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A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. July's Theme: "Deadlines" A few years ago, while on staff at an ashram in India, I was assigned to work in the logistics department to support the technical aspects of teaching and retreat events. On one occasion, a group of musicians had gathered to participate in a workshop designed to build team spirit and sensitivity. Toward the end of the three day training, they were divided into small groups and challenged with the task of creating a four to five minute musical skit emphasizing compassionate communication. Each group was allowed to find a quiet place to work and then told to be ready by the early afternoon in order to present their ideas to the Meditation Master along with a selection of invited guests.
When the moment came for the first group to perform, a member of the team stood, turned imploringly to the Meditation Master and said, "I am really sorry but our group is not quite ready. We need a little more time to prepare and would like to ask if we could give our performance later, after the break."
Without hesitation, the Master replied,
"No! Time is finished! There is no more time!"
As her words sliced through the air, they carried such force and depth of meaning, the room became completely still. Not a sound could be heard. Everyone sat immersed in the vibrant awareness that we were being offered a profound teaching on the importance of honouring time and meeting our responsibilities with equanimity and poise. A few moments later, in accordance with her response, the group was required to perform regardless of whether they felt ready or not.
When each group had finished their presentation, the Master expanded on her teaching by stating,
"If you do not respect time, time will not respect you and you will find yourself on your deathbed wondering what you have accomplished in your life.
"If you seriously wish to progress on the spiritual path, you must honour and appreciate time. In this way, no matter what your dharma (your duty) requires you to do, you will be able to do it efficiently and with gratitude. You will learn from your dharma and you will be able to serve others by supporting their goals, rather than acting as a hindrance. This is true service to humanity."
Learning to honour time and develop a strong work ethic in relation to meeting work and personal deadlines can challenge each of us in uniquely different ways. In my own case as a child, I had an unusual relationship with the mechanics of time. When I was six or seven years old, my teacher, a rather stern Catholic nun, told me, "Julie, my watch has stopped working. Please go to the dining hall and see what time it is." Following her instructions, I sheepishly stood in the empty dining hall looking up at the face of a large antique clock, finding myself completely unable to understand what the numbers were conveying.
Uncomfortable with embarrassment that my secret might have been discovered, I looked around, earnestly praying for someone to appear. Thankfully, an older student came bouncing along and I petitioned, "Please tell me what time it is." He graciously told me and filled with relief, I finally raced back to class, announcing to Sister Virgilius, "It is twenty minutes past nine."
Back then, I assumed my inability to decipher time was related to being 'no good at mathematics.' However, I now realize that I was grappling to come to terms with the illusion of linear time. From the earliest age, I had been blessed with lucid awareness in the waking, dream, sleep and deep sleep states, with each state interpenetrating the other, serving to reveal an elasticity and freedom of space and time that could not be constrained by the sound of a ticking clock.
In our lives, we are propelled into relationships and work opportunities which serve to gift us with what we most need to learn. As a quiet, contemplative mystic with a deep love of abiding in Presence, I was forcefully propelled into the world of time in the most challenging way possible. Following an inner-directive to train as a high school teacher, I soon discovered there was no getting away from the demands of time management driven by burgeoning deadlines. In this high-pressured environment the entire day is divided, minute by minute, into periods of linear time supported by the ear piercing sound of electronic bells.
In truth there is only NOW. There is no past or future and as a consequence, there is no time. However, while remaining aware of the truth of limitless, timeless space-less Presence, we must be able to enter the mind and the world of time. To engage productively in the world, we have to remember appointments with the doctor, we must take note of birthdays and special events and we have to know when and how to complete tasks at work in order to earn money and provide for our most basic needs.
Spiritual awakening requires that we learn to embrace the truth of the I Am, as well as take full responsibility in the world of space and time. We have to be willing to do our part and not look for excuses that we are out of time or that we have too much to do and too little time to do it. In essence, the questions we have to keep coming back to are,
When we are willing to embrace responsibility and respectfully honour time, we discover profound joy in whatever task is given to us. We find ourselves imbued with vitality, enthusiasm and a light heart and we are graced with the ability to achieve more than we could have ever dared imagine. If we are true to time, time is true to us. Then, we can rest assured that when we come to the end of our lives, we will be filled with the peace and happiness of knowing that our time on earth was gratefully and graciously appreciated and beautifully and efficiently well spent.
Julie is a natural intuitive, writer, artist and transpersonal hypnotherapist who lives on Grand Bahama Island. Her profound spiritual awakening and the unfolding of unity consciousness is detailed in her book, 'An Awakened Life - A Journey of Transformation' at: www.anawakenedlife.org
For information about the work of 'True Alignment' and the 'Living in Alignment' online course go to:
www.livinginalignment.org
Here are a few more sites you may want to visit:
Twitter
and her blogs:
http://truealignment.blogspot.com and
http://anawakenedlife.blogspot.com
Volume 8 Issue 5 ISSN# 1708-3265
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Aleesha Stephenson
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Featuring: Aleesha Stephenson
Tarot Deck Reviews:
with Dan Pelletier
a memoir of art and grief
Ann Faison
Jon Anderson
The Joy of Honouring Time
by Julie Hoyle
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