Lightly Dancing at the Edges of Time

How quickly the year seems to have passed! And how much has changed. The pace of events and time seems to be speeding like an arrow towards a target in the future which we can barely glimpse amid the turbulence of these chaotic times of transition. Yet within each fast-disappearing moment there is a point of infinite stillness, silence, and dynamic being.  At that point, everything is held in infinite potential, and all is seen in right proportion.  It is a point of complete freedom from the constraints of time, space and dimension, and is the initiating source of all that is unfolding into expression.

Faint glimpses of this stir our subtle senses in peaceful moments or in the stillness of meditation. In such moments we can touch the divine edges of that infinite beingness, and it reflects through us – recharging our life essence with its eternal presence, changing us, and so changing our world. In this way, we co-create the new world when we choose to identify with the divine aspect of our being. The poet, Rabindranath Tagore, invites us to approach this point:

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time
Like dew on the tip of a leaf.

With the turning of our beautiful planet and its course around the central Sun bringing the cycles of night and day, the seasons, and the yearly progression, we are living according to the rhythmic nature of time. It is the expression of the eternal heartbeat of Life that breathes in and out and thus sustains all things.  The Tibetan Master explains:

God breathes and His pulsating life emanates from the divine heart and manifests as the vital energy of all forms.  It flows, pulsating in its cycles, throughout all nature.  This constitutes the divine inhalation and exhalation.  Between this breathing out and the breathing in comes a period of silence and the moment for effective work.  If disciples can learn to utilise these interludes, they can then release the “prisoners of the planet,” which is the objective of all magical work, performed during this world period. [A Treatise on White Magic, page 512-3]

These great cycles in which we live are like the womb of a great Mother sustaining us while we grow and evolve into what has been intended from before time. We can be active participants, agents, of that destiny by consciously working with the cycles and interludes through which the greater Life breathes.  The Tibetan continues:

The ebb and flow of daily life during a particular incarnation will also demonstrate its interludes, and these the aspirant has to learn to recognise and to utilise.  He has to register the distinction between intense outgoing activity, periods of withdrawal, and interludes wherein the outer life seems static and free from active interest.  This he must do if he is to avail himself fully of the opportunity which life experience is intended to furnish.  The whole of life is not concentrated in one furious continuous stretch of rushing forth to work, nor is it comprehended in one eternal siesta.  It has normally its own rhythmic beat and vibration and its own peculiar pulsation.   [A Treatise on White Magic, page 512-3]

We have the capacity to live from our inner being even while outwardly active. It is a process of shifting our sense of identity out of the personality and into the inner presence of our eternal Self.  A moment of crisis can sometimes shift us there to access the vision and strength needed to address the danger. Around the world today we can see crises multiplying and intensifying as we move towards a critical climax when the decisions can no longer be avoided: do we allow further destructive living based on fear, or do we participate in the co-creation of a world for the common good based on love?

If we allow our worldly longings to control, we can miss the beauty and creative possibility of each moment. The place of peace and life is ever accessible within us, but we lose our way there if we become longingly absorbed in something desired or focused fearfully on what may or may not happen. The fear and desire that can imprison us do not exist in the stillness and silence of inner beingness. In the Agni Yoga teachings, we are reminded of the power of a breath to reconnect us with the power of that greater reality in the midst of worldly demands:

In various fields of work, when feeling fatigued, people will interrupt their work or speech by taking a deep breath and thereby receive an influx of new energy. In most cases, they do this out of intuition, without giving thought to the process. How greatly would the power of this process be increased if it were performed consciously!
Remember that this rejuvenating breath is supermundane, for by it man summons Higher Forces. He should understand that for greater effect, he should consciously turn to the Supermundane World and affirm his inner link with the Reservoir of Be-ness.
Some workers, when pausing to take a deep breath, close their eyes. Their intuition is correct, for closing the eyes increases their concentration. We have already said that illumination can be instantaneous. Thus is performed a short pranayama, with the difference that it takes place in view of others. It is in no way lessened because of those present.
Note also that a supermundane breath is single, without repetition. This is significant, for only in a lone breath can be summoned the full power of energy. With rapid repetition, shortness of breath can occur, which harms the work.
The Thinker advised, “Understand the power of a supermundane breath.” [Supermundane 816]

As the rhythm of life carries us into the annual holiday season, it reminds us of the need to pause between one year’s activity and the next period of effort, and to draw from the eternal restorative presence deep within. Let us take time to breathe in those restorative energies that mend the fragmentation of living through these times of transit between the old and the new, and to remember the wholeness that is steadily and inexorably unfolding through the human heart.