Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 05.01.2020 evening, Sofia)

I feel honored to be in your company. When coming here, I read an add: “Just lose yourself in Bulgaria, in order to find yourself.” I like that message very much. And this time I would like to tell some words about a very important factor, it’s called time. At the beginning of a new year it’s good to think about time, isn’t it? Usually at this period people start to make their vows: “From now on I will change my life.” And then, after a few days pass, nothing changes. In the beginning we are very enthusiastic, and then we lose it. We are just like a fire. You start a fire and it burns very high, and then it burns down. But my suggestion is instead of the flames, be like a charcoal. Because the flames, they only burn the pot, but die very soon – with time, they lose their power. But the charcoal may be not so obvious as the dancing flames, yet at any moment you can start the firе again – that means, with time it preserves the power. 

So, time is a dimension. We are accustomed to three dimensions, maybe four maximum. But actually, time is both the fourth and the fifth dimension. Shall I tell you how? The first dimension is the point. It is without measure. This is the nature of the point, by nature it is something that exists without a measurement. That means, it exists without existing. So, the point is a mystic experience. Although we know it exists, we cannot determine how it is. Therefore, in order to come closer to our present-day reality, we need a second point. If we have a second point, then we can come to the, so to say, the first dimension – this is the line. One point and another point, and what connects the two and goes to infinity, this is a line – one dimension. If you are a real mystic, then you start to bend the line. If we bend the line then we receive a triangle – the first surface. Do you follow? This is spiritual mathematics. Don’t worry, we shall discuss other topics as well, but let’s start with the bitter pill. And then we can expand into space, right? Tetrahedron is the first object in space. And this is our 3D world, right? This is the world we all know: how to move, how to live, up, down, forward, backwards. This is how we understand space – in three dimensions. 

And some say that the next dimension is time. Because if we include time into the space concept, then we can mobilize the concept of space. Because we are moving not only in space, but in time as well. So, time is the fourth dimension. But I can tell you that time is the fifth dimension as well. Because time on this side acts as a limitation – everything that had started will end, will finish, so that is a limiting aspect of time, this is the fourth dimension. But time on the other side exists as eternity. So, we can say that material time is the fourth dimension, while the spiritual time is the fifth dimension and it is called eternity. And no matter how many moments of material time you put together, you will never achieve eternity, because that is a different dimension. So, from the limited moments we cannot make up eternal time. Therefore, we have to be very careful about our time. How do we perceive time? Time as a limiting factor or time as a dimension to enter eternity? Which side do you prefer – the limiting or the unlimited aspect of time? My preference is with the second version. And therefore, from time to time it is good to think it over, to ponder about time and to understand more about it. 

Once there was an occasion when I had to give a lecture about time. And usually, it is not very nice to come late to a lecture, especially if you are the lecturer. But this time I understood I cannot make it, I will be late. Still the audience was very patient, so they were waiting for half an hour for the lecturer to appear. You know, our topic was time and I was late! So, I felt really embarrassed, but I wanted to escape the situation, so I told the audience: “You see, I came late to demonstrate to you the importance of time”. 

So, we have to use our time properly. Not to waste a moment in the chance to obtain some spiritual achievement. But trying to properly use this dimension, that will help us reach our eternal home. 

(to be continued)