Day after day, week after week, we traverse this journey of our life entangling ourselves with time. Time can be imagined like a river running down its course with various curves and numerous shores. Some notions of time give structure and demand our behavior and action from the community we reside in. This is the world of calendars and appointments and time tables. Some other notions of time are more natural and inherent and "happen" organically. This is the world of spontaneity, "internal clock", "natural timing". At any given time, we are engaged in a dialogue and in a relationship with time. 

 

So let us take a moment and pour our thoughts on "eternity". How do you perceive eternity? 

 

Eternity to me is...the glimpse of a butterfly in Fall. A view at the wide open sky. The touch of gentle breeze on my face. The sound of quiet footsteps of a cat. The glance of a new born. The sweet melting of chocolate on my tongue. The pitter patter of the rain drops on the window sill. The smell of freshly baked bread. The voice of my beloved near me. 

 

In all these experiences there are at least two things common. There is the moment of the "self" dissolving in the experiences delivered by the senses. And there is the connection with the "eternal" quality of love. 

 

I come to experience the moment as eternity and eternity as love. This moment of eternal love happens when there is a sense of awe, a deep awareness of my becoming aware, and a kind of openness to allowing my senses to fill me up with what they do best: perceive and sense.

 

-Sophia Ojha