MARK: Hi! We are on the air and this is Kris Chronicles, Kris Radio 2007 and we’re back! I’m Mark Bukator and I’m here with…

JOHN: And I’m John Hawkins, very happy to be here too.

SERGE: And I’m Serge. And welcome to our first show of 2007.

MARK: A meaningful show. While we wait for Kris to make his appearance, I just wanted to say that this will probably be a call in show, but we ask that you don’t phone until Kris asks you too, till he opens the phone lines. The number to phone will be 416-204-9723 and if you do call in, we ask that you turn down the sound on your computer because there is a delay, and it doesn’t quite work.

SERGE: It’s feedback.

MARK: Also, all this… Kris often refers back to tools that he uses and meditations and practices, and all this information from these past sessions are all available on the Kris chronicles website, that’s w-w-w-K-R-I-S chronicles dot com (krischronicles.com)

JOHN: Yes, and so we’re looking forward to a very interesting evening tonight of course. It’s been a little bit of a break over the Christmas holidays and just so that in case Kris does talk a little bit about his theme for this year, he has declared that this is the year of meaningfulness and that is following up on last year’s theme of enlightenment through compassion.

MARK: Yes, he’s been naming a few years now.

JOHN: Did he name one before last year?

MARK: Yeah.

JOHN: What was it?

MARK: I can’t remember.

JOHN: Must have been

SERGE: It was based on

MARK: A series of most fortunate events.

JOHN: That’s right.

MARK: So also, we would really appreciate to let us know who you are out there. If you want, after the show, go to newworldview.com, to the forums there, and let us know what you think about the show and where you’re calling from or…

SERGE: Or just send an e-mail to…

MARK: Kris… what’s our e-mail?

(Laughter)

SERGE: krischronicles@gmail.com Any feedback is welcome. Things that you might like Kris to discuss as well in future shows.

MARK: Oh yeah definitely, topic ideas.

SERGE: Things that would be interesting, suggest some topics and just have fun with it!

MARK: Some of our upcoming events, we will be in Australia in March, we’re gonna be holding four workshops there and…

SERGE: We have one in Sydney, one in Melbourne, one in Brisbane, and one in New Castle. All that information is on our website as well, and if you know people in Australia in the land down under, let them know and most likely they can visit with us when we’re there.

JOHN: Yes well, it’s wonderful to realize that we have to fill in the space now, between now and when Kris comes… and to do that with some kind of grace…

(Chuckling)

JOHN: Let me say that… well honestly if you haven’t… obviously anybody listening is on the internet, I think we can assume that, right? And that means that they can go to krischronicles.com and check out that stuff but they can also go to new world… newworldview.com and check out the discussions which is an area that I find particularly helpful and basically for each Kris event that I attend personally, I put up a recap and so you may want to look in the Kris chronicles section for a recap of tonight’s show… should appear sometime tomorrow if you want a focal point for your own comments.

MARK: There are all kinds of discussions regarding Kris’ material that he’s presented over the years, all kinds of practices, adventures in practices and how they work for people. So now we just gotta wait for the dead guy here.

(Pause)

As you can tell, we’re missing Laurie, she’s very good at filling in the dead air space for us. (Chuckling)

JOHN: (whispering) He’s here.

MARK: Here we go.

KRIS: Now we trust that you are comfortable and we thank you for your consideration, those near and far. We would like to continue our earlier presentation each time adding various angles, aspects, perspectives, points of view on this topic of meaningfulness.

Your modern society is indeed quite a creative orchestration. So much is taking place and happening, especially in industrialized nations so much so that it is often difficult for individuals to make sense not only of this society they live in, but ultimately and principally of themselves. Your modern world, for the last five or so hundred years and especially since the industrial revolution seems to be picking up more and more speed, things seem to be happening faster and faster. More is demanded of the individual than ever before, and those demands come in faster than ever before.

You live in an age of instant information. You live in an age that is almost beyond instant gratification. For some even, instant gratification is so yesterday, so dot com as they often say, and these paradigms only seem to accumulate faster and faster. Many people eat on the run when they eat at the restaurant, some even call for the taxi as they begin to eat their dessert, knowing that in but a few spoonfuls, they must already be out the door, demands on their personal and professional time and lives is almost suffocating. Burnouts at work are more and more common.

In Japan for instance, thousands of individuals die on a yearly basis simply from work burnout. In other nations, stress is often talked about and mentioned but the extent of its pervasiveness is not truly known yet, but its effects can be seen in almost every corner of your society. And though the individual seems to be run by the clock, by the watch, by time, there are many underlying effects that are not yet recognized which we hope to address. But first and foremost, we would ask you here and the listener, what is the first thing you do in the morning?

MARK: Turn off the alarm clock.

KRIS: What do you do before that?

MARK: Before the alarm goes off?

KRIS: Before you turn it off.

MARK: Wake up. (Chuckling)

KRIS: (To John) How would you answer that?

JOHN: First thing I do in the morning, I kind of drift out of whatever the dream I was having into a kind of a soft fuzzy place and I roll over and stretch.

MARK: I find that that alarm clock just jars me right out of any dreams I’m having and often forget the dream.

KRIS: The majority of people look at the time and immediately, the demands and your schedule, for those who have one, which is largest segment of society, starts trickling in at an ever faster rate and within seconds, the game is on, and the demands of the day engulf the individual.

Time, as you utilize it in your society is no longer seen as merely a point of reference and commonality that unites various regions of a country for instance, but instead is utilized to rule the day. Benjamin Franklin, we believe said is so nicely: “time is money’. And since your present culture is run by and depends entirely on money, then time is very precious indeed. We would even say one of your most precious of commodities. Thus the individual is often ruled by the clock and there is never enough time in the day to do everything that is demanded of the person thus people feel more and more rushed to do more and more with less and less.

You live in a society where you are expected to multitask, perhaps even rival your new dual core processors. There are even organizations who feel that their employees are not doing enough if they do not perform as would ten employees without any due consideration for the individual himself or herself. Simply that, time is money, and more money is needed, therefore make more with the time that you have. Does that make sense?

MARK: Oh, very much so.

JOHN: Yes it’s interesting, just a comment, Kris. The interesting thing about time is that in terms of clock time, you can’t ever get any more than 24 hours in a day but in terms of psychological time which we deny ourselves with this rushing around, you actually can squeeze in an hour into a few moments’ contemplation.

KRIS: Indeed. And there is a very good explanation and reason. Because most individuals on your world have very little clue about inner or psychological time then everything is run by the clock. It is pervasive, invasive and pretty much a ticking dictator. Few individuals that are preoccupied with the modern world may actually understand what is happening to them but do understand that burnout means they have blown a fuse so to speak because the human being does not run on clock time.

The human body has its own internal clock that is based on bio and psychological time. Your biology is indeed a reflection of psychological time, inner time. And when the individual begins to decelerate psychologically and psychically, begins the process of slowing down, taking the time indeed to smell the roses or any pretty flower, something different happens. The mad rush to produce, produce, produce no longer bites at one’s heels. And many of your modern ills can actually be neutralized, even eliminated from your human condition and it does not mean that you will return to an age of horse and buggy but you would definitely have a saner society.

Indeed there are wonderful amenities and secondary gains from the type of society that you have organized. All types of pretty gadgetries, machines of all sorts, entertainment – quite likely that your species has not seen for hundreds of thousands of years, even cycles. You can even buy products that will make your whites whiter, your teeth brighter, your hair shinier, your sex lives more interesting but you pay a heavy handed price. Any ideas what that is?

MARK: Health, happiness, pleasures.

KRIS: Indeed.

MARK: There’s been some studies done fairly recently where they’ve found that having more choice actually causes depression in more people. In the old days there used to say, be two pairs of jeans to choose from in the store, you’d picked the one that fit you the best and you were comfortable with that. Now there’s a hundred pairs and you think you should find the pair that fits you perfectly and you try them all on and you pay a fortune for it and you still can’t find the one that makes you feel comfortable.

KRIS: And there is a reason for this. The more choices you have presented before you means it takes more time.

MARK: Good one.

KRIS: And people nowadays do not want to spend more time making decisions. People want their gratification NOW and now is not soon enough. People want what they want when they want it instantly and that does present an enormous amount of stress on the psychology of the individual especially when such an individual refuses to understand the simple biology of his body. Living in a high state of stress creates neurological and bio-chemical confusion. The entire system especially the immune system becomes depleted because living at such an accelerated rate is no different than living in a war zone where you will be attacked at any moment therefore your stress levels are usually maintained at the highest order all the time.

Over the last several decades, people have lost much sleep time and the bit of sleep time they do have is spent at shallower levels of sleep. There is always a sense of urgency even in the time that one should be utilizing to recuperate and repair the body and the mind. People become so very preoccupied with filling as much time as is humanly possible with so much of what they need to do, they have no time left for understanding who and what they are.

This type of approach to civilization creates a society of individuals who actually do feel disenfranchised, who feel neglected, unimportant, who feel that their lives are meaningless because they have become the servants of the economy. They have become the servants of the clock and not the other way around. When all that concerns a corporation is the bottom line at the expense of the individual, then you end up with a society of automatons that have a very short shelf life, an expiration date that is very short indeed.

There are many countermeasures that can be effectively brought about to create a different atmosphere and as we suggested moments ago, it does not mean that you need to return to the age of horse and buggy but it does mean that the individual can create a safe zone, a completely different inner paradigm through which he or she can still effectively navigate the currents of modern society but not be affected by its influences.

This includes above all else, a return to an understanding that the individual’s own life is meaningful apart from the mad dash of modern society and there is indeed no need to feel this will create alienation but indeed will create a more productive, stronger and healthier individual both physically, psychologically and mentally because said individual, meaningful individual would recognize that he or she is not slave to his or her watch but instead gives meaning to his or her life because he or she is the meaning of his or her life. Does that make sense so far?

MARK: Yes, indeed.

(John confirms)

KRIS: So it is one fine thing to say that individuals live at such a mad pace because it is their preference. We are not particularly fond of that explanation.

MARK: It’s interesting how ingrained it has become in us, even when we do manage to take a vacation we usually rush through that.

JOHN: Yes, I don’t think that it’s fair to say that it’s a preference at all. I think the vast majority of people who are getting involved in this rat race as we call it, haven’t chosen it consciously at all, they’ve just been railroaded into it by school and jobs and…

KRIS: Indeed. Your whole system is geared to producing an individual that will produce, produce, produce, on time, on time, on time.

MARK: Corporations…

KRIS: Much like the white rabbit down the hole. “I’m late, I’m late, I’m horribly late. For what? No one knows, but I’m late.”

MARK: Corporations have even come up with a new time theft where they’re dismissing employees who are… already have their coats on when they punch out.

KRIS: Indeed. That would indicate then that there are time police.

MARK: Yeah.

KRIS: It is a very prominent phenomenon of your modern nuclear age. Some of its problems however also lead to individual nuclear explosions.

(Chuckling)

JOHN: Meltdowns.

KRIS: That is correct, individualized and societal meltdowns. And these express themselves interestingly enough through all sorts of phenomenology, burnouts, different kinds of psychosis, neuroses, individuals who become anti-social, and one of the most prevalent in the western world: rage.

JOHN: Going postal.

KRIS: Indeed.

MARK: Road rage.

KRIS: Any kind of rage. Line up rage, grocery store rage, the individual at the cash (register) packing his or her groceries too slowly for you? What do you do? You beat them up. This has happened many times.

MARK: All one has to do is turn on the TV or open the newspaper and there’s all kinds of examples.

KRIS: And that may indeed be part of the problem.

(Chuckling)

MARK: True.

KRIS: What does you society concentrate upon? Look at what is in the newspapers, in the news media, everywhere.

MARK: So true.

KRIS: More pressure to pressure the individual to conform to the demands of the economy and of the times, pardon the pun.

MARK: So it would be a good thing to jump right to the funnies.

KRIS: Indeed. It does become problematic when you have to tell a friend that you will move this appointment, that appointment, the other appointment and if they move this appointment, that appointment and that other appointment, perhaps in two weeks’ time, you will have between 2:15 and 2:30 to have coffee.

MARK: So true.

KRIS: And yet, such is not that far-fetched when spouses have to make appointments to spend some time together, there is indeed something troubling in the state of Denmark. Now what is the time?

MARK: 7:35

KRIS: Perhaps we can suggest a small break and we will return to continue and then open the lines afterwards.

JOHN: Okay.

(Musical interlude)

MARK: We’re back! And John here was just talking about…

SERGE: Just in time, I hear?

(Laughter)

MARK: John was just talking about our New Year’s eve session that is now online where Kris talked about ‘more’. And in order to have more, like more money…we often clutch it and hoard it as if there is no more, but it’s often you have to give it away, knowing and then to trusting that there is more and then from there…

JOHN: Yes, what struck me was… during that New Year’s session which is online, Kris made an interesting point. He said that when you… the way to ensure that you always had more of something, more money, more love, more relationships, more wisdom, more peace, more tranquility, more whatever you want, the way to ensure that you always had more of that was to give it away freely. The message to the unconscious when you do that is, ‘I can give this away freely, because there’s more, lot’s more coming.’

On the other hand, if we are clutching it and hanging on to it and not spending it or not giving it away or not being free with it, then the message to the subconscious is ‘hey there’s not enough of this’ and of course the subconscious says ‘okay there’s not enough of that’ and that’s the reality we’re gonna create. And so I thought I’d apply that to the time… the ideas about time the Kris has been discussing and I think that one of the problems with clock time is that it shaves time down into literally thousands of seconds now, I think they’ve gotten it, to the point where you’re trying to capture every possible moment…

MARK: And there’s never enough in the day.

JOHN: Exactly, whereas if we were to give it away freely, and say I’ve got all the time in the world, then we would have all the time in the world.

KRIS: Your observation and points are well taken but it is at the base of this individual or individualized war with time that the tyrant is demanding more and more production and the individual increases in resentment towards the demands. But with no proper psychological outlet to vent the frustrations and resentments then tensions rise, blood pressure boils. The individual often engages in actions outside of the realm of his normal range of actions, that is what is clinically called psychoses and neuroses and this creates a great deal of additional tensions and demands on the individual because he or she does not know often what is at of the base of his or her difficulties.

Psychologically, the individual understands his meaningfulness. There is indeed an innate perception of being meaningful but when it is being prevented from being expressed, when the entire social structure, as you have it in your world, is geared to denying the individual, not only is his or her individuality but meaningfulness, trying to establish an artificial order where the individual serve little other purpose than to produce, then warring factions usually begin to take hold within the individual. Does this make sense to you?

MARK: All too well.

JOHN: Absolutely. You’re taking a little too long to say that, though.

(Laughter)

KRIS: The individual, the person, can regain a foothold, can reclaim his or her psychological territory and overthrow in a manner of speaking of course, we are in no way shape or form advocating anything else, but the individual can overthrow that particular lifestyle of faster and more and more and faster and establish an inner safe zone. And it can be done through many different avenues and in no way does it even imply that the individual will now become slow-paced.

But all of these various things, whether it is meditation, yoga, so many other avenues that help the individual reclaim that sense of ownership of himself or herself, then said individual can actually become more productive because he or she is now being productive from a healthy standpoint with sure footing in the knowledge that the root of his or her being is under his domain. He or she is his or her own boss and it is not something that needs to be done yesterday. It is experimentation with a totally different order of time. A time frame based upon biological and psychological functions innate to the individual human being.

Such individuals can indeed be more productive because they are better able to have a deeper sleep thus be more rejuvenated, refreshed, more alert, able to think with clarity, with conscientiousness, perceive their position within their society from a point of view that simply says that ‘I am the boss of me and things go by my watch’ whether the individual chooses to wear one or not is irrelevant. When the individual is healthier, his or her activities reflect that state of mind. And it does not prevent anyone from utilizing any of modern life’s amenities in any way, shape or form. It simply requires a totally different perception. You can still even run fast but it will be done under your zone. Does that make sense to you?

MARK: Yes it does and it… something I’ve discovered very recently at work is when I perceive myself to be meaningful, to be effective, and allow for my whole self to be participating in my day, I find my day slows down automatically. The pace, the whole pace changes and it’s more than just my perspective but the physical day does change. My workload lessens.

KRIS: That is correct because you are not winding yourself up beyond your own capacities and your work, anyone’s work within that zone will reflect that added quality as opposed to one person doing three, four or more tasks and ending up not doing one of them well, all of them mediocre or worse, that only requires someone else to spend more time to patch it up. Do you follow?

MARK: Oh yes.

KRIS: So when one person does one job very well, it is done. And there is in the end a sense of personal satisfaction and accomplishment. Where is the sense of personal satisfaction and accomplishment when you try to do ten jobs, each one worse than the last? That only compounds the problem does it not? Because then there is a sense of failure, there is the sense of not being able to do anything properly. Personal value fulfillment then degrades. So it is possible then to recuperate all of these things.

JOHN: Kris if I can just ask a question.

KRIS: Indeed.

JOHN: You have I think outlined brilliantly the issues facing us around clock time and the time police and you’ve hinted that there is a way for us to create an inner safety zone where we are in tune with our biological and psychological time. What’s missing for me is an actual process or technique…

KRIS: In due time.

(Laughter)

JOHN: Okay.

MARK: (kidding) But we want it now!

KRIS: Now therefore, when you begin to observe that your functioning within society disenfranchises you, depersonalizes you, creates the feeling of being invisible, that you do not matter, the only thing that would matter is how fast and how good you can do something better and faster. These are all the effects, not the cause. Do you follow so far?

MARK: Yes.

KRIS: So it is not the demands of society and its machinery that are causing this even though it may appear that way that the symptoms are neuroses, psychoses, etcetera. But that the individual has already lost his personal sense of meaning and therefore it is reflected in his environment and it seems then that he is a little more than a tiny sprocket in a huge machinery that will only continue to eat him up. Do you follow?

JOHN: Yes.

KRIS: These are indeed then the confirmation of inner beliefs about lack of self-worth, lack of meaningfulness and so on and so forth. So instead of taking umbrage and attacking the system and the society, the individual can indeed transform his or her experience of that society by reclaiming ownership of their sense of validation, of their sense of meaningfulness, personal values and so on. But it does require some form of practice. It will not occur by itself until the individual directs his or her thoughts, his or her inner actions in that direction and sets into motion the momentum necessary to reclaim this. Then the external environment, what you call material nature, the physical world, reality, will only confirm and be a testament to the changes in your or the individual’s own belief structures. Does this make sense?

JOHN: Absolutely.

MARK: Yes.

KRIS: Thus at the core already is a pre-existing condition and society merely confirms and does not cause. We may have initially presented our discourse this evening as if the society and the social structure is responsible, but that is not the case. We brought the point to a head. Do you understand?

MARK: Oh yes.

JOHN: Yes.

KRIS: Thus how do you cure the society?

MARK: In order to change the world, you must start with yourself.

KRIS: Because what do you see around you?

MARK: Is my world…

KRIS: The world is a reflection of you, your states of perception. So by altering the paradigm of who you are and what you mean to yourself, you can immediately draw a transformation that will be confirmed. But this is not something that will be done in 2 minutes. It will certainly never be accomplished in microwave time. We have heard there are people who put their microwave on and then yell at it to go faster, tell it to hurry. It will not be accomplished in this way. The individual needs then to cultivate a sense of appreciation and recognize that they are meaningful first and foremost unto themselves. They are the meaning of their life. We have said this before and we will say it many more times. You are the meaning in your life. You are the meaning of life. Does this make sense to you?

MARK: Yes.

JOHN: Absolutely, we’re getting into the good stuff.

KRIS: Indeed. It is said that to grow wonderful flowers you need some manure.

(chuckling)

MARK: It’s interesting that you did bring up microwave time cause I find that cooking dinner, or like having a good Sunday dinner and cooking it and taking the time to create such a thing is a wonderful way of achieving this.

KRIS: But who has time for this?

MARK: Gotta make time.

KRIS: Indeed and that is the point. Begin to make time to enjoy perhaps at the beginning, the small things. The laughter of children, a bird singing in the background, the rain falling on the window pane or the skylight, the breeze caressing the leaves and the trees or even caressing your hair and face, the sun shining on the surface of the brook, river, lake, ocean, the clouds slowly drifting on by in all of their beautiful puffiness. The bee buzzing from one flower to another, spreading pollen, the fact that you breathe should be most meaningful indeed! The fact that you are should be extremely meaningful.

Even the creative wonders of your modern age can definitely be appreciated if you first and foremost appreciate the meaningfulness of you being. It often takes but a few moments to actually stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off to breathe, to see the beauty in the world that you normally would not give the time to, and understand that there is only one reason and cause there is beauty in the world, and that is because you give it that interpretation. Would the rose, the rainbow, the butterfly, the ruby throated…

JOHN: Hummingbird.

KRIS: Indeed! Any beauty in the world, would it have any beautiful meaning if you did not give it such? No.

MARK: I’m reminded of a short story. Two days before Christmas, Serge and I decided that we needed to hit the mall, the dreaded mall Saturday before Christmas and it was stressing… just the thought of it. But we walked into the mall and the very first store we saw was one of those backrub stores and we looked in and there was nobody there and they had these masseuses there… so the very first thing we did was get a 15 minute backrub each and it changed the whole experience of that shopping experience of that day.

KRIS: Indeed! Then you could go about shopping with a painful back!

(Laughter)

KRIS: But yes! Small delicious things that you can do for yourselves are not a waste of your time but indeed a means to cultivate more of your time. Do not hold time as if it is something you must fight against. Give yourselves the time to reflect upon your own beautiful and lovely natures, your creativity, and notice how you truly are meaningful to yourselves.

MARK: To quote one of the Star Trek movies “time is not an animal that stalks us but is there rather to accompany us on the journey.”

KRIS: Indeed. Unfortunately many people see it as a dark beast that will swallow them whole. And if they only can run fast enough, maybe time will be outrun. Now what is the time?

MARK: 8:02.

KRIS: Indeed. Perhaps another few moments of interlude would be appropriate. And after which perhaps there can be some callers since the show we believe is now an hour and a half.

MARK: Indeed.

(Musical interlude)

MARK: And we’re back! Once again this is a call in show and when Kris comes back he’s going to… not maybe… not immediately… but he will announce to call in. The number to phone will be 416-204-9723. Once again please, when you call in, please turn down the volume on your computer and listen through the phone because of the lag on your computer and please keep your questions and comments at this time relative to the topic… and Kris is coming back.

KRIS: Indeed. We are open to allowing call-ins, so feel free to dial those numbers and we will do our best to answer your questions. In the meantime, do consider that it is to your advantage to make allowances for these reflections upon yourselves where you fit in to your social structure primordially from the perspective of a meaningful individual and not one who is so pressured as to be ready to explode.

At the bottom of this you will find first and foremost that your sense of individuality, in particular your meaningful position within the universe will definitely carry you through the day in a totally different way. One that is enjoyable, one that brings about the beautiful expressions of your inner being reflected throughout your world, reflected in the society that you live in. That is how you change the world from the inside out first and foremost. Other than that, and otherwise, you will simply demand that the world change to suit your demands faster.

JOHN: Okay Kris I just have a quick question which kinda comes from my thinking about people who might be listening. Let’s say that I’m going through my day and various events come together and at a certain point I find myself looking at my watch and saying ‘oh my god, I don’t have enough time’. I think that’s a very common experience.

KRIS: Indeed it is.

JOHN: Now the first thing that comes to my mind as a possible different perspective on that is to sit back when you say… you look at your watch and say ‘oh my god, I don’t have enough time’ …sit back and contemplate for just a moment the fact that you’re an eternal being, and being eternal means that you certainly have enough time.

(Chuckling)

KRIS: Indeed. As an eternal, immortal being, you have no need to be stamped with an expiration date.

MARK: Something Kris just mentioned, getting away a little bit from time but… is the way we do judge ourselves, like so much of our problems, be it health or psychological issues are based upon how we judge ourselves and the lack of meaningfulness. I remember growing up and not feeling that value fulfillment, not feeling effective or a part… sort of an outcast and definitely created some issues in my life that I’m still trying to work out.

KRIS: When you do judge yourselves in this manner, then what occurs?

JOHN: Then the world judges you that way too.

KRIS: That is correct because that is the kind of feedback you are demanding. That is what you are instilling into reality that you be judged along the lines that you judge and criticize yourselves thus the world reflects and confirms those beliefs.

MARK: Oh and we do that so well don’t we?

KRIS: Absolutely! In that you cannot be faulted, your creativity deserves an A+. At the same time you can also take into consideration a very small exercise indeed. In your left wrist, you have this bone here.

MARK: Hmm. What do we call that? On an angle from the thumb, it’s far away in the wrist.

KRIS: Simply pressing this with your right thumb and at the same time acknowledging your present state of mind, addressing the situation, thus utilizing the triple A, acknowledging your state of mind, addressing the situation by the physical pressure on the wrist bone at the bottom of the palm and then accepting that even though this is your present frame of mind there is another state of awareness beneath the hectic and frantic pace of modern life. It is a pace that has been with humankind even before humankind was humankind, before the stars were born, before the sun reflected its warmth. A frame of mind that is eternal indeed and in that frame of mind there is a different time in operation.

It is an eternal now and in this eternal now there is a great deal of peace, personal fulfillment and value in recognizing the individual meaningfulness of your being. Taking a few deep breaths as you focus upon this, and if you so desire, in your mind’s eye, whether you pretend or imagine, just see and remember those times when you heard the rain fall gently on the rooftop or on the window pane. Those times when you saw the sun rise to chase away the mist and the fog. Those times when you saw perhaps a newborn babe smile and giggle at you or those times when you felt joy that seem to express itself in you merely because it was a wonderful experience to do this and any other wonderful positive memories, feeling-tones, visual tones, auditory tones.

Perhaps there were even times when you took the time to stop and smelled the roses, the lavender or you smelled the air after a summer rainstorm or you saw a beautiful sunset in a tropical setting and smelled the tropical plants release their delicious intoxicating and sweet aromas or perhaps you were even in a chocolate factory. Any, any memories, thoughts along those lines and notice what happens with your blood pressure, with your heart rate. Your own frame of mind will automatically be altered. This takes but a few moments and then release the wrist point and go about your day and notice how material nature suddenly reflects something different. It confirms your new state of mind, an extremely simple practice but one that can have quite an impact upon yourself.

MARK: That can be utilized as an anchor as well can it not?

KRIS: Indeed. The more you do it with this particular joint, the better you access all of these issues.

MARK: I was gonna say, if we do this often, the more often we do it, the quicker it happens. (Chuckling)

KRIS: Do notice we did not use those words.

MARK: No… once again that number is 416-204-9723 we have 10, 15 minutes left.

(Pause)

MARK: In the interim… (Chuckling)

KRIS: Please continue.

MARK: Is there any other meditations, anchors, little practices you can give us?

KRIS: You can make it a point whenever in the daytime or any time of day that you are attracted to anything similar to what we have described, perhaps you notice a butterfly gently alighting on a flower to taste its nectar or perhaps you notice puffy clouds simply hovering in the sky or the reflection of the sunlight at sunset on a building, or on a mountain or water, any such experiences can also be anchored into this spot so that when you access it, you have this stored anchor which would bring all of these things to the forefront of your memory, your personal databank of meaningful experiences.

JOHN: Hmm. Very nice.

MARK: Another practice that comes to mind is the practice of perspectives. And when I find that when we’re really upset or frustrated or not feeling meaningful, it’s usually, there’s something right in our face, it could be our computer screen or documents or paper or something and it’s very good to change your perspective, change what you’re physically looking at. And the further away the object that you’re looking at tends to be a calming factor. So if you can look up into the starry sky or a distant mountain range or a tree way down the street, it will definitely be that calming, relaxing, and change your mood.

KRIS: Indeed. Any such practice that returns you to your sense of self, returns your sense of self to the very root of your being is helpful and beneficial. The point is to do it.

JOHN: I’ve got one that just occurred to me too, Kris. I’ve been using this one for months now actually. And that is, on a digital clock, this is no good on an analog clock, but on a digital clock, I have become sensitized to when all the numbers are the same. So in other words at 11:11 in the morning, or 4:44 in the afternoon, or whenever they may be, for me, this is a signal that it’s my inner self tapping me on the shoulder saying ‘Hi!”

MARK: That’s particularly good when we’re constantly watching the clock…

JOHN: Exactly!

MARK: It triggers us to move away, to laugh at it and…

JOHN: Yeah, it’s a way of using the clock itself as a trigger to go into psychological time as opposed to clock time?

KRIS: Indeed.

JOHN: And the thing that I’ve noticed is that the more I study that and the more I allow that to trigger my awareness, the more subtle the digital message can be. For instance the other day, I noticed that it was 12:34.

(Chuckling)

MARK: One, two, three, four.

JOHN: Which was one, two, three, four, and so I’m starting to see more and more subtle versions of that on the digital clock and you know, my thinking is that eventually, no matter what the time is on a digital clock, I’ll begin to see that it’s a numeric message.

(Phone rings and laughter)

MARK: We have a caller!

KRIS: Indeed, it is time!

(Pause)

MARK: Hello. Hello.

CALLER: Hi. I have a question regarding zen version of now or what zen talks about ‘the now’ and you know I’ve been to school and I’ve been to work all that and they talk about you know, dealing with problems here and now. Not the past, not the future, let’s deal with the moment here you know, and the immediacy of everything. And I find it’s so hard to concentrate on what they’re talking about, I felt more pressure. I find when I leave them, unable to get into the greater now in terms of letting go of everything, I’m able to pick up more and it doesn’t… people don’t seem to be talking about that as much as the previous of the immediate now and I’m just wondering if you can talk about that a bit… you know it’s helpful for me. Thank you.

KRIS: There are two perspectives at play here. Often depending upon the environment, the person may be conveying the idea…

(Loud dial tone heard)

KRIS: May be conveying the idea that you need to focus upon as you said the immediacy of the situation, the demands that are put upon you now. Do not spend your time in the past or in future reverie, pay attention to what is happening in order for you to supply the demands upon you. This is simply another variation of what we addressed earlier, but there is another kind of time, another kind of now. That now, being in the now means to be in the spacious moment.

Even the very act of immediately drawing your attention to your breathing, the rush of air into your lungs as you expand them slowly, the rush of air out of your lungs as you compress them, allowing for that peaceful sensation to wash over you and wash away the stresses of any other moment but the experience of your breath can definitely bring you into that spacious moment that is analogous to inner or psychological time. Even just a few breaths in this way can drastically alter perception, lower heart rate, lower blood pressure and bring an overall sense of peace.

That kind of now is insufficiently understood or cultivated, often seen as a waste of time since there are so many pressing things for you to do but that particular introspection can indeed provide you with the kind of respite that can then allow you to be more focused and more productive in a healthy way. It is easier and healthier in the long run to do one thing ten times than to do ten things once and not do any of them good at all. Does that make sense?

MARK: Yes.

JOHN: Yes.

KRIS: So we trust that this answers your question in a simple manner.

MARK: I’d like to thank the caller as well.

KRIS: Indeed! It would also be most interesting if future callers simply stated at least where they are calling from or a name, even a first name, even if it is fictitious!

(Laughter)

KRIS: Now what is the time?

MARK: It’s time to go. It’s 8:30.

KRIS: Indeed then, we thank you for having taken the time from your day to listen to our humble voice. A voice that seeks to reflect back to you those energies and that well-being and fulfillment that you seek from life and may your days and your nights be filled with as many wonders as you allow and thank you for your consideration.

JOHN: Thank you Kris.

MARK: Thank you Kris. John, do you think you could do a diagram for us of that spot on the wrist?

JOHN: No problem! I know it’s a little hard to explain that on the radio, just for those who are following along, it’s the… on the left wrist, it’s on the right hand side, the bone right at the bottom of your palm on the right side of your left wrist facing you is the point he was talking about but I will indeed do a diagram and post it on the website.

MARK: And that’s it for our show, thanks for listening and see you in two weeks!

(Session ends)