Aug 31, 2014

THE WISDOM OF PERSONAL CHANGE-

• At the heart of the Sivanan System were seven basic virtues, seven fundamental principles that embodied the keys to self-leadership, personal responsibility and spiritual enlightenment
  • You are sitting in the middle of a magnificent, lush, green garden. This garden is filled with the most spectacular flowers you have ever seen. The environment is supremely tranquil and silent. Savor the sensual delights of this garden and feel as if you have all the time in the world to enjoy this natural oasis.
  • As you look around you see that in the centre of this magical garden stands a towering, red lighthouse, six stories high.
  • Suddenly, the silence of the garden is disturbed by a loud creaking as the door at the base of the lighthouse opens. Out stumbles a nine-foot tall, nine-hundred-pound Japanese sumo wrestler who casually wanders in the centre of the garden.
  • The Japanese sumo wrestler is naked! Well, actually he is not totally naked. He has a pink wire cable covering his private parts.
  • As this sumo wrestler starts to move around the garden, he finds a shiny gold stopwatch which somebody had left behind many years earlier. He slips it on, and falls to the ground with an enormous thud. The sumo wrestler is rendered unconscious and lies there, silent and still.
  • Just when you think he has taken his last breath, the wrestler awakens, perhaps stirred by the fragrance of some fresh yellow roses blooming nearby. Energized, the wrestler jumps swiftly to his feet and intuitively looks to his left. He is startled by what he sees.
  •  Through the bushes at the very edge of the garden he observes a long winding path covered by millions of sparkling diamonds. Something seems to instruct the wrestler to take path and to his credit, he does. The path leads him down the road of everlasting joy and eternal bliss.
• The garden, the lighthouse, the sumo wrestler, the pink wire cable, the stopwatch, the roses and the winding path of diamonds are symbols of seven timeless virtues for an enlightened life.

1. A MOST EXTRAORDINARY GARDEN (The mind, the garden)
2. In the fable, the garden is a symbol for the mind. If you care for your mind, if you nurture it and if you cultivate it just like a fertile, rich garden, it will blossom far beyond your expectations. But if you let the weeds take root, lasting peace of mind and deep inner harmony will always elude you. On an average day the average person runs about sixty thousand thoughts through his mind. Ninety-five percent of those thoughts were the same ones you thought the day before!
3. Mind Management is the essence of Life Management. The way you think stems from habit, pure and simple. Most people just don’t realize the enormous power of their minds.
4. There’s only one thing we have absolute dominion over – our minds. We might not be able to control the weather or traffic or the moods of people around us. But we certainly can control our attitude towards these events. We all have the power to determine what we will think about in any given moment. This ability is part of what makes us human.
5. No matter what happens to you in life, you alone have the capacity to choose your response to it. When you form the habit of searching for positive in every circumstance, your life will move into its highest dimensions. This is one of the greatest of all natural laws.
6. Your outer world reflects the state of your inner world. By controlling the thoughts that you think and the way you respond to the events of your life, you begin to control your destiny.
7. There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. There is no such thing as a negative experience, only opportunities to grow, learn and advance along the road of self-mastery. From struggle comes strength. Even pain can be a wonderful teacher. Once you start conditioning your mind to translate every event into a positive, empowering one, you will banish worry forever.
8. The price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts
9. The mind is truly like any other muscle in the body – use it or lose it.
10. What is luck except a marriage of Preparation with Opportunity?
11. Secret of happiness is simple – find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it
12. Success like happiness cannot be pursued. It must ensue. And it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.
13. You should take the time to reflect on your purpose, how are you living your lives, every day. Most importantly, think deeply and genuinely about what you would improve the next day. Daily incremental improvements produce lasting results which in turn leads to positive change.
14. Keep staring at the rose. Notice its colour, texture and design. Savour its fragrance and think only about this wonderful object in front of you. At first, thoughts will start entering your mind, distracting you from the heart of the rose. Simply return your attention to the object of your focus. Soon your mind will grow strong and disciplined.
15. Persist and spend longer and longer periods savouring the heart of the rose. After a week or two, you should be able to perform the technique for twenty minutes without your mind wandering onto other subjects. This will be your first indication that you are taking back control of the fortress of your mind. It will then focus only on what you command it to focus on. It will then be a wonderful servant, able to do extraordinary things for you. Remember, either you control your mind or it controls you.
16. Opposition Thinking : Used to rid the mind of worry and other negative, life-draining influences. The mind can hold only one thought at a time. Using this information, anyone can create a positive, creative mindset within a short period. When an undesirable thought occupies the focal point of your mind, immediately replace it with an uplifting one. Whenever a negative slide comes up on the screen of your mind, take swift action and replace it with a positive one.
17. Self-knowledge is the stepping stone to self-mastery. Step two is to appreciate once and for all that just as easily as you allowed those gloomy thoughts to enter, you can replace them with cheerful ones. So think of the opposite of gloom. Concentrate on being cheerful and energetic. Feel that you are happy. Perhaps you might even start to smile. Move your body as you do when you are joyful and full of enthusiasm. Sit up straight, breathe deeply and train the power of your mind on positive thoughts. You truly cannot afford the luxury of even one negative thought. A worrisome thought is like an embryo: it starts off small but grows and grows. Soon it takes on a life of its own.
18. The mind works through pictures. Pictures affect your self-image and your self-image affects the way you feel, act and achieve. If your self-image tells you that you are too young to be a successful lawyer or too old to change your habits for the better, you never will achieve these goals. If your self-image tells you that lives rich with purpose, excellent health and happiness are only for people from backgrounds other than your own, this prophecy will ultimately become your reality. See yourself as you want to be, whether this means serving as a great judge, a great father or a great citizen of your community.
19. Only those who seek shall find.

• KINDLING YOUR INNER FIRE (The Purpose, the Lighthouse)
• You will recall that in the middle of the garden stood a magnificent lighthouse. This symbol will remind you of yet another ancient principle for enlightened living: the purpose of life is a life of purpose. Those who are truly enlightened know what they want out of life, emotionally, materially, physically and spiritually. Clearly defined priorities and goals for every aspect of your life will serve a role similar to that played by a lighthouse, offering you guidance and refuge when the seas become rough.
• Lasting happiness comes from steadily working to accomplish your goals and advancing confidently in the direction of your life’s purpose. When you clearly know what aims you wish to achieve over the course of your life, be they material, emotional, physical or spiritual, and you spend your days accomplishing them, you will ultimately find eternal joy. But you must know your life’s aim and then manifest this vision into reality by consistent action. We call this Dharma, which is the Sanskrit word for life’s purpose.
• As Benjamin Disraeli said: ‘The secret of success is constancy of purpose.
• There’s the five-step method to reach our objectives and fulfill the purposes of our lives. It is simple, practical and it works.
• The first step is to form a clear mental image of the outcome. If this is to lose weight that every morning just after you woke up, you should envision yourself as a lean, fit person, full of vitality and boundless energy. The clearer this mental picture, the more effective the process would be.
• Step two is to get some positive pressure on yourself. One of the best is the public pledge. Tell everyone you know that you will lose the excess weight or write that novel or whatever your goal might be.
• The third step is a simple one: never set a goal without attaching a timeline to it. To breathe life into a goal you must attach a precise deadline to. Further, remember that a goal that is not committed to paper is no goal at all. Go out and buy a journal — a cheap coil notepad will do. Call this your Dream Book and fill it with all your desires, objectives and dreams. Get to know yourself and what you are all about. Divide your Dream Book into separate sections for goals relating to the different areas of your life. For example you might have sections for your physical fitness goals, your financial goals, your personal empowerment goals, your relationship and social goals and, perhaps most importantly, your spiritual goals.” Another particularly effective technique I learned is to fill your Dream Book with pictures of the things you desire and images of people who have cultivated the abilities, talents and qualities that you hope to emulate.
• The Fourth step is to apply what Yogi Raman called The Magic Rule of 21. The learned men and women of his world believed that, for new behavior to crystallize into a habit, one had to perform the new activity for twenty-one days in a row. The only way to permanently install a new habit is to direct so much energy toward it that the old one slips away like an unwelcome house guest. The installation is generally complete in about twenty-one days, the time it takes to create a new neural pathway. You see, when you insert any activity into your routine by doing it the same way at the same time every day, it quickly grows into a habit. Soon you will be performing the new habit, whether it is meditation, getting up earlier or reading for an hour every day, with the same ease that you feel while brushing your teeth.
• Step Five : Make sure that you have fun while you are advancing along the path of your goals and purpose. Never forget the importance of living with unbridled exhilaration. Never neglect to see the exquisite beauty in all living things. Remain spirited, joyful and curious. Stay focused on your lifework and on giving selfless service to others. The Universe will take care of everything else. This is one of nature’s truest laws.

• THE ANCIENT ART OF SELF-LEADERSHIP (Kaizen, The Sumo Wrestler)
• You should recognise the importance of building strength of character, developing mental toughness and living with courage. These three attributes would lead one not only to a virtuous life but to a life filled with achievement, satisfaction and inner peace. Courage was a quality everyone could cultivate and one that would pay huge dividends over the long run. Courage allows you to run your own race. Courage allows you to do whatever you want to do because you know that it is right. Courage gives you the self-control to persist where others have failed. Ultimately, the degree of courage you live with determines the amount of fulfilment you receive.
• The ‘mind, body and soul’ is the trilogy of your human endowments. To improve your mind without the cultivation of your physical gifts would be a very hollow victory. Elevating your mind and body to their highest level without nurturing your soul would leave you feeling very empty and unfulfilled. But when you dedicate your energies to unlocking the full potential of all three of your human endowments, you will taste the divine ecstasy of an enlightened life.
• You practice the art of kaizen by pushing yourself daily. Work hard to improve your mind and body. Nourish your spirit. Do the things you fear. Start to live with unbridled energy and limitless enthusiasm. Watch the sun rise. Dance in a rain shower. Be the person you dream of being. Do the things you have always wanted to do but didn’t because you tricked yourself into believing that you were too young, too old, too rich or too poor.
• Make a written inventory of your Weaknesses
• Truly enlightened people, those who experience deep happiness daily, are prepared to put off short-term pleasure for the sake of long-term fulfilment. So they tackle their weaknesses and fears head on, even if dipping into the zone of the unknown brings with it a measure of discomfort. They resolve to live by the wisdom of kaizen, improving every aspect of themselves ceaselessly and continuously.

Ten Rituals of Radiant Living

• The Ritual of Solitude : This involves nothing more than ensuring that your daily schedule includes a mandatory period of peace – a period of time, as little as fifteen minutes or as much as fifty, wherein you explore the healing power of silence and come to know who you really are

Think of the Ritual of Solitude as a pit-stop for the soul. Its purpose is self-renewal and this is accomplished by spending time alone, immersed in the beautiful blanket of silence. Theoretically, you could do it anywhere, from your bedroom to your office. The key is to find a place of true quiet — and beauty. The Ritual of Solitude works best when you practice it at the same time every day. Because then it becomes integrated into your routine as a ritual. By practicing it at the same time every day, a daily dose of silence will soon become a habit that you will never neglect. And positive life habits inevitably guide you to your destiny. If at all possible, commune with nature daily. A quick walk through the woods or even a few minutes spent cultivating your tomato garden in the backyard will reconnect you to the wellspring of calm that may now be dormant within you. The result is more or less the same: a deep sense of inner harmony and an abundance of physical energy.

• The Ritual of Physicality : The Ritual of Physicality is based on the principle that says as you care for the body so you care for the mind. As you prepare your body, so you prepare your mind. Take some time every single day to nourish the temple of your body through vigorous exercise. Get your blood circulating and your body moving. You might miss a meal but you should never miss their daily round of exercise
• The Ritual of Live Nourishment : Fill your plate with fresh vegetables, fruits and grains and you might just live forever.
• The Ritual of Abundant Knowledge : It centers around the whole notion of lifelong learning

and expanding your knowledge base for the good of yourself and all those around you. Read regularly. Reading for thirty minutes a day will do wonders for you. You must be very selective about what you put into the lush garden of your mind. It must be immensely nourishing. Make it something that will improve both you and the quality of your life. All the problems anyone has ever, and will ever face over the course of their lifetime have already been made. More importantly, the answers and solutions are all recorded on the pages of books. Read the right books. Learn how those who have preceded you have handled the challenges you are currently facing.

• The Ritual of Personal Reflection : The sages were firm believers in the power of inner contemplation. By taking the time to get to know yourself, you will connect to a dimension of your being that you never knew you had. Boiled down to its basic form, personal reflection is nothing more than the habit of thinking. Every evening, after a full day of productive work, Benjamin Franklin would retire to a silent corner of his home and reflect on his day. He would consider all of his actions and THOUGHTS and whether they were positive and constructive or whether they were of the negative sort, in need of repair. By clearly knowing what he was doing wrong in his days, he could take immediate steps to improve and advance along the path of self-mastery. Happiness comes through good judgment, good judgment comes through experience, and experience comes through bad judgment. But there is something very wrong with making the same mistakes over and over again, day in and day out. This shows a complete lack of self-awareness, the very quality that separates humans from animals.
• The Ritual of Early Awakening : For the first few days, you will feel very tired. I’ll freely admit this. You might even feel this way for the first week of getting up nice and early. Please see this as a small measure of short-term pain for a large measure of long-term gain. You will always feel a little discomfort when you are installing a new habit. It’s sort of like breaking in a new pair of shoes — at first it’s a little hard to wear them but soon they fit like a glove. As I told you earlier, pain is often the precursor to personal growth.
  • It is better to have six hours of uninterrupted deep sleep than even ten hours of disturbed sleep. The whole idea is to provide your body with rest so that its natural processes can repair and restore your physical dimension to its natural state of health, a state that is diminished through the stresses and struggles of daily use.
  • Never eat after 8:00 p.m. The digestive activity it induces would reduce the quality of your sleep.
  • The ten-minute period before you sleep and the ten-minute period after you wake up are profoundly influential on your subconscious mind. Only the most inspiring and serene thoughts should be programmed into your mind at those times. So, before you go to sleep, don’t watch the news or argue with anyone or even go over the day’s events in your mind’s eye. Relax. Drink a cup of herbal tea, if you like. Listen to some soft classical music and prepare yourself to drift off into a rich, renewing slumber.
  • In the morning, immediately after waking up, give a prayer of thanks for all you have. Work on your gratitude list. Listen to some great music. Watch the sun come up, or perhaps go for a quick walk in natural surroundings if you feel up to it.
• The Ritual of Music : Music makes you laugh, it makes you dance and it makes you sing. Never forget the power of music. Spend a little time with it every day, even if it is listening to a soft piece on a cassette while you drive to work. When you feel down or weary, play some music.

It is one of the finest motivators

• The Ritual of the Spoken Word : The sages had a series of mantras which they would recite morning, noon and night. They told me that this practice was immensely effective in keeping them focused, strong and happy. Repeating a mantra aloud has a wonderful effect on the spirit. When you need to feel motivated, you might repeat, ‘I am inspired, disciplined and energized’ out loud two or three hundred times. To maintain the supreme sense of self-confidence that you want to cultivate, I repeat, ‘I am strong, able and calm.’ You are what you say to yourself all day long. If you say that you are old and tired, this mantra will be manifested in your external reality. If you say you are weak and lack enthusiasm, this too will be the nature of your world. But if you say that you are healthy, dynamic and fully alive, your life will be transformed. You see, the words you say to yourself affect your self-image and your self-image determines what actions you take.
• The Ritual of a Congruent Character : . This ritual requires you to take daily, incremental action to build your character. Strengthening your character affects the way you see yourself and the actions you take. The actions you take come together to form your habits and, this is important, your habits lead you to your destiny. ‘You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.'”

Character is constituted by some key principles – industry, compassion, humility, patience, honesty and courage. When all your actions are congruent and aligned with these principles, you will feel a deep sense of inner harmony and peace.

• The Ritual of Simplicity : . This ritual requires you to live a simple life. One must never live in the thick of thin things. Focus only on your priorities, those activities which are truly meaningful. Your life will be uncluttered, rewarding and exceptionally peaceful. Basically, you should reduce your needs. Unless you reduce your needs, you will never be fulfilled

• THE POWER OF DISCIPLINE (Will power…the pink-wire cable)

• The pink wire cable will serve to remind you of the power of self-control and discipline in building a richer, happier and more enlightened life. You will see that it consists of many thin, tiny wires placed one on top of the other. Alone, each one is flimsy and weak. But, together, their sum is much greater than their constituent parts and the cable becomes tougher than iron. Self-control and willpower are similar to this. To build a will of iron, it is essential to take small, tiny acts in tribute to the virtue of personal discipline. Routinely performed, the little acts pile one on top of another to eventually produce an abundance of inner strength.
• Truly enlightened people never seek to be like others. Rather, they seek to be superior to their former selves. Don’t race against others. Race against yourself. When you control your thoughts, you control your mind. When you control your mind, you control your life. And once you reach the stage of being in total control of your life, you become the master of your destiny.
• Act as if failure is impossible, and your success will be assured. Wipe out every thought of not achieving your objectives, whether they are material or spiritual. Be brave, and set no limits on the workings of your imagination. Never be a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future. You will never be the same.

• YOUR MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY (Time…the stop-watch)
• If youth only knew, if age only could. The garden keeps me focused on inspiring thoughts, the lighthouse reminds me that the purpose of life is a life of purpose, the sumo wrestler keeps me centered on continuous self-discovery, while the pink wire cable links me to the wonders of will power.
• It is the busiest people who have time to spare. Busy, productive people are highly efficient with their time — they must be in order to survive. Enlightened people are priority driven. This is the secret of time mastery.
• Time management is not just something to focus on at the office and discard at closing time. It is a holistic system that could make all areas of my life more balanced and fulfilling, if I applied it correctly.

• THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF LIFE (Serving others..the yellow roses)
• When all is said and done, no matter what you have achieved, no matter how many summer homes you own, no matter how many cars sit in your driveway, the quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution.
• No matter how big a house you have or how slick a car you drive, the only thing you can take with you at the end of your life is your conscience. Listen to your conscience. Let it guide you. It knows what is right. It will tell you that your calling in life is ultimately selfless service to others in some form or another.
• Of course it does. The flowers will remind you of the ancient Chinese proverb, “a little bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.” The meaning is clear — when you work to improve the lives of others, you indirectly elevate your own life in the process.
• People are realizing that they are here for a purpose and that they have been given special gifts that will aid them to realize it, gifts like  – an abundance of mental ability, boundless energy, unlimited creativity, a storehouse of discipline and a wellspring of peacefulness. It is simply a matter of unlocking these treasures and applying them for some common good
• And speaking of friendships, make sure you keep them in constant repair. A person with even three solid friends is very wealthy indeed.

• THE TIMELESS SECRET OF LIFELONG HAPPINESS (Enjoying the present…Path of diamonds)
• “Being engaged in a pursuit that truly challenges you is the surest route to personal satisfaction. But the real key to remember is that happiness is a journey, not a destination. Live for today —there will never be another one quite like it
• Stop spending so much time chasing life’s big pleasures while you neglect the little ones. Slow things down. Enjoy the beauty and sacredness of all that is around you. You owe this to yourself.
• Today is the day to live fully, not when you win the lottery or when you retire. Never put off living!
• The best gift you could ever give your children is your love. Get to know them again. Show them that they are far more important to you than the fleeting rewards of your professional career. Pretty soon they will be off, building lives and families of their own. Then it will be too late, the time will be gone.
• All it takes are small steps in the direction of our dreams. Like the Taj Mahal, a life overflowing with wonders is built day by day, block by block. Small victories lead to large victories. Tiny, incremental changes and improvements such as those I have suggested will create positive habits. Positive habits will create results. And results will inspire you towards greater personal change. Begin to live each day as if it was your last. Starting today, learn more, laugh more and do what you truly love to do. Do not be denied your destiny. For what lies behind you and what lies in front of you matters little when compared to what lies within you.