Story Behind The Song

(see The Story of Time 'Introduction' video)

Lyrics

TURTLE & TREE TALK TIME & MIND
Great Grandmother Galaxy says...time and mind you can't see or taste. Mind is what knows, time is what flows. Without knowing your mind and being in time, your life could be a terrible waste! My grandchild Earth knows this much. Her choice of guardians was wise. Who knows better than Turtle and Tree that only time exists for mind to be! Listen again to the story of Turtle and Tree.

After Mother Earth had chosen the two guardians of the two living kingdoms of the Biosphere, Turtle came up out of the stream to rest at the powerful round base of Tree's tall trunk. Stretching her wise and ancient head out of her shell and looking admiringly up at Tree's branches spreading all the way to the sky, Great Grandmother Turtle spoke: "to live in time is one thing. To know the time you are living in is something else again. What do you know Tree?"

Great Grandmother Tree looked down at Turtle..."what I know my rings keep hidden. But I am like you Turtle. Keeping time within my trunk, keeping my trunk still, time lives in me and I last long." Turtle replied..."I see. Like my shell, your trunk is special. Through the center of your trunk which counts the years, there is something that remains the same, what is it?"

Tree answered..."my nature is still. This stillness is the center of my trunk. My trunk is my axis. This axis holds me erect. But you are right, Turtle, what is this stillness inside of me?"

Turtle smiled and said..."my nature is constant. I move slowly when I need to. No one can move faster than a day turns anyway. So my constancy is enough for me. Not only do I carry the nature of time on my back, but nothing in time can keep me from my planetary rounds. I think what keeps your center straight is nothing more than mind. Nobody knows about mind until someone points it out to them.

Mind is the still center of Hunab Ku. Hunab Ku is in every dream of life. Mind is what you are. Nobody can touch it or take it away. No one can give it to you or tell you what it is or what it isn't. Mind is like time. It has no taste or smell, but unless you know you have a mind, what can you know?"

Turtle thought for a minute and said to Tree..."You are a good match for me. I will carry your stillness in my center wherever I go. In my movement I am like time, just like in your stillness you are like mind. Time is constant, mind is still. Mind needs stillness to know...time needs constancy to go.

Mind is the still center of Hunab Ku. Hunab Ku is in every dream of life. Mind is what you are. Nobody can touch it or take it away. No one can give it to you or tell you what it is or what it isn't. Mind is like time. It has no taste or smell, but unless you know you have a mind, what can you know?"

Turtle thought for a minute and said to Tree..."You are a good match for me. I will carry your stillness in my center wherever I go. In my movement I am like time, just like in your stillness you are like mind. Time is constant, mind is still. Mind needs stillness to know...time needs constancy to go."

Be constant like a turtle
Be still like a tree
Innocence is the balance
Between stillness and constancy
Stay in your innocence
Every moment of time
Your knowing will turn
Your constancy will shine (x2)

After Turtle sang her song, a strong wind arose, causing Tree to bow and shake. When the wind died down, Tree thought for a moment and said..."Turtle, that wind was very strong. But in my center my mind remained still. Now I can tell you what I think..."

Stillness is for knowing
Hold to your stillness
And the ring of time
Will be known to you
You can know all things

When the ring of time is known to you
Knowing all things
You can extend the roots of your mind
Deep into your body
And the branches of your mind
High into the sky of mystery and dreams
This is the power of tree's knowing mind
Knowing mind in my still center, I keep time...

One ring a year for Mother Earth
One ring a year to renew our birth
In my stillness I know you
Turtle my friend, forever true!

When Tree finished, Turtle remained at the base of Tree