As
I ponder on these complex and borderless
events I lose touch with the concepts of day,
week, month, year, decade, century etc.
They say that time is the distance between
two events. And events are recorded
in consciousness as experiences. Therefore
time is the gap between experiences.
Time is a projection of thought, which is
situated
in those gaps. Those who are
conditioned by thoughts of the past and of
the future experience the phenomenon of time.
So conventionally we say that a year has
ended and a new year has begun. But
experientially it doesn't make any
difference -- time is just thought. At the
same time we have to have time to pause
and take stock of the past so that we can
prepare ourselves mentally to face the future.
For that purpose we escape
into thought and set arbitrary time frames.
They
say that one year is the time that
the planet earth takes to go around the sun.
But who can say the beginning and end points
of the circumference of a circle. We set arbitrary
beginnings and ends. The Christian era that divides
time before and after the birth of Christ is arbitrary.
So too is the Islamic calendar arbitrary that follows the
lunar movement around the earth. The financial world
has its own calendar. Their year begins either in March or in
June.
For
me every morning is a new day, a new year. As I see the bright
sun
that lifts itself from the blue ocean, my heart jumps in joy.
The sun, the earth and me together create the miracle of a new
dawn every day.
For me every day is a new year, every year a new day -- a new
beginning.
Let
us look at time in that perspective and
let us make everyday a day of celebration.
SWAMI
BODHANANDA
5.21pm, 16 Nov 2002, New Delhi