I got this email from Chak, a kindred spirit who is also a practitioner of mindfulness, and thought I would like to share here her wisdom:
Last year, I gave up wearing a watch. All along, when I wear a watch, anxiety of meeting the time on the dot will drown me. So if there is another 5 minutes to an appointment, I will not do anything and just sit down and wait for 5 minutes is anxiousness. So the physical time clock is very exhausive. When I gave up my watch, I actually had more time cause I am not anxious thinking hard to meet time on the dot. At work, when a meeting is to start at 11 am, I will glance at the wall clock and estimate the amount of time I need and carry on with whatever I am doing without being anxious. I don’t have a watch and surrender to whatever time I have.
Somehow, the physical body always got adjusted. When the physical body ‘ring’ for the time to go for a meeting, I will look at the wall clock and true enough it’s close to 11 am. So I used the time more efficiently and not worrying about the thought of meeting 11 am if I kept having a watch on my hand.If I have another 10 minutes of the physical clock of waiting to 11 am, it’s already a more than enough time for me to relax compare to being anxious looking at the wrist watch. When I surrender away the physical clock, that’s when I have enough time to relax.
People quit their jobs cause they don’t have time to do what they love. All of our thinking is the physical clock, the years, the days, the hours, the minute. So if I let go the clock time, the existance of time is more than enough and I found I am totally present of what I do and it’s actually the quality and not the number of counting minute, hour, day, year. I still get to do what I love even though I work 9 to 5. Infact I did an experiment during one holiday by the beach. I did not bother to even look at the wall clock and depended on my hunger to eat, sun set to return indoors. There was such a lot of time and it’s abundance of having more than enough time.
Time is indeed an illusion. Have you notice how each returning trip from a destination seems to be shorter than the going? The anticipation, however conscious or unconscious creates the illusion of time. Imagine if each now is representing the future – the momentum of “am I there yet” can be stressful. Similarly when we are worried over an issue – time seems to be dragging.
Illusion of ideas creates illusion of time. Illusion of time creates further illusion of separation.
The above reminds me of my teacher’s advice: You can be fast and not rush. When I am fast I can be entire present to what I am doing. When I rush I am anticipating the future rather than what I am now. Rush is an illusion – it is a mind imagination – how can I be faster than what is already presented in the now, I can’t be in the future as when the future arrived, I am still in the now. I have never left anywhere except being in the Now.