It’s interesting to connect time and the belly. I find a connection with the throat, and also between time and language, for that reason. But the belly and the throat are also connected. Can you perhaps say more about how time connects you more with the belly? What do you feel there? There are some people taking this program who are trying to find a way into the material who might find this helpful.
Your Zen saying seems to suggest: time happens by itself. And this is true. I am reminded of another Zen saying, “Don’t push the river.” I think Fritz Perls also used it in Gestalt Therapy. But it is also true that we do “push the river.” We impose our own time on what is happening. We make it “our” way of happening. And with that comes pressure, anxiety, etc. TSK Ex. 23, which we are working with right now, is a very good exercise for exploring these two ways of being in time. It is not an easy exercise to do by yourself (you may feel a little silly), but if you set aside half an hour and try it, (I am speaking to everyone now), you may find it very helpful. The feelings of impatience, boredom, restlessness that may come can be especially helpful. They all depend on a certain relationship with time.
Jack