The Greatest Luxury

If you could have anything in the world right now, what would it be? Is it surprising that the things we think we want, never turn out to be the things we need. Humans are always chasing after the next thing. As soon as one desire is fulfilled, there's something else we want. Are we ever satisfied? My meditation teacher, SN Goenka, says this about human desire:


"It's a bottomless pit, you can't fill it."

If we have a car, we want a newer one. If we have a house, we want to remodel it. If we don't have children, we want children. If we have children, sometimes we'd like them to disappear. Most of the people I talk to on a daily basis feel that there simply isn't enough time to do everything they want to do. There isn't enough time? Hmmmmm....let's think about that one.

Actually, there's the same amount of time in every day, so saying that there isn't enough time isn't exactly true. Some people fill up every possible time slot in their appointment books. By the end of the day they are exhausted. Time is only made up of events. Without events like waking up, eating breakfast, taking the kids to school, and going to work, there wouldn't be time. If you tell someone you don't have time, what your are really saying is, "I value another event more than an event with you." Since that is socially unacceptable, we just say, "I don't have time."

If you are feeling worn out, exhausted, sleep deprived, over-worked and underpaid, are you really making good choices about the events you are choosing to fill-up this so called "time?"

In his book, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle says, "it (time) isn't something that has an objective existence "out there." It is a mind-structure needed for sensory perception, indispensable for practical purposes, but the greatest hindrance to knowing yourself." He also says,

"The elimination of time from your consciousness is the elimination of ego. It is the only true spiritual practice."

He goes on to say, "whenever you allow this moment to be as it is, you dissolve time as well as the ego."

We have all had the experience of having expectations built up around an event, only to have everything come crashing down on us. Having expectations about something or someone often leads to disappointment. The most beautiful moments of my life happened when I let go of any ideas or preconceived notions of how an event should unfold. Witnessing each moment as it unfolds naturally leads to complete peace. Allowing each event to unfold on it's own, without trying to control it, brings deep happiness. The more this occurs in our lives the more freedom we will begin to feel.
If you have read this far, perhaps you already know what the "greatest luxury" is and you already possess it. For conventional purposes, we'll call it "time." If you fully understand, you will realize that time doesn't exist. All we ever really have is this moment. How are you spending this moment right now? It is all you have.