40th BIRTHDAY: A Mid-Life Reflection Two decades ago in the corn fields of Iowa I crossed my legs, closed my eyes, breathed softly through each nostril and meditated till my mind became golden corn mush. Intellect sufficiently numb I listened to a charismatic Indian mesmerize audiences with charming nonsense. . . . "Pure consciousness is like flower sap . . . and all colors in life come from zhat." Now twice the age near the groves of a distant bay I still close my eyes to experience quiet moments of peace & sometimes even become silly enough to think – "Pure consciousness is not crap. What we experience in life has nothing – yet everything – to do with That." Ron: Isn't meditation a waste of time? Lex: No. It's a chance to step outside of time. Lis: That's an illusion. We are invariably linked to a flow of events. At best, we can slow down our perception of time. However, time flows on whether we recognize it or not. Lex: That's pretty much the standard view. Here's another view: we create time. Time isn't just something that happens to us; it's something we create. Change your awareness and you will change the nature of time. Linda: (chuckling to herself) Both of you waste too much time on speculation. ===================================================================================== from _Last Poems: Lost Poems_ by T Newfields SUMMARY: A brief meditation on the relation between consciousness and time KEYWORDS: remembering university, Iowa eulogy, temporal perception, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, transcendency Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955 - ) Begun: 1995 in Shizuoka, Hawaii ✠ Finished: 2018 Yokohama (Japan) Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} < LAST https://www.tnewfields.info/LastPoems/sarchaeo2.htm TOC https://www.tnewfields.info/LastPoems/index.html NEXT > https://www.tnewfields.info/LastPoems/obi.htm TRANSLATIONS Español https://www.tnewfields.info/es/40cumple.htm Français https://www.tnewfields.info/fr/40e.htm Nihongo https://www.tnewfields.info/jp/40tanjou.htm Zhōngwén https://www.tnewfields.info/zh/40shengri.htm