90. Chronological and Psychological Time🔗

Human beings live by psychological time, not by chronological time. That is why, in the Vedic tradition, more importance was given to psychological time than to chronological time. Time was calculated based on a unit called kshana. kshana, which is the gap between one thought and the next thought. If you are a meditator, a person living in high awareness or high frequency, one kshana for you can be even one hour, or two hours, or one day! If you are living with a restless, agitated, irritated mind, one kshana can even be micro-millisecond for you, because you are filled with thoughts.

I have a story for you. A man goes to the doctor. The doctor says, 'I am sorry, you have only six months to live.' She is shocked and cries, 'Oh God. Can anything be done?' The doctor says, 'Well, you could marry an accountant.' She asks, 'What?! Will that cure me?' The doctor says, 'No, but those six months will seem too long!'

You can see in your own life - if you are sitting with somebody with whom you feel connected, for whom you feel love or reverence, you don't even know how time flies. Suddenly you realize that a few hours have gone by. If you are sitting with somebody boring, every two or three minutes will keep looking at your watch and wondering why the time is not moving! I have seen some people, when they sit for meditation, when they are left alone in the company of their own mind, that half an hour will look like ten days to them! So time is psychological.

If you are in a high frequency, like the devatas, the Vedic gods, one year will look like just one day to you. I am not talking about people who have the problem of forgetting things! That is a lower level of consciousness. I am talking about the people who are in a heightened level of awareness. For them, one year will be just one day, because the gap between one thought and the next thought is so very long. So, our chronological time does not match with theirs.

India, they perform all the services only six times a year. In normal temples, services are performed six times a day. But this temple follows the calendar of the gods! So all the daily rituals, like the holy bath, worship, etc. are done only six times a year. This shows actually the time-space in which Patanjali was living.

When a person gets enlightened, he breaks through Time completely. He breaks the linear movement of Time. He just penetrates the Time

That is why, in the Vedic tradition, the calendar of the divine beings is different from the calendar of human beings. Our one year is one day for them. That is way, in the Nataraja temple created by Patanjali at Chidambaram in south shaft which stretches from past into future. When he breaks that shaft, he simply falls into the present moment.

Today, bring awareness to how your mind perceives time differently under different conditions.