समय के समक्ष
In the Presence of Time
~ Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
I can see “the composition of time” in my daily life: time for meditation, time for walking, time for eating, time for shopping, time for sleeping, and so on. The sum of these times makes up my daily life.
For example, the time for walking is “composed” of times to be aware of my breath, to do exercise with others, to feel the energy from the earth and the atmosphere, to breathe in the new oxygen created in the forest during the night, to listen to the birds’ beautiful singing, to become one with the silence, and to contemplate my experience.
Similarly, the time for meditation is a “composition” that includes lighting candles and incense, offering puja, preparing a seat and sitting down, lengthening my spine, focusing on my breath, becoming one with the stillness, feeling the quiet vibrations, and contemplating my meditation experience. These are all part of “the composition of time” throughout my day.
I spend my days feeling the stillness in each of these parts of “the composition of time.”
Tokyo, Japan
This teaching reminds me that I am like a writer who is writing “The composition of time” in my own life. I decide what to include in this composition by how I use my time through my thoughts and actions. Will my “composition” be inspiring to myself and others?
As I traverse the ups and downs of life, my intention is to create a most beautiful “composition of time.” I can do this by keeping the purpose of my life in the forefront of my mind, setting beneficial intentions to guide my actions all along the way, and connecting again and again to the Guru’s grace and to my own inner power.
California, United States
“The composition of time” is an intriguing teaching. To me, the word composition could refer to the elements of a musical score, a stage play, an essay, or what can be created in the seconds, minutes, hours, and days that make up a lifetime. I believe that God has given me the gift of time. So, perhaps it is God who has composed the play that is unfolding in my precious life. Yet, since I have free will, it would seem that I also have the power to affect this composition. Contemplating this has made me consider how I can best follow and augment God’s composition for my life. The answer I have found is to use my free will to follow Gurumayi’s teachings with love and consistency.
California, United States