Time is yet another magical mystery in
our lives. Generally we all live by the clock and this is
functional and necessary for arriving at work on time, keeping
appointments and the necessities of communication in everyday
life. The danger is that we gradually become time-bound, and this
can create difficulties. Although we all reasonably and
harmoniously agree on clock-time and its usefulness, we all appreciate
that time is a very subjective phenomenon. We have all
experienced occasions where time has literally "flown by", usually when
we are really enjoying ourselves, and occasions when time has dragged
by interminably, even occasions when time has "stood still".
In all cultures and traditions there is an almost universal agreement
to divide time three ways - the past, the present and the future.
At one level this is functional and convenient. But
consider. The past exists only in our memory and our memory is
only present to us in our present awareness, in other words NOW.
The future is non-existent, something we project on the basis of our
past experience according to our dreams and desires. And the
much-vaunted "present moment" cannot be grasped - even before it is
properly perceived, it has raced into the past! We may practise
meditation in time, a thousand repetitions of this mantra (time and
counting go hand in hand), for instance. We may "sit" in
meditation for half an hour or so until the incense stick burns down,
or use any number of other devices, but ultimately who is
counting? Being time-bound and subject to calculation such
activities are also result-orientated and, as such, will be a barrier
to the full experience of meditative awareness.
Fall still using the method suggested previously. When connected
to the breath and the energy field of your body, follow the next
inhalation with your full awareness and observe the point where it
naturally changes to exhalation. Rest awareness at this
point. Consider the question "How old am I?, without any urgency
to acquire an answer. Avoid all the answers that the mind can
some up with - sooner or later you will enter your own timeless
presence.
In the Katha Upanishad it is stated that "Self rides on the chariot of
the body". We may make an analogy in more modern terms.
Suppose you are traveling in a fast-moving, modern train. These
are often capable of speeds of well over a hundred miles per
hour. Your view through the window is limited and the passing
scenery, at least that closest to you, is passing rapidly in a
confusing blur. So it is when we are identified with the
body. Events seem to impose themselves on us. We even use
the word "emergency" to indicate a crisis situation, but every event
that occurs in our awareness emerges from the silent-still presence and
returns into it. Now consider if, instead of being inside the
train, getting a one-sided view of your situation as it flashes by you,
you were viewing the progress of the train from a helicopter tracking it
from some height.
Now you would be able to see quite clearly where the train has come
from - clear hindsight. You would be able to observe where it
was, at any given moment and, more crucially, you would be able to
observe quite clearly the track ahead. With adequate communication
links to the train you would be able to warn of dangers before they
turned into disasters (prudent foresight) and all this would take place
with the awareness of the pilot. So "Awakened intelligence, the
sure-footed charioteer" as the Katha Upanishad puts it.
The Bhagavad Geeta states: "That which is (Being) shall never
cease to be; that which is not shall never be. Both these are
self-evident to the knower of the essence." Hence the importance
of the dualities outlined in this exploration of analogies.
Life the person in Greenwich bestriding the meridian line, with one
foot in the east and one in the west, be fully and wholeheartedly
engaged in the activities of life, enjoying life to the full, whilst
remaining totally detached and centred in the unchanging Being.
