Time and Timelessness
If we are fully present, there are no thoughts. If there are no thoughts, then quite literally, there is no time. There is no life outside of this moment. We can no longer function in the world of time, because there is only now. You would need a team of caretakers to take care of you, or an ashram would have to develop around you to take care of you and receive your enlightened utterances.
One such example is Ramana Maharshi. When Ramana awakened, he did not participate in the world of time. He remained in the silence and an ashram developed around him. That is the beauty of India. The Indian culture allows for one to enter into that fully awakened state and remain there. They know how to respond to one who is fully awakened.
But it is time for many more of us to awaken. Enlightenment can no longer be for just a select few, who do not participate in the world. If there is to be an awakening at a collective level, we will have to find a balance between the timelessness of the fully awakened state and the world of time. This means that we must master the art of moving easily between those two dimensions.
To do so, we must know that the present moment is the truth of life. We must know that everything outside of this moment is illusory in nature and so we no longer believe in any of it as true. We must recognize that life at the level of mind is simply play. It is sometimes happy and sometimes sad, because it is a world of duality. We relax and accept the dual nature of life within time. We are no longer for or against anything. We have transcended judgment. Life is accepted fully and so too is death. Joy is accepted fully and so too is pain. But we are so deeply grounded in the moment of now, that we no longer get caught in the movements of the mind and its world of thought and emotion. We are no longer identified with the story unfolding within the world of time. We are no longer defined by that story. We are deeply grounded in Oneness. We can move easily into time and the world of thought, and we are able to return to silence and Presence at will. In fact, silence and Presence are always there as the foundation of our existence, even when we consciously choose to venture into the world of the mind.
-Leonard Jacobson
Posted in Teachings | 4 Comments » | |
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September 4th, 2009 at 9:27 am
It was adversity that brought me to this realization. The present moment is not abiding; I go in and out, but I have enough experience with it to know it as Truth. Thank you for your teachings.
September 5th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Dear Leonard,
Your words bring me into presence as my eyes fill with tears. I have been your student for many years and I am in awe how the experience of presence deepens and deepens. My life is an unfolding miracle moment to moment and I am deeply grateful to you for your dedication to reveal the way with such simplicity and clarity.
Love,
Fran
September 7th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
**Presence Visualized**
Dear Leonard,
You have helped me to transcend my ‘major illusions’ of the past and future that had for so many years hijacked my presence and made me feel as though I was nothing more than my future and past, each of which become daunting enough to a point where the present could no longer elude me, it was revealed, and in doing so my story was shown to be the illusion that it is.
Your teachings were at first difficult to fully understand, but after listening closely to so many of your teachings I’m finally understanding- by only finding presence for merely seconds, this became the seed which now grows and heals my understanding of our illusions of the future and past. I could write about this endlessly, for now though, I’ll leave you and others reading here an analogy that came to be me which has helped me and others to bring themselves present.
In essence, and hour glass holds the future in the top and the past in the bottom. All that we can ever experience is the presence, which is the thin middle of the hour glass where the sand passed through. This links shows a way to visualize this and then to dissolve the future and past.
http://mediainternetresources.com/lj/PresenceVisualized.txt
Thank you Leonard, for all of the work that you have done.
Sincerely,
Patrick
http://EnergyInOurHands.com/
October 7th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Leonard, your teachings go deeper and deeper into my being, bringing me to Presence and the healing that brings.
I am so thankful that over the years I have received teachings that have been perfect for me at each step of the way. The Kingdom of Heaven is surely within…… I am now able to stay in Presence deeply enough and long enough to know without a doubt the Truth of it, and experience is seemingly miraculous ways my past and my life being healed as I move into oneness and feeling whole.
Thank you for sharing these teachings in such an understandable and inspiring way.