“Time is a thief who steals physical health, mental health and spiritual…”

Time is a thief who steals physical health, mental health and spiritual well being from us. At the physical level, as we grow older, we all believe that our health deteriorates. At the mental level, when we are continuously aware of it, time steals our peace of mind and creates stress in us.

Time can be perceived in two ways – chronological time and psychological time. You are all aware of chronological time; it is what you see on your clock, and is measured in seconds, minutes, days, etc. In Bharat, we have a psychological concept of time, which is measured by kshana, or the gap between one thought and another. All our stress is the result of internalizing chronological time, which is required in the outer world, and using it in our inner world, where it doesn’t apply. If you understand this one idea, you can liberate yourself from stress without any technique. You may feel it is too good to be true, but it is possible. All our stress is the result of misunderstanding and confusing the two different concepts of time.

Chronological time is the time that you use for your daily activities, and you all know it very well. Let us analyze the psychological time which is the gap between two thoughts. Have you ever noticed that when you are with a friend whom you really like, you don’t realize how quickly time passes? On the other hand, if you are sitting with someone who is boring, you will check your watch every 10 minutes and feel like time isn’t moving fast enough! The more the number of thoughts, the more slowly time seems to move; the less the number of thoughts, the more relaxed you are and time flies.

The more you think of time, more your stress level, less your efficiency, less likely you are to meet your target, resulting in more stress. Thus we travel in a vicious circle, reducing our intelligence, skills and capacity, because we remember time again and again. Stress not only affects your mind, it also affects your body. For instance, if you sit in your office, even if you don’t do any work, and you just sit and worry, you will feel shoulder pain! How many of you have experienced it? [Many raise hands]. Stress is not just a mental problem; it becomes a physical problem too. People often tell me – “Swamiji, I know its wrong, but I get stressed all the time”. The main reason for that is the large number of thoughts that continuously remind you of time, and create stress. If your thoughts are less, you won’t notice the time moving and you will be less stressed.

In ancient Bharat, there was a practice called Kayakalpa – to reverse the aging process. According to their philosophy, as you age, you become healthier because your body and mind are better trained to live in the world. If you are trained in driving and become a good driver, you can drive without any effort. In the same way, as the years pass, you should master the art of living in this world. They say, as you grow older you are not supposed to fall sick, or have stress, because you should know the logic of the world, and become more intelligent, healthy and spontaneous. However, that is not our experience! What has happened? Where did we miss it? The missing link is our idea of time, and being continuously reminded of chronological time because of the increased number of thoughts.

If you change two things, you can make it a reality. First, perception about your body: we always think, as we age our body gets old and diseased. It is not necessary, but that’s your perception. You may question it by saying when we get old, we really do feel tired and it’s not our imagination. You don’t know the power of your mind.

I once went to a place in Tibet, where the Lamas live. I was told people there live long. I saw an elderly man working in the fields. I asked him – do people here live long? Please tell me about it. He laughed and said “You think I am old? I am middle aged, I’m only 136. Ask others who are 200 or more”. There were medical records to show he really was 136. And he was working in the farm! I couldn’t believe it just like you all. Then they showed me a report by researchers from Wisconsin University, who worked with them to study their body and understand why they live longer. According to the scientists, their body works just like ours; it’s no different, even genetically. They conclude there is something beyond the body which makes them live longer. None of the Lamas could give any reason for their long life. But they all had a strong belief that human beings are supposed to live up to 300 years. If someone died at 200, it was considered an unnatural death! I later read a report by scientists that says that our body continuously rejuvenates and replaces itself, and can do so for 300 years. So our perception about our body must change.

Your mind has such a tremendous power that whatever you believe you have the capacity to make it a reality. That’s why people who see horror movies continuously start seeing ghosts. If you watch one horror movie every night for ten days in a row, on the eleventh day you will see a ghost, or think you are seeing ghosts when a curtain moves. Your mind has the capacity to make anything as a reality. The first basic idea or your perception of time at the physical level (i.e. the more you age you fall sick) is wrong.

Next, at the psychological level, again and again remembering time will stress you out and disturb your whole being. The more thoughts, the more it reminds you that time is ticking and you have less time. That’s why we call hell as eternal hell. There’s a wonderful Zen saying: “if you want to delay anything, do it as fast as possible”, because then you won’t make small mistakes, but commit big blunders! When you have too many thoughts, you won’t have the satisfaction that you lived your life. Whatever products you deliver, even if you do it on time, will be of much higher quality if you are less stressed. If the concept of chronological time is not internalized, your potential unleashed will be much higher.

The concept of time by nature is negative, especially in the West it indicates you are moving to the negative aspect of your life. The other day, an old lady came late for our program (in the US). I asked her why she was late, she explained she had to do her hair and make up. I asked her why she would bother with it at her age, when she knows the chemicals are harmful for her body. I was shocked to hear her say that in this society, you need to look young and compete with youngsters! The more time passes, the more you face the negative aspects of life.

When you remember time again and again, unconsciously you infuse dullness into your being; the very remembrance of time is enough to pull your energy level down, and your stress is hiked up. You are just pulled and pushed; you never live in the present. Psychological time steals your peace, that’s why I call it the ultimate thief. When you come to the present, your number of thoughts reduces; you don’t realize how time rolls, and automatically the idea of time disappears. When you are in the present moment, a tremendous potential will be unleashed and you will be rejuvenated.

In Zen they say – whatever is, is energy. You are in energy, you are inhaling energy. The rishi culture also says the same – isha vasyam idham sarvam – whatever exists is energy. On one hand the mystics claim the more you get old, the more energetic you get. That’s why in the east youth is not worshipped, elders are worshipped. We turn to them for guidance. When rishis say everything is energy, why can’t we experience it? What is the missing link? It is because we are caught with the past and future, which is not reality, it’s only imaginary. What you perceive as past or future is not reality. Whatever you remember as your past is only your idea of it; it’s not really your past. We always feel: my childhood days are golden, my college days are heaven. Be honest, was it great when you actually lived it? No! Your mind projects it and makes you think it was great. Whatever you remember about the past is only your perception, not reality, because we never remember the past in its entirety, we only remember bits and pieces of it as it suits us, as we choose to remember.

Similarly, all your ideas about the future, your worries, fears, insecurities are all your perceptions, not your real future. I have seen many people who worry continuously. Initially, you worry because of some reason, after some time you master the art of worrying, you don’t need a special reason. After some more time, even if you don’t find any reason you start worrying because you become habituated to do that. I did a small study with a group of 50 people. I asked them to write whatever worries, fears and insecurities they have about the next 6 months of their life. Even according to psychologists, you can’t visualize more than six months of your life. That’s reducing now because the social, political, and economic changes are happening at a faster rate these days. I collected their list of worries. After six months we all met again. I asked them to mark all their worries that have become a reality. You will be surprised that a maximum of only 3% of their worries came true! The remaining 97% of their worries never came true! Can you imagine how much of your mental energy is wasted in worries? The more you worry, the less you create, the more you are stressed, the less you are expressing. All your concepts about future is only your concepts, they do not really make your future.

Only the present moment is a reality which is in your hands, all else is only your perception. The moment you relax into the present moment, your body and mind will have a new energy. Try this small exercise for a few minutes: in a room close the door, sit down and say - I accept my life as it is, my life, my relationships, my body and mind, and come to the present moment. The moment you take a conscious decision, a sankalpa, and start relaxing, you will be amazed to see the energy that happens to your being. As long as you are bothered about the future or thinking about the past, you will be away from the source of energy, your inner being.

Physically, the concept of time makes you old, sick, uneasy. Mentally, the concept of time gives you stress and boredom. Boredom is another important problem due to the notion of time. A Zen story – a great Zen master had some stomach problem. His physician advised him to eat a certain food with herbs everyday. He ate it for 10 years. One day, the disciple who cooks for him asked – master are you not bored? I’m bored of cooking the same food everyday, aren’t you bored of eating the same food everyday? The master was surprised. He replied beautifully– it’s not the same food, once I eat it’s over, it’s new food everyday, I’m not eating the same food everyday! When you have a concept of time, you think same office, same house, same wife, and same life!

A small story: a national football champion was visiting his hometown and decided to pay a visit to his college. The college was honored to have him, so there was a grand reception for him. After the reception, he told the principal he would like to visit the dorm room where he stayed. When he reached the dorm, he looked at it and said – same old building! One student ran ahead to make sure the room was presentable. He found his roommate having an affair with a girl. Since girls were not allowed in the men’s dorm, they quickly hid the girl in the closet, hoping no one will open it. When the champion arrived at the room, he said – same old room. He looked at the furniture in the room and commented - same old bed and same old table! He then opened the closet, saw the girl inside and said – same old girl! To this her boyfriend replied angrily: no she’s not the same old girl, she is my girl! The champ replied - same old lie!! This is how our mind works, we tend to think “same old…, same old…” even when things have changed. With such an attitude, we fail to notice the subtle changes that are constantly happening in and around us. A child on the other hand does not have this attitude and explores every moment as new and everyday as a new beginning! When you are caught in the samskaras (unfulfilled desires) of the past, you feel the same past is repeating again and again. It’s just your conscious choice to liberate yourself from past and future and come to the present. The concept of psychological time gives you stress, takes away your peace, reduces efficiency and creates the idea of boredom (the attitude of “it is same”). The concept of time disturbs you physically and mentally. If you can, open yourself to a new way of thinking and perceiving time. First, don’t believe that you have to fall sick when you get old, because as you age you can master the techniques of living in this body and in this world. Next, try to live in the present moment, instead of being pulled and pushed by past and future. These two will automatically help you in the spiritual growth and well being.

I pray to the ultimate energy to guide us all to understand the concept of time, kshana, and go beyond kshanika (i.e. slowly disappearing from this existence), and give us the real health, peace and eternal bliss, nithya ananda.

Q & A:

Q: We all have to work with deadlines and time pressure. When you say don’t think of time please explain how we can manage our tasks?

A: When you have time consciousness, are you able to manage? [Questioner answers ‘yes’] With time consciousness either you can manage your deadlines, or not. If you can manage with time consciousness and stress then you can definitely manage your tasks and goals without the stress of time consciousness. You will be more creative without stress. A person who is stressed cannot create anything new, instead he will work in a programmed way. If you scan your life you will see that in your own house you won’t use many rooms. When you leave work and go home, you will go and sit on the same couch in the same room everyday, eat dinner in the same place, go to the same spot on your bed and so on! Even your vacations are clearly programmed. Worrying at home is called homework, worrying at office is called office work, worrying on the beach is called vacation! Only the place changes, the mental setup of worrying remains wherever you go.

There are two kinds of people, those who can manage with time pressures and deadlines, and those who cannot. If you’re in the first group, if you can manage your activities with stress, you can surely manage without stress. Next, if you belong to the other group who are unable to manage deadlines, can you really manage better with stress? Then why have stress? Either way, whether you manage or not, stress will not help you. We sometimes think that stress can make us handle things better. That’s not true, only creativity and unleashing your potential can help you do that.

If you drop your stress and manage without it, you will be more creative and produce much better results. Stress can only make you less efficient. Becoming more efficient can happen only by clarity, creativity, and dropping stress. You may say – ‘this stress management is all just theory, I have tried it a lot, I have read a lot about it. I don’t think it really works. I remember all the concepts for two days, its nice; after that I’m back to the same routine and lifestyle’. If it fails again and again, it means your understanding is not deep enough. Someone told me: “Swamiji in the last one year alone eleven times I stopped smoking!” It means eleven times he started again! That means his decision to stop smoking was not strong, his understanding was not deep enough. It is your own mind after all! If you can understand, penetrate your being and decide consciously to drop the stress, it will work for you. Make it very clear to yourself by telling yourself: I hereby decide to live the way I want.

Understand that stress cannot help you become more efficient, it can only make you inefficient. Again and again you are taught to remember about time pressure. See your life – the moment you think about people who put pressure, when you remember their faces or words, your energy is drained. Then how can you be successful based on stress? If you can come down to the present moment, reducing worries, minimizing number of thoughts, reducing your frequency of thinking, it can unleash your potential energy, and you will see a different dimension of your life. It needs some courage to experiment. Try this. For the next eleven days, tell your self: “I will not bother about my past or future”.

One more thing, when you remember your past you will remember only your failures. It is like measuring the strength of a chain by its weakest link. If you consider your life as a chain of incidents, you are not a weak link, but you generalize your ability and capacity based on the weakest incident or failure. At least be a little loving toward yourself, and take an average, but you never do that. Anyone will have valleys and peaks. If you have to measure yourself, take the average, not valley. But our mental setup is such that we measure ourselves only with the valleys. Remembering the past again and again will make you dull and drain your energy. Neither remembering past nor worrying about future will transform you, come to present and become one with your energy. The Gita says – you have the authority to work, but don’t bother about the results. Krishna doesn’t mean don’t take your salary, have it, but he says continuously don’t visualize it all the time. Continuously visualizing the fruits or results, the goals, you will be paralyzed, you won’t be able to walk in the path. When you chose the right road, just walk the path and you will reach the goal.

A nice story: one guy sat in a ferry to cross a river. Once the boatman started rowing he started walking up and down. Boatman said to the man - please be seated, I can’t row if you walk around. The man replied– I have no time to sit, I have to reach the other side urgently. All your stress is like walking inside the boat. It can never help you; at most it can disturb you, and hinder the growth. Look into it and be more intelligent. All our perceptions about our self based on past and future are wrong, and I mean EVERYTHING, because we measure our self based on the valleys. You never respect yourself.

Q: How do you unlearn the past?

A: Make a conscious decision for eleven days to live in the present moment. Surely in eleven days you wont lose your life, although your mind will say “I have this project or that, I will do it after that”. But for next eleven days make this commitment to yourself: “whenever I remember, I will decide to drop the stress, drop the faces and words that create stress in me. I accept myself completely as I am, whatever comes out of it I will face it”. Only side effect will be efficiency increase, achieving your goals and bliss. When I say this, I take the responsibility of these words. In last two years, I have met 250,000 people individually; we have 2000 trained healers spreading meditation, working in 400 centers in 20 countries, touching 10,000 people everyday. From my experience of directly touching people from all walks of life and backgrounds, I can say your decision to live in the present moment can transform your life.