The Nature of Time.

[Guest guest]

Dear Therese

 

Astrology shows our relationship to time in the physical manifestation, but

just what is time? and what do we mean by the " future " Most people in

consulting astrologers will ask about their 'future,' but in reality there

is no future - there is only a perceived or potential future that exists in

regards to the memories and actions of the past. In reality there is only

ever a present shining awareness. Look at your body, the eyes see, the ears

hear, all the senses work without needing thought to be interfering.

Thinking is happening but is there a " thinker " " self " or " ego " apart form an

illusionary one formed by thinking and memories?

 

All of us seem to be a sum total of the past, a thousand yesterdays as they

say. We seem to be the sum total of all our thoughts, responses, incidents

and experiences we have lived out in the past. The past is just our

accumulated memories totally prejudiced by our conditioning by parents,

school teachers, friends, culture and society. We have this seemingly giant

hard drive of accumulated feelings, responses, influences which gives us our

ability to respond to what life throws up at us. If this is seen to be just

the movement of thought, what is left is just pure awareness, it is no thing

but from this seemingly " no thing " everything appears. You cannot go back to

the past and live there and when you think of the past you are doing it now

in the present. If you have aspirations for the future they are formed now

in thought. Both do not exist except as a movement of mind. The definition

of " reality " is that which does not change. Is it not the awareness that

never changes? The content of the mind is ever moving and changing like the

cells in the body. Has the pristine awareness all the content appears on

ever changed?

 

 

With this in mind how can we possibly understand the totality of reality.

How can we understand this seemingly timeless void that is beyond time and

space when our minds are so full of the misery of mundane life and all its

problems and worries. Our minds are caught in the field of a perceived

linear time which is simply the accumulation of past events projected into

an always better " future " . When this is seen for the illusion it is, then

you must also realize this " ego " or " entity " you think is you is also

thought made and has no concrete existence. The body is the elements,

functioning in a pattern, that is not you. The mind is just an accumulation

of thoughts, that is not you either. You are the pure intelligence that has

no second, it is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. This universal

energy and you are not seperate and never were. The only birth you had was

the birth of the illusion you were a seperate being. In astrology this is

clear as all the planets reflect the light of the Sun, like a light shining

through a crystal this cosmic intelligence splits into perceived different

modes of manifestation. It all " appears " to be real and seperate. If you

analyse this and then yourself, the eternal question will arise- " Who wants

to know? " What gives the Sun or the planets the power they have? Is it not

this cosmic intelligence that is seemingly " no thing? " Are you seperate from

it?

 

 

The illusionary future is this prejudiced past conditioning projected into a

perceived better future which is our delusion- as the future does not exist.

The poor man dreams about being rich, the ugly girl dreams of being

beautiful, the rich man dreams of being richer and so on. The future can

only be changed by direct action in the present, otherwise it will just be a

continuation of the past. Is it any wonder we all repeat our mistakes over

and over again. This is the trap of the mind. All of Vedic astrology is

based on Moon as the Moon is the overall illusion of mind. Mercury is called

the bastard child of the Moon as there is this appearance of a rational

entity that ponders and makes decisions. Decisions and choices are made, is

there really a choice maker or just the appearance of one? Are your thoughts

really yours? If they were, why would you ever have a negative thought, why

would you ever be unhappy if you have the free will to decide what you think

about?

 

 

Whilst we must accept the subjective nature of the interpretation of events

as experiences, we must also consider the subjective aspect of time itself.

Time as a measurement of movement in space can be clearly delineated in many

ways according to the standard or gauge that one chooses to adopt. In Asia

the Moon or lunar calendar is used to delineate everything from when rice is

planted to when Kings are crowned. This is purely in the appearance of the

physical world. In the west we follow the Gregorian calendar which is based

on a solar year. Hence calendars are based on the movement of our most

visible stars the Sun and Moon. The world-wide acceptance of the system of

measurement of time utilizing seconds, minutes, hours, days and weeks etc,

has a somewhat arbitrary basis, as any division into units of time would

work. In Thailand the Kings reign is based on the 12 year cycles of Jupiter.

Some ancient civilizations followed the cycles of Venus. One thing we are

sure of is that people have always tried to relate the movement of the

cosmos to the events on earth and worldly life.

 

 

The passage of time may also be seen to be dependent upon the form of life.

A human year is enormously long time for the insect that only lives for 24

hours, But we recognize this change in the speed in the passage of time

ourselves. As we grow older, time passes more " quickly " as each year of life

becomes a smaller proportion in the total years we have lived. A year is

still a year but it represents only 2% of our life when we are 50 years old,

whereas it represents 50 % of our life when we are 2 years old. Other

aspects of the subjective nature of time that are obvious are that time

passes more quickly or slowly depending on whether we are busy or bored, and

further - we have no actual sense of time when we are asleep. Allied to our

understanding of time are of course the concepts of past, present and

future. Ultimately, the present is always a timeless experience,

particularly if we let go of memories and expectations of a better future.

In sleep awareness appears to rest, but does it really? When you wake up and

say how deeply you slept, what was aware of this deep sleeping you were

enjoying. Is it not the same awareness that dreams appear on?

 

 

All too often our present is perceived in terms of its attachment to the

past or its dreams of a better future. It is this lineal conception that

contributes to our notion of time as being something we pass 'through.' In

reality we can never experience the 'past' or the 'future'- we only

experience our present memories of the 'past' and expectations of a

'future.' The notions of past and future like the notion of time itself, has

to be learnt and is part of society's social culturalization. Such

chronological perceptions are but projections of the illusory mind,

superimposed in experience in order to make experience both possible and

intelligible, to make patterns out of chaos so to speak. Any breakdown in

this ability to form cohesive patterns in time can lead to mental problems

and the inability to function with mental clarity.

 

 

Even the assessment of causal relationships between things, the laws of

cause and effect or KARMA involves this projection of order in time onto the

objects of experience. In order that we can possibly ascribe one thing to be

the cause of the other, we have already imposed a temporal sequence! In a

more mundane way 'time' is a construction of the mind by the way we

construct plans, goals and expectation of the future. If the cause, i.e " the

illusory I or ego " is seen to be false- how can there be an effect? When

this is understood. (even this statement is incorrect as it assumes there is

" someone " to know) all expectation, guilt, anger, resentments must drop off

as there is nobody or no entity for them to cling to. We create our supposed

'future' through decisions based upon this comic trick, though in reality

the only way we can effect or do anything is by acting in the present. Our

sense of time, and our experience of the passage of time, is based in part

upon our comparison of our present experience with our memory of the past/

or our anticipation of our future and how we're going to get there. We are

prisoners in this field of cause and effect.

 

 

See there is no time except from a mind made one, see there is no you except

for a mind made one, see the omnipresence of life and just be with it. You

can call it " non conceptual awareness, " you can call it " spacelike

awareness. " It is no thing to the mind as the mind forms on this pure mirror

like awareness. You are that awareness, you always were and always will be.

There is no where to go, nothing to find, no enlightment. Just

that.......................

 

Andrew