The Last Thirty Seconds

Sometimes the Universe pauses in silence. There are no sounds in this silence—only the pulse of time. And then, only thirty seconds remain.

You sit with your eyes closed, your spine like an antenna, catching the stillness of the cosmos. Everything has already passed: breath, pain in the legs, surging thoughts, fears, dreams, letting go. You’ve crossed an entire river — and suddenly, it feels like there’s no strength left, no meaning.

The mind whispers:

Enough. You’ve done your part. Nothing will change anyway…

But it is in these final thirty seconds that everything truly begins. The mind boils — like a witch’s brew, stirring up illusions and despair. This is the last illusion. The final gate. And you can either get up… or stay.

Stay, even when everything inside begs you to leave the meditation. Stay, like a silent guardian at the gate of a forgotten temple, when no one is watching. Because what if around the bend wasn’t a cliff, but a sunrise?

What if you were just thirty seconds away from revelation?

One who remains balanced in pain and pleasure, truly awakened is he.

— Guru Granth Sahib, Anand Sahib

The essence of practice is not to avoid pain,but to learn to move through it,knowing it’s not a wall, but only smoke. Stay. Just for thirty seconds. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll feel a light begin to rise from somewhere deep within.