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समय के समक्ष
 In the Presence of Time

~ Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

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Teaching 12
 

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    This share is about In the Presence of Time – Teaching 12 in February


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    This morning after receiving the teaching for today, “The smile of time,” I took time to imbibe its meaning by looking at the photo of Gurumayi on the Siddha Yoga path website provided at the end of the teachings on time for January 2025. I bathed myself in the endless joy in her eyes, which to me twinkled with the same powerful force I recognized when we first met almost thirty years ago.
     
    Through this experience of darshan, I understood that time is always smiling at me through the Guru’s joyful presence within me. Time smiles through every conscious inhalation and exhalation of blessed breath that I take. Being true to myself means smiling at my breath, experiencing constant rejuvenation, and in this way immersing myself in “the smile of time.” 
     

    Mexico City, Mexico

    The teaching “The smile of time” reminded me of a darshan with Gurumayi that I’d had at Shree Muktananda Ashram four decades ago, when I was new to the Siddha Yoga path. I’d been given the seva of greeting people who were coming for satsang with Gurumayi. My seva supervisor kindly asked me to smile more.
     
    That evening in darshan I told Gurumayi about this and added, “I don’t always feel like smiling, and I don’t want to fake it.” Gurumayi replied, “You don’t have to smile all the time, but you have to be happy all the time.”
     
    That felt like one big task to accomplish! My grandmother and mother had suffered from depression, and I had experienced some dark nights of the soul too. Gurumayi’s statement set me off on a seemingly unattainable mission. But with earnest and steady practice of the Siddha Yoga teachings, and with the sweet “smile of time,” I’ve come to realize that even in the saddest of times, deep in my heart of hearts I am “happy all the time”!

    California, United States

    When I read this teaching, I found myself smiling. It was such a pure and innocent smile. I was reminded of joyful times as a child when each new day was met with discovery and delight. And I felt that I am here to be happy and to relish every moment of this sacred life that I have been given.

    Washington, United States

    When I look at the face of a Shiva Nataraj statue, I see the smile of time. In the process of creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe, time can pass so unnoticed. Yet everything happens in time.

    Today I have realized that I do not have to intervene in this process but can simply let things happen with a smile and try to dance with what is. If I live my life from my inner center, firmly anchored in the awareness that I am pure Consciousness, then I can face the smile of time with a smile in return.
     

    Konolfingen, Switzerland

    When I wake up each morning, I feel that God and time are smiling at me and reminding me that I have been given the gift of another day. I feel they are urging me to use this gift well.

    California, United States

    As soon as I read this teaching from Gurumayi, I had an experience of my heart smiling. This image was accompanied by a sense of inner happiness that wasn’t dependent on anything.
     
    Throughout the day I returned to this teaching by repeating it to myself silently. I noticed that doing this brought back the same inner smile and feeling of joy that I had experienced when first reading it. This practice also helped me become aware of when I was carrying heaviness within me and enabled me to shift my inner attitude toward one of lightheartedness.

    Coburg, Australia

    A couple of days ago as I prepared my breakfast, I cracked an egg in a bowl and beat it. When I looked in the bowl, I saw the shape of a distinct smiley face: two dots for eyes, a dot for a nose, and a smiling mouth. It was an amazing sight to see this smiley face form spontaneously in the golden beaten egg. It seemed full of life, as though it represented the essence of joy. I felt as though it was God appearing to me in a golden form, right in the midst of my daily life.

    I may not have even noticed the appearance of this divine gift had I not begun my recent practice of slowing down to savor the moments of time in my life.

    When I saw the teaching “The smile of time,” I felt that this was exactly what I had been blessed with when I saw the smile appear in the bowl.
     

    California, United States