Some years ago a dear friend gave me a lovely chiming meditation timer encased in a wooden pyramid. You set the timer for the length of time you want to center, press a button, and a tiny red light comes on. The timer waits in silence for about fifteen seconds to allow you to get comfortable and then begins the centering period by sounding a chime three times. Twenty or thirty minutes later (or however long you want), it sounds the chime three times again.
Well, a couple of weeks ago I pressed the little button as usual, the little red light came on, I settled in and the next thing I knew I was figuring it must be time . . . I checked the timer. The little red light was off, meaning the timer had finished timing and chiming. . . Wow, that was fast! . . . I must have gone pretty deep. . . I’ve read about this kind of thing. . . I got up and went on about the business of the day.
The next morning, the same thing happened: I pressed the little button, the little red light came on, I settled into my chair and the next thing I knew I was thinking it must surely be time … I checked the timer. The little red light was off, for how long I had no idea. . . I must be reaching some new depth. . . I got up and continued the day.
On the third morning, the same thing hapened. Once again I thought the period of centering must be over even though I had not heard the three ending chimes, and once again the little red light was off, confirming the timer had finished. But this time, I figured I’d better do some more checking. And sure enough, it turned out the timer’s four AA batteries were all but dead.
Still centering in rural Los Angeles,
Mary Purcell
