After contemplating teaching 13, I have discovered that, for me, one of the most valuable aspects of time is that it grants me the freedom to choose how I spend my life. I can choose to use my time to create something that is beautiful, beneficial, uplifting, and expansive. Or, I can choose otherwise. The choice is mine. This ability to choose how I spend my time is my highest responsibility. I must choose well.
California, United States
As my body has aged, my experience of time has become more and more fluid and elastic. One day, even one hour, can feel like its own little eternity. Yet forty or fifty years can seem to have passed in the blink of an eye.
Sometimes it takes my breath away to contemplate time’s passing, to observe that my lifetime seems to be passing by like a flash of lightning. The conclusion I am reaching from these reflections is the awareness of the absolute preciousness of each infinitesimal moment, of each and every breath.
As a young person, I yearned intensely for a spiritual path to which I could give myself utterly and completely—one that I could practice literally with every breath. Through the infinite grace of Shri Guru, my wish was granted and my yearning fulfilled. Words alone can never capture the depth of my gratitude for the precious gift of time—a lifetime—to devote to the practice of Siddha Yoga sadhana.
California, United States
This is my thirteenth day of reading these exquisite teachings from our Guru. I find I am becoming more aware of the value of my time. I look at my hands in the morning and talk to them about my intentions for the day, and I read Gurumayi’s teaching for the day. Then I thank my hands at night for the work and powerful actions they have performed. I experience that my time is becoming more meaningful and valuable. I feel as if I can be more myself, more present in my interactions and daily duties.
I will do my best to discover and rediscover my relationship with time. I will do my best to keep learning every hour, every minute, of every day how valuable my time is.
Rome, Italy
When I woke up this morning and saw Gurumayi’s teaching for the day, I started contemplating how I can value my time in the best way. The first thing that came up was constant remembrance of God. As I spent my day contemplating her teaching and doing the practices, gratitude sprang up from my heart for my Shri Guru. I realized that the best way to practice this teaching is to keep thanking my Guru for everything that she has given to me.
Surat, India
As I reflect on the teaching “The value of time,” I become aware of the many blessings in my life. From receiving
shaktipat-diksha from Baba to the many delights of my
sadhana—including the Siddha Yoga teachings I have practiced and imbibed in my daily life and the Siddha Yoga events I have participated in—all these are the immense and valuable gifts of time.
My heart is so filled with gratitude!
Florida, United States
Time’s arrow points in only one direction: from now to eternity. I live each day knowing I’m one day closer to the end of this particular incarnation. In this way, the value of time becomes clear to me: once this precious moment has passed, it is forever gone, slipping between my fingers like grains of sand at the beach.
By its intractable nature, time gives me the gift of this awareness and encourages me to offer my very best to each moment. I view time as God’s offering to the mind. Just as I am given the gift of this wondrous body and this beautiful world, time also gives me the realization of its fleeting quality—and inherent value.
California, United States
How blessed I am to receive Gurumayi’s teachings, which illuminate the path to the Self and guide me to live in alignment with divine principles. The teaching “The value of time,” and Gurumayi’s other teachings from “In the Presence of Time,” remind me of the sacredness of every moment.
As a Siddha Yoga student, I feel fortunate for the practices of mantra repetition, contemplation, and the study of scriptures. These practices help me honor “the value of time” as a form of divine Consciousness and experience the grace flowing through each moment. I pray to Gurumayi for her continued guidance, so that I may imbibe these teachings fully and transform my understanding of time and my outlook on life.
Yamuna Nagar, India
As I contemplated Gurumayi’s teaching “The value of time” on my morning walk, I realized that time is not a box of chocolates where I know how much I have in my hands. Nor is time a gold bar with a fineness of 999.9/1,000, whose purity the bank can quantify and tell me about. I also realized that I sometimes evaluate moments as to whether they are valuable or not—and that I can give up this habit.
When I decided to start recognizing every moment as valuable, a gentle breeze began to blow and the dry leaves on the tarmac road danced around me with joy.
Konolfingen, Switzerland
