Time melting

In 1931, Salvado Dalí introduced the image of soft, melting pocket watches in one of his most famous works, “The Persistence of Memory”.

Suggesting that time was not as rigid and fixed as many people believed, the watches also suggested Einstein’s theory that time is relative. The image of the melting watch was portrayed by Dalí throughout his lifetime. 

In Dalí’s sculpture “Dance of Time II” seen above, Time appears to be fluid as it moves and dances in rhythm with the beat of the universe.  

Influenced by their perception of time, humans have always attempted to dance with Time in various ways and to different beats. And Time is a versatile dancer.

When there was no experience of self separate from the environment, magic Time danced in pointed shoes through point-like moments. Its flying leaps from moment to moment were magical, taking all and sundry along.

The repetitive dance steps accompanying the chorus of mythic, cyclical Time formed an ongoing round as Time danced in circles. Its seasonal music was comforting and offered hope. 

With the coming of the Age of Reason, time was seen to be linear, consisting of past, present and future. This necessitated the learning of new steps in the dance with mental Time, all in the name of progress. Time marched on, beating out its rhythm.

Postmodernism allowed all movement to be dance, and so Time improvised, focusing on the individual it was partnering with.

In dreams, Time leads in a tango-like dance. Time's embrace of the dreamer alternates between the open and the closed as scenes change rapidly from one to another and characters morph into each other.

Technology has made possible no time and all time in a huge web. In an age of information and an age of communion, individuals connect with each other regardless of time zones.

 “Sardana” by Picasso

Reminiscent of the Sardana, a dance which symbolises a spirit of brotherhood and harmony, the dance with Time is one of interconnectedness, acknowledging self and the other in a unique fashion. Perhaps on the threshold of entering another dimension, we more and more begin to be reminded of pure grace and fluidity of movement. Time is no longer Chronos. It is dancing as Kairos, known to those individuals who have experienced being in a state of flow.

In this state, an individual's subjective experience of time is certainly altered. Time seems to disappear as it were, hiding its face for as long as the experience lasts.

No noticing of thoughts, emotions or feelings. No concept even of self for as long as the experience lasts. Present and in the moment. No thing in which all things rise. An emptiness giving rise to all forms. Experiential oneness with it all.

Mindful, present and in the moment, and most definitely aided by technology in a significant way, together we are now able to begin to enter a dance of shared flow which allows, welcomes and integrates all the various dance steps. 

Jean Gebser, spoke of timelessness and  time-freedom.

Jeremy Johnson, @jdj_tweets, in his excellent piece “The Integral Philosopher: Jean Gebser and Time” writes, 

“Integral is not abstraction. It is not a new system of ideas that everyone can agree on. It is a direct experience of “Presence.” Not an eternal now, but a consciousness that supports all the multitudes of experience, all the different ways we can perceive time.”

In this dance of Presence, all movements rise and fall. At its heart is stillness.  

“Except for the point, the still point, there would be no dance, and there is only the dance." - TS Eliot

Do we see the rhythmless and rhythmful stillness?  Do we hear, smell, taste and feel the beat? Do we intuit the dance?

A Voyage into Hyperspace

Not so long ago, being in a space which had more than three dimensions was considered the domain of science fiction.

Today we speak of spaces unheard of before. And what is more, we are now able to meet in them. Physical geography is no longer the determinant for meeting to take place. 

Human beings interconnected through computers and telecommunications find themselves in cyberspace, which has its own special architecture. Units of information are organized into connected associations known as links or hypertext links. By clicking on a link the traveller in cyberspace is transported from one place to another. 

As each individual location is connected to many others, the resulting web consists of the total number of individual locations and all of their interconnections, and is referred to as hyperspace. 

In the world of science fiction, hyperspace refers to a space with four or more dimensions. In this multi-dimensional environment the conventional space-time relationship does not apply, making it possible to travel at a speed faster than light. 

I came across the use of the word “hyperspace” in a recent review of an event held this past weekend in the Burj Park at the foot of the Burj Khalifa. 

Having performed live at the Acropolis, Taj Mahal and the Forbidden City in China, composer and musician Yanni chose the Burj Kahlifa as his latest concert venue. 

On a stage lit up in blue and purple, Yanni told the crowd that he and his musicians came hoping to take the audience away from their everyday lifestyle if only for a short while. 

“And as if on cue the band burst into Voyage, a flamboyant and extravagant song that could have been made in hyperspace.” 

In hyperspace, each location is interconnected to many others. Enter me.

Watching the event from our balcony, I picked up my iPad when I noticed the Dubai Fountains dancing, and began to film. Although set to some other piece of music, it appeared to me as if they were dancing to Yanni’s Voyage. 

I was transported into another world, a world where synchronicities are not uncommon. I have written about synchronicity elsewhere, but since this weekend I have wondered much whether synchronicities are not there all the time but we cannot always see them. 

@conscire tweeted recently: “Kairos is the time of the sacred, the time of Synchronicity. Chronos, clock time, is nothing more than a construct of the mind.”

Voyages into hyperspace will become more common. They require an acute awareness, a mindfulness of all that is around and within us. The voyages will be both inward and outward and to nowhere, as we discover that every space and every moment is everywhere. Some call this everyhere. I call it here2here.

Shubhra - A Tale of Two Cities

A little boy ran and played barefoot and joyfully in his village in India. A bright little youngster, eager to learn, he diligently applied himself to his studies. His name was Shubhra, a name which had its origin in Sanskrit and was used in Hindi speaking countries for both boys and girls. It meant radiant, pure, pure white.

His best friend at school was a Muslim, and throughout the years they maintained their friendship. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce, an undergraduate degree, they both went on to study for a Master of Commerce. At this point, Shubhra said goodbye to his friend who emigrated to Kuwait, and went to live in Bombay.

Earning 400 rupees per month, Shubhra was able to live comfortably and still save.

Time passed and his friend returned. Shubhra was immediately struck by his fine clothes and his jewelry. They had grown up together, studied together and had the same qualifications, yet their lifestyles were at this point clearly very different.

Shubhra immediately began to make inquiries around Bombay. He too would be bold and move further afield. At last he found someone who could organize for him to move to Dubai.

It was 1968, a year before a boeing 707 belonging to Air India would make its first flight from Bombay to Dubai.

A flight from Bombay to Dubai today, only lasts 3 hours. Shubhra did not have this luxury. Instead he bravely boarded a ship for a journey which lasted 3 nights. Dubai, at this point in time, was still a British protectorate and there were only small settlements on either side of the creek.

Fast forward to 2011.

Yesterday, Shubhra and I chatted. We had met before but had never shared personal stories.

He told me that he only knew of one person in those days who had air-conditioning.

With a smile on his face, he recalled a picnic in Jebel Ali. The return journey to Sharjah, a trip which today would take 30 to 45 mins by car, had lasted a day as he and a friend had a vehicle which kept getting stuck in the desert sand.

As he was about to leave, I asked Shubhra about his home village. The look on his face changed. He tried to return there every year but things were never the same. Where once he had run through the rice paddies there are now roads. Family relationships have become strained over time because of distance and lack of communication. People in the village no longer recognize him and ask him who he is. He should never have left.

I am reminded of the passage in “A Tale of Two Cities” where Mr Carton reflects on his life after he leaves the home of Mr Stryver. The two of them had chatted earlier about the divergent paths their lives had taken despite the fact that they had attended the same schools and university.

"Waste forces within him, and a desert all around, this man stood still on his way across a silent terrace, and saw for a moment, lying in the wilderness before him, a mirage of honorable ambition, self-denial, and perseverance. In the fair city of this vision, there were airy galleries from which the loves and graces looked upon him, gardens in which the fruits of life hung ripening, waters of Hope that sparkled in his sight. A moment, and it was gone. Climbing to a high chamber in a well of houses, he threw himself down in his clothes on a neglected bed, and its pillow was wet with wasted tears."

- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Book 2, Chapter 5

As Shubhra shared with me how he had come from here2here I suggested to him that he write his story. He simply nodded his head from side to side.

I share fragments of his story here. In the telling we are all brought closer together. In this here2here space, we realize that although we may be different in many ways, at our core, we are all the same. We all have dreams, some fulfilled, some shattered.

Today, thanks to technology we can all travel, if only virtually, to far away places and converse with each other. I live in Dubai and can instant chat, Skype or Facetime with family and friends far and wide.

How different would Shubhra’s life have been if he had had access to such facilities at the time of his move?

As we honor people like Shubhra, who even though he might not realize it, remains radiant to this day, let us at the same time be mindful of all the benefits of modern communication.

"There is a great crowd coming one day into our lives, if that be so."

- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Book 2, Chapter 6

These words, spoken again by Mr Carton, were prophetic of the French Revolution. Today they take on yet another meaning as we recognize in them the “we” generation which is currently being born.

Bombay Dub Orchestra - Amina

The Green Turtles of Ras Al Jinz

Situated on the coast of Oman, at the eastern most tip of the Arabian peninsula, is a remote spot called Ras Al Jinz. With nothing more than a tiny ecotourist resort at a reasonable distance from its beaches, Ras Al Jinz is one of the birthplaces of the endangered Green Sea Turtle. 

Every year, about 10 000 awe inspiring female green turtles come onto these beaches to nest.  They do this three times in one season with a two week interval between each return. This results in approximately 30 000 nests being built on these beaches each year.

After the nesting season is over, the female turtle, who can weigh up to 150kg, swims away to far away oceans for three years, only to return again in the fourth year when the whole process repeats itself. The males frequent the breeding grounds but never leave the ocean.

Studies of their migration patterns reveal that these turtles, once exploited without restriction but now globally protected, cover most of the world on their travels. Some travel up to 65 000 km in a lifetime which normally lasts for about 80 years.

This past weekend, I was privileged to witness the nesting and hatching process. After a journey by car which lasted almost nine and a half hours, we arrived weary but excited at the resort. Tours to the beach were offered at 04h00 and 21h00 each day.

On the evening tour, the moon played the role of our tour guide’s assistant and helped to light the way, but in the early morning we held onto each other at times as we quietly approached the nests on the beach in torchlight and at times in pitch darkness.  The milky way sparkled above us, a reminder of how far away we were from light pollution of any kind. 

The female turtle digs out a nest 1/4 metre deep. Within this she digs another smaller hole also 1/4 metre deep, into which she lays approximately 100 eggs, golf ball like in size. Using her back flippers she slowly covers these eggs with sand, compressing it as she proceeds. Using her front flippers she then scoops up sand and scatters it behind her, leaving a camouflage nest by the time she heaves herself onto the flat of the beach and slowly makes her way back to the ocean. 

The eggs remain under the sand for 55 days, the temperature of the sand determining the sex of the hatchling. After it hatches, the baby turtle instinctively begins its journey into the ocean, its tiny flippers spinning like propellers. This is no easy task as predators such as foxes and seagulls have to be avoided. Inland lights, if there, can lure the baby in the wrong direction. Once in the sea, the baby turtles are often eaten by fish or caught in nets. There is no parental care. Only 1 in every 1000 babies makes it to maturity. 

Most amazing is the fact that once the female turtle reaches maturity she returns to lay her eggs on the very beach on which she was born!

Ras Al Jinz is a special place.

Despite the fact that sea turtles spend almost all of their lives submerged, they must breathe air to obtain the oxygen required for the demands of different activities. The breath is very important to the sea turtle. I too, wish to pay more attention to mine.

The speed of everyday physical and virtual life exists. There is however, also a need for periods of slow pace. Each has its time and place.

I am not yet able to fully verbalize what I was privileged to experience. I am reminded, however, that the shadows of my being are often poorly lit and that I need others on my life’s journey. Hiding in these shadows are mysteries and scenes of creativity. Some occur unattended, but every now and again awareness allows us to participate fully. 

The hatchlings of my experiences are precious.

What I saw requires time to fully impact me. There is no haste. I am in no hurry; neither was she. Each step had its moment for those who cared to see. 

Green Line. Speed and Stillness.

The Green Line of the Dubai Metro opened on 9 September, exactly 2 years after the metro first opened on 09.09.09. This was a special date which will not occur for another thousand years. Today I looked back at the blog which I wrote for the occasion and reflected on all the changes that have taken place, not only in my own life, but in the world at large, since then.

Much has changed in the world of travel. Nowadays when we hear "travel", we probably think of aeroplanes, but let us take a look at trains.

In March, the blue line of Japan’s bullet train opened, now making it possible to travel across all of Japan in a day.

With the opening of the Green Line, (I have put up a gallery of photos here), Dubai Metro entered The Guinness Book of World Records as the longest automated driverless system in the world. Here is a timelapse video of travel on this route which aptly illustrates how train travel today is an indicator of speed and change.

There have been many changes in the past two years. There will always be change. However, what is interesting to note, is the almost exponential rate at which change is taking place.

The story is told of a chinese emperor who wished to reward the inventor of the chess board. The man asked that he be given one grain of rice for inventing the first square of the chessboard, two grains for the second square, four grains for the third square, eight grains for the fourth and so on. The emperor readily agreed thinking that he had not much to lose. It was only when his treasurer was asked to calculate the total number of grains owing to the inventor that the emperor realized he had a major problem. Continuing this principle until the 64th square of the chessboard had been reached would mean that the emperor owed approximately 18 quintillion grains of rice! To produce this would require a rice field twice the size of the surface of the planet, oceans included! The power of exponential growth is mind-blowing.

We live in a world where linear thought is the norm, but much in the world is in fact changing at an exponential rate.

Technology is a prime example. Why, two years ago I had never even heard of an iPad (it was only released in April 2010) and today I watch toddlers at shop displays standing on their tiptoes while they play games on tablets!

Wi-fi was only invented in 1991.

Its yin-yang logo indicates interoperability, the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together i.e. to inter-operate. Hence wi-fi access enables my device to inter-operate with another.

The term inter-operate could perhaps be applied to all areas of our being.

We as individuals, have an interior and an exterior. At the same time we belong to a collective. This collective also has an interior, namely culture, and an exterior, the systems that support culture. Changes in one area effect the others. Human beings are also endowed with the ability to choose, and so the choice can be made to develop all aspects of our being. This in turn will allow interoperability to affect maximum positive growth not only for oneself but for the collective.

I am of the opinion that as the systems around us develop exponentially, and as individuals and cultures are brought ever closer to each other, we will need to find the stillpoint at the centre of a fastly turning world.

"Except for the point, the still point, There would be no dance, and there is only the dance". T.S. Eliot.

Yang activity in the exterior quadrants requires yin stillness in the interior of the individual and the collective. From this stillpoint we will be able to observe events as though from the motionless centre of a rotating cyclone, spinning top or wheel. With time and practice, we will become as it were, the stillness and the spaciousness in which all can occur.

The call to stillness is a call to peace, to inter-operation, to the realization of Oneness.

We need this reference point right now as travel and technology bring us ever closer to each other here2here.