Opening quote of my new book, Sleep Only Gets in the Way:


“Heaven, when it is about to place a great responsibility on a man, always first tests his resolution, wears out his sinews and bones with toil. Exposes his body to starvation, subjects him to extreme poverty, frustrates his efforts so as to stimulate his mind, toughen his nature and make good his deficiencies. Men for the most part can mend their ways only after they made mistakes. Only when they are frustrated in mind and in their deliberations can they stand up anew. Only when their intentions become visible on their countenances and audible in their voices can they be understood by others. As a rule, a state without law abiding families and trustworthy Gentlemen on the one hand, and on the other, without the threat of external aggression, will perish. Only then do we realize that anxiety and distress lead to life and that ease and comfort end in death.”

—Mencius, Book VI Kao-Tzu
Part II, 15

The words  - I have a dream… is something that each and everyone of have used many times through out our lifetime. But those words when spoken from the young vibrant mind of Martin Luther King that hot dusty summer day still makes the small hairs at the back of my neck stand up. And he said only these words …I have a dream.

 

It became a landmark in American history and forever changed the nation so that it finally joined the brotherhood of man. And all he said was – I have a dream.  So was it the words or was it the silence in between the words. From whence it grew in strength, from whence it came.  So my dear readers, I am humbled by your appreciation of this blog and if can I leave one single thought with you, it is that within you lies the fount of knowledge, a treasure house of capacity and an immense stronghold of strength that one can draw upon. If one were to choose to walk in the path of silence.

I too have a dream.

I have a dream that one day we will change the future of the human race.  These words may sound grandiose and have been echoed many times in the past by many great people. Yet, they hold true till today. 

If it is dreams that will define who we can become, then let us dream far and wide; let us dream to the dizzying heights of raising mankind to the ultimate purpose of living in harmony, in peace and in love—as envisioned by almost every philosophy and religion since beginning of time.

 

 

Lets take a look at what this whole ‘contemplation’ is all about. Ultimately the contemplation  is about NOW. This moment in time. Right here and now. Unfortunately most of us do not live in NOW. We are lost in the vagaries of yester years or we swing forward to our vision or day dreams of years to come. Either way, they are totally illusionary.  To be lost in the past or to be what might be the future is in essence, mental masturbation.

Hence,  just like the act, it produces no productive result. Its only self satiating.  Let’s take a look at yesterday, the past so to speak. The past does not exist. It is only there when you step into it. And u can only step into it from now. It’s only from this moment in time that it exists. There is no past. And your past can be dramatically different from someone else’s past. If u had an argument with someone yesterday,  your version and his version will be dramatically different. So whose past is the past?

So what is past? The past is viewed from this present. It is our tint on it. Our lenses that define it. Again the past is ruled by the present. And what about the future?  The future does not exist. It only exists in your mind at this moment. It only exists in the present. Your vision of the future can be dramatically different from the person sitting next to you. The past exists in the present and the future exists in the present. And therefore the point of contemplation as defined in the Sphere of Silence, is about controlling Now. Because when you control Now, you control all your past and you control all your future. Now is the only thing that exists.

Everything that we feel sense, taste, hear or see is processed by the mind. The world as we see it, only exists in our mind. And it is the same mind that can change the perception of how it is filtered. And how we choose to react. Its not about what happens to you in this life that counts. Because everyone goes through valleys and mountains in their lives and you are all going to go through that. To be lost in euphoria for any length of time just because you are successful is equally as redundant or as damaging as being depressed or despondent or even self destructive because you are going to be hitting on the valleys in your life. The trick is to recognize that it’s not about the incidents themselves or the environment that you live in but rather how you react to it.

 

Choosing how we react, being able to control, communicate and consolidate that reaction is the single most fundamental element of success in managing one’s life. Now how much can one do that? Its easy to talk about that but challenging to put into practice.

 

 

Silence does not mean the end of speaking. It is not the end of anything. It is the beginning. A great man once said, it’s not so much the words you speak. But the silence in between them that give the fire to your message. Gives the passion to your message.  Silence is best because it allows you control.  Staying in silence for a day if one can manage it is an exercise that will test your will tremendously but leave u with a will to communicate and converse  with conviction.  The will to convince is a tremendous tool We see it all the time. Someone walks up to an individual and tries to convey to him, spends an hour unable to get through. Then someone else walks up to him, and in ten minutes manages to turn the person around. So is it the words, the logic or the language?

 

Or maybe its none of the above. Maybe it is the pause of the conviction that he is able to carry in the same words that his predecessor has used and failed. That force of conviction comes from within. An energy that is invisible, indecipherable, but incisive, impactful, without leaving a tangible mark on both the speaker and the listener. Sitting in the audience when great ones have spoken is something people carry for a lifetime. It leaves an impact not just in the eardrums but in the mid. It changes the way you choose to live your life in an instant.  Hearing Gandhi or Martin Luther King or Mother Tersa, JFK or  Mandela, all of them have left an indelible mark on our history and will continue to leave their mark for eons to come. Their words continue to echo and reverberate in far distant lands from whence it was spoken and there is no accounting for that resonance. For  that power. For that majesty.