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समय के समक्ष
 In the Presence of Time

~ Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

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Teaching 1
 

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    This share is about In the Presence of Time – Teaching 1 in April


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    When I saw the teaching “The threshold of time” with its lovely background of spring tulips, I began to reflect on the threshold between the quiet of winter and the energy of spring. As I did this, I began to experience an inner stillness similar to the stillness I experience in meditation when I focus on the space between the in-breath and the out-breath.
     
    I decided to look for other “thresholds of time” as I moved through my day—for example, the threshold between night and day, or between ending one activity and beginning another. As I practiced this over a number of days, I found more and more “thresholds of time” I could focus on.
     
    Each time I did this, I had the same experience of momentarily entering a still inner space. It’s been a powerful practice for me, and an excellent way to stay connected to the Self in the midst of daily life.
     

    Massachusetts, United States

    The threshold of time is a series of moments.
     
    In everyday life, when I move to a new activity or meet new people, when I stop at the threshold of time, I begin to feel stillness.
     
    When I feel love, and when I communicate it in words, when I stop at the threshold of time, love expands with stillness.
     
    When I meditate, I go deeper into stillness at the threshold of time in the space between the in-breath and the out-breath.
     
    When I offer arati, I perceive the experience of the Self at the threshold of time, at the moment when my mind is quiet and immersed in the sacredness and stillness of the movement of the light of the flame.
     

    Tokyo, Japan

    The word threshold draws me with such potency. I ask myself, “Threshold between what and what? Between this moment and the next? Between what was and what is to come?” Yet both of these seem to me to be mere appearances in time, held in the eternal now. And thus I glimpse that astonishing power of now, forever poised at the threshold between individuality and eternity.
     
    My heart quakes on this threshold as my individuality both longs and fears to dissolve in eternity. And then I know I am already in truth, in eternity, in love. My fear is revealed to be merely a misunderstanding of this threshold where God and the Goddess dance as the world, in both eternity and in time.
     
    I hear Gurumayi’s Message for 2025 anew and understand it as telling me, “Yes, make your individuality worthy of eternity, worthy of the grace from which it comes and into which it goes.”
     

    Washington, United States

    Today, as I celebrate my seventieth birthday, the gifts of Gurumayi’s teachings on time are especially full of meaning for me. As I have been contemplating “the threshold of time,” I have come to recognize that although every moment can be experienced as a threshold and a new beginning, this particular day in my life feels like a vital crossing into a new season of my sadhana. I consulted a dictionary on the definition of threshold and discovered that, among other meanings, thresholds are openings to new, transformed ways of understanding or perceiving. These new perceptions are vital in order for a seeker to progress. When I am immersed in divine love as I walk the Siddha Yoga path, every teaching and moment represents a threshold to profound meaning.
     

    Florida, United States

    I am grateful for the teaching “The threshold of time.” In my life and in my family’s life, I have experienced so many thresholds that are all made possible by time: crossing over the threshold of a new year, stepping over the threshold into a new life stage, or entering new seasons through the thresholds of the solstices and equinoxes. 

    My husband and I savor these thresholds by celebrating them in ways that are meaningful to us and our loved ones. We pause to take in all that has made it possible for us to come to this moment in time, and we gather the blessings of our community, ourselves, nature, and God as we (or our loved ones) step over a threshold into the journey ahead.

    Expecting a baby, the birth of a baby, a birthday, a new life stage, a new season, a loved one’s dying and passing, and a move from one home to another have all become transformative, grace-filled occasions for us as we celebrate these thresholds of time.

    California, United States