Conversation Before the Dance

Lila said, "Where does the time go?"

Adin said, "Time does not go anywhere."

Lila said, "This instant is gone. The distant past seems like yesterday. The future is suddenly now. Why does it pass so quickly?"

Adin said, "Time does not pass."

"Then what is passing?" asked Lila.

"Mind is passing," Adin said.

"I am confused," said Lila.

"Darling Lila," said Adin, "you are not confused. Mind is confused."

At these words, Lila sighed, sinking from her mind into her heart.

Adin said, "The body passes away. Particles arise and dissolve. Past and future are but thoughts that appear and disappear like droplets from a mist. With the coming and going of thoughts, there is the illusion of a thinker, a thread who seems to bind one thought to another and one moment to the next. But there is no thread. There is no one there at all. The thinker dissolves with each thought."

"Then what remains?" asked Lila.

"What remains is the ancient stillness of eternity, which is the vastness of now, where this mirage of birth and death ceaselessly shimmers."

Lila wondered for a moment, then asked, "May I see this great space? May I know it?"

"You cannot see it, you cannot know it," Adin said.

"Then, by what means are you aware of it?"

"By means of awareness itself," he replied.

Adin closed his eyes, resting within. Then he opened them and continued. "O Lila, the boundless now of eternity is your own pure awareness. You do not need sensation or thought to grasp it. The grasping of the senses and the intellect only conceals it! Therefor, drop seeing, feeling and thinking for a moment, just as you might do if you were falling asleep. But instead of falling asleep, simply be aware of awareness."

Lila was silent. She rested in the blessedness of the Self. Then she said, "In that moment, what happened?"

Adin said, "In that moment, nothing happened. There was only eternity. You transcended birth and death."

Lila said, "Why do I feel like I have just been born?"

Adin said, "Nothing nourishes you, nothing inspires you, nothing re-creates you like that moment."

Full of joy, Lila arose and began to dance. Full of joy, Adin watched her dance in silence.