The sacred hours

The dawn and the dusk have always been revered in India as periods of meditation on the Mystery of Existence. In my childhood, I would often hear my maternal grandfather, who we called Laale (the 'e' not to be pronounced as in French), calling upon all the kids to sit down and pray at these hours. I never understood why these hours had attained so much of a sanctity compared to the other hours in the day. What so sacrosanct about these hours that wasnmt about others. As I grew up and matured enough to acquire the sensitivity to my environment, I began to notice that I tended to be listless around these timings. Come evening and I would nt feel like doing anything. I probed this feeling of ennui by diving into myself. Sitting in a calm and composed posture, I withdrew myself from all the sensory objects floating in and out of my mind aimlessly and uninvited. Soon, a feeling of immense JOY began to pervade all my being. It was inborn and uncausated. I did this every evening and the same Peace poured into me every evening. I thought over these contrasting experiences and I realized that it had something to do with the yearning of the Self to re-connect to the inner self, the Atman, after the mad rush of activities in the day. I had solved one part of the mystery of the sacrosanct hours. Another part remained, that of the Dawn. A little effort on my part helped me unravel that...