Mohandas Gandhi and a day of silence

"Mohandas Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence.  He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace and made him a better listener.  This influence was drawn rom the Hindu principles of mauna (silence) and shanti (peace).  On such days he communicated with others by writing on paper.  For three and a half years, from the age of 37, Ghandi refused to read newspapers, claiming that the tumultuous state of world affairs caused him more confusion than his own inner unrest."  Taken rom here.

For a while now I've felt the need for more silence in my life.  When you are forced to be silent, you are forced to listen.  Most of us don't know how to listen anymore, there is always something going on in the back of our minds, some kind of judgement or a need to give ones opinion or relate it back to ourselves.  We can never just fully listen and take in what another person is trying to tell us.  When you take time for silence, you open your mind to a whole new world.  You learn that everything is not always about you and you don't need to relate everything back to you or compete with anyone.  There is a lot of information floating around that we miss because are minds have become so filtered to only hear what we relate to.  You not only miss a lot of opportunities to help others by actually listening, but you miss opportunities to help yourself, to change your view, to see the world through a different perspective, to become a deeper, better person.

I find it hard to listen anymore with a clear mind and I can feel the effect it has on my overall well-being.  If you can't fully listen, you cannot grow or expand your mind which is what I strive for so I am going to devote every Monday (like Gandhi) to a day of silence.  My hope is to develop the ability to listen fully everyday without the intention of turning it into something about me.  I want to become more aware of the world around me and more able to relate to others fully, and not with a preconceived notion.

I challenge you to make time for silence.  If you cannot do a full day, set aside 1 hour a day to be completely silent.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.

Ferris Bueller