The Prize is Eternity

The Prize is Eternity

We can begin now. And now. And now. Every moment in every day is just as important as the last moment of our last day. And each day contains an infinite number of moments to which we can be present. Slowly, we are transforming ourselves from beings that live in time to beings that exist eternally in the present. The prize is eternity. — Girard Haven

As I write this post, I am keenly aware of wandering into territory of ideas about which I cannot know. None the less, using analogy, it seems to me that there is a similarity between eternity and the law of conservation of matter, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form. In other words, matter, although changed in form – for example, from solid ice to liquid water to water vapor – eternally exists. It exists “in one form or another” as is often said.

In much the same way, when I experience moments of Divine Presence – higher states of awareness – these pearls of consciousness cannot be created or destroyed and are a part of what the soul gathers to exist beyond the physical body. The Teacher says that “Presence is immortality now.” The prize of eternity is the process of changing forms from body into spirit, which is what self-remembering and awakening is all about.

Time is counted, but time is defeated with Presence. — The Teacher

The following myth of Indra's Net is used as a metaphor in Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist teachings and it illustrates the wonder and interconnectedness of all things: an eternal and infinite universe.

“Far away in the divine dwelling of the great god Indra, there is a splendid net of silk threads, like a spider web, which has been hung by some cunning craftsman. He designed it to stretch out infinitely in all directions. In harmony with the lavish style of divinities, the craftsman hung a single precious gem on each knot of the net, and since the net is infinite, the glittering jewels are also infinite in number. There hang the jewels, sparkling like stars of the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now randomly select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that the process of reflection is infinite.”

Presence is simultaneously instant and infinite. — The Teacher

May today bring you an infinite number of moments of Divine Presence, sparkling like stars of the first magnitude, existing eternally.

The book by Gerard Haven referenced in this post, “The Prize is Eternity” is available at: www.amazon.com/Prize-Eternity-Foundations-Inner-Fourth/dp/0964578247

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King of the Gods, Indra with Consort, 19th Century, Ivory