I thought about how tricky time can be if I try to anticipate it, and I asked myself whether Gurumayi is showing me a pitfall. This called for deep and honest contemplation, and I have been reflecting on how expectation is one of my more subtle follies.
And then, rereading the teaching, I realized that the teaching could also be about time’s anticipation of me. Seeing it in this light, I understood that this teaching could be about grace. I experience that my life is enhanced by grace—by wonderful synchronicities and serendipitous happenings and meetings that fill me with a constant state of gratitude.
Beccles, United Kingdom
It has become my habit to check Gurumayi’s teaching for the day first thing in the morning. When I contemplated today’s teaching, “The anticipation of time,” three words came to me—
excitement,
planning, and
dread. I realized that I was experiencing dread in anticipation of an event I had planned for the afternoon—the opening reception for an art show.
With that realization, I made the intention to spend the day by acting only from my heart. Holding this intention, I contemplated the situation and came to understand the issues that were creating the feeling of dread. With this understanding, the dread released, and it became clear to me that I actually did want to attend the event. With that, my anticipation turned into excitement.
The reception turned out to be wonderful, as I had a unique opportunity to connect with the artist, someone I greatly admire. I am so thankful that through my contemplation of this teaching, I was able to go to the reception with an open heart and receive the gifts of the situation.
Massachusetts, United States
For me the word anticipation immediately brings up the experience of looking forward to reuniting with a loved one, and the joyful preparation I undertake to help the guest feel welcomed and loved. Similarly, when I approach the Siddha Yoga practices, I anticipate having feelings of being welcomed, of love, and of belonging to my inner Self, along with a deep feeling of love and gratitude for Gurumayi.
These anticipatory feelings increase exponentially when I am anticipating receiving Gurumayi’s Message in Sweet Surprise, or when I am anticipating an Intensive or a satsang with Gurumayi via live video stream. On the Siddha Yoga path, I always have this wondrous anticipation of what Gurumayi will offer us next, of what will unfold in my sadhana next. And on top of all that is the gift of recognizing that my very Self is the loved one I have always been seeking and anticipating.
California, United States
In her January introduction to In the Presence of Time, Eesha Sardesai tells us, “Our reality is shifting on almost a day-to-day basis. Yet in the midst of all this, Gurumayi’s Message for 2025 reminds us of our own agency.”
I remembered that passage as I reflected on “The anticipation of time.” Ever since reading it, I have been taking to heart the understanding that I can have more control over time than I had been exerting.
I am beginning to see the positive impact of this understanding unfold with an ongoing craft project I have undertaken. In considering ways to reduce unproductive screen time, I had the impulse to inscribe each new teaching from In the Presence of Time on a blank notecard and then decorate it. The result is that now, with each new teaching, I am enjoying “the anticipation of time” as I look forward to the moments when I will decorate its notecard in a way that reflects the nature of that specific teaching.
Michigan, United States
After I first read teaching 9, I closed my eyes and found that I was smiling and my heart was beating a little faster in appreciation for this new teaching from Gurumayi. I was anticipating the time I would be studying this teaching before I went to sleep, repeating it as I went to sleep, and relating to it all the next day.
After studying the words of the teaching, I realized that an unconscious habit of mine is to anticipate that I have “all the time in the world,” and to anticipate that I will experience time and life in the future just as I am experiencing it now. This feeling of time being endlessly available has led me to waste time.
As I study the teachings of “In the Presence of Time,” my new awareness of the preciousness of time is helping me to practice new habits which respect time.
North Carolina, United States