REFLECTION SESSION IN THE SPHERE OF SILENCE (Based On The Book by Dato’ Vijay Eswaran)
Ever asked yourself the question: “What will I be doing in the next five years?”, and got lost finding the answer? The answers are often not clear, because most of us have not tried to find them. Lifestyles in the 21 st century, characterised by chaos and a routine lifecycle, do not give us much time to analyse ourselves and examine our aspirations. Many of us have vague notions of what we want to do, but very few of us set targets which are realistic, and do what it takes to meet them. The Sphere of Silence is a tool which gives us the ability to address our goals and do much more, by showing us a way to go down to the fundamentals of our self. “If you don't know who you are, you don't know where you are going,” says Dato' Vijay Eswaran, author of the book In the Sphere of Silence . Hence, the quest must begin with discovering who we are first and then knowing where to go and how. This path of self discovery over the years led Dato' Vijay Eswaran to devise this simple but unique methodology that combines ancient wisdom with modern everyday practicality. It stems from the ancient Hindu concept, especially from yogic traditions, of practicing mouna (silence), a concept that finds resonance in all religions and philosophies of the world . Two years ago, he decided to share this with the world, by putting it out in the form of a book. And so, In the Sphere of Silence was born. Published in English by RYTHM House Publishing (RYTHM is an acronym for “Raise Yourself To Help Mankind”) in 2005, the book is available in other languages including German, Farsi and Bahasa Indonesia, with editions in other languages in the pipeline.
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THE PRACTICE SPHERE OF SILENCE (ARTHA MOUNA) 1 HOUR DAILY (To be practised daily for a successful life)
GROUND RULES Best time is between 4:30a.m. & 6 a.m. But in case the time is not convenient a period as close to that can be chosen. 2. You should maintain absolute silence during this period. Having your full concentration on what you are doing. 3. No form form of commu communica nication tion durin during g this perio period d 4. If you break the silence, you start again from that point of time for an hour. 1.
PATH OF DUTY | PAHT OF KNOWLEDGE | PAHT OF DEVOTION
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PATH OF DUTY The Path of Duty is Duty is the setting of goals for each day and the next day, spending time to look back at those set the previous day. The time spent on doing a ‘post-mortem' of the achievements of the last day helps in analysis of actions, and also in articulating who we want to be. All of these must be written down in the journal for keeping record and looking back. “The purpose of the post-mortem is to look into the mirror, to see who we really are,” says Mr. Eswaran. • Analyse yesterday (10 minutes) 1. Reflect back back on yesterday and where where you could have have improved improved or or done the task better. 2. Analy Analyse se why why the the task task was was not don done. e. • Plan for today (10 minutes) 1. Write Write down down all all your your plans plans for for the day. day. 2. Do not not over over prom promise ise and and unde underr deliver deliver.. • Short-term Goals (10 minutes) 1. 2. 3. 4.
Set your goals goals for for the the next next seven seven days. days. Set your your short-t short-term erm goals goals for for the next next six six months. months. Set your your long-t long-term erm goals goals for for the whole whole year. year. Write Write these these goals goals every every singl single e day day.
• PAST:
Here we analyze our activities yesterday we see how was our success % in carrying out the activities, and the reasons for failure.
• PRESENT:
Here we plan for today. What are our activities for the day. We write down all the things to do
• FUTURE:
1. We plan our activities for tomorrow by writing it down 2. We plan for the next seven days (week)-write it down 3. We pan for next 12 months(year), what we plan to do where we will be after one year, setting goals etc
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PATH OF KNOWLEDGE The Path of Knowledge seeks to build memory of the human mind. In doing this, the mind's ability to retain facts is said to improve drastically. “Memory is a tool we require everyday and this is in the Path of Knowledge,” according to the author, who believes that memory is required to achieve continuity in thought process. All great leaders, he points out, have excellent memory and are able to recall facts effortlessly. • • • • • •
Pick a book which will benefit you in any field. Read the book for 15 minutes. Summarise all the important points you remembered, while reading for five minutes. Check what points you have missed out. Add the points you have missed out. Next day start with the points before reading the book.
During this time we depend upon some source for ex: books, casettes, notes, to enhance our knowledge. 1. The first 5 min is to recollect recollect what what we have have gone through through the the previous previous day. day. 2. The next next 15 min min is to seek seek the the knowled knowledge ge for toda today y. 3. The last 5 min for summarizing summarizing of what you have have gone through today
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PATH OF DEVOTION The Path of Devotion is the time taken to converse with the Almighty. It is a 10-minute reflection on the outcome of the discussion that one chooses to have with God. Pray, seek and ask Him questions in your heart that need answers. The beautiful thing about this process is that your answers will come to you in some form or another. The atheist is not excluded in this Path. The author suggests for the atheist to commune with morality and goodness. “I would add another ‘o'. Instead of God, I would use good.” Your 10-minute reflection here should also be written down.
During this time you remember your creator. Thank him for today. You are talking to him directly thinking him in your mind. You tell him what you are here for and what are your plans during this life given to you, by him.
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