olive grove

I am sitting in an olive grove on the island of Corfu. Hereabouts, the olive trees are allowed to grow to their natural height, and some of the trees I am sitting under look truly ancient. Each one seems so individual: it has a unique shape and its gnarled, pocketed trunk speaks of countless years growing here in the Mediterranean sun. I don’t know exactly how old these trees are, and I don’t need to know, for the important thing is the feeling they evoke within me. It is one of timelessness. It feels as if nothing has changed here for decades, centuries, millennia even.

With this feeling of timelessness, my own consciousness begins to enter a timeless state, a way of feeling the moment without reference to the past, without thoughts of the future. In this moment, this timeless moment, there is also a feeling of eternity. It is paradoxical is it not? If the attention comes just to this moment, the tiniest period of time, it somehow feels the same as the whole of time. Eternity and timelessness come together in the moment, and this is the great gift that this ancient olive grove is giving me this evening. And I thank the trees for being here and for being timeless.