal practice that you can apply as you see fit It is very important to know when you need to let go of non-self as well, especially if it becomes really personal that can frustrate others
	Middle way	Balanced expectations are crucial for non-self so that I am not overly attached to my ego but at the same time I am not practicing non-self at any cost No expectations are totally harmful or useful because it just means that I am letting go of my own effort as well. And that is not the essence of being a Buddhist practitioner