Let's say we're here for the sport of learning choices that bring us long term positive consequence. It's a tough sport, a hard game to win. But if living's a game, then whats true about living? You have to show up ready to play, reason married with intuition is absolutely essential. If we don't do that then we can't play on earth. An all knowing expression of perfect Life has to reject all knowingness and claim five sense only. Then we have to agree to limit even those five, perceive certain frequencies and no others. Hear frequencies, from twenty cycles to twenty thousand cycles per second and call it sound; see the spectrum between infrared and ultraviolet and call it light; accept past to future linear time in three-dimensional exclusive space in the body of a surface dwelling carbon based upright biped land mammal life form adapted to a solar energy system on a Class M planet orbiting a single Class G star. Now we're ready to play. And a game has some kind of playground. A board or a field or a court. It has players, or teams, without us no game. A beginning a middle an ending. And Roles, every game we play, slip into a role, a game identity with which to play. We decide we're rescuer, victim, leader-with-all-the-answers, follower-without-a-clue, bright,brave, honorable, crafty,dull,helpless,just-trying-to-get-along,diabolical, easygoing, pitiable, earnest, careless, salt-of-the-earth, puppet-master, comic, hero. . .we choose our choose our role by whim and destiny, and we can change it anytime we want. Now try looking at the games from a higher altitude and you'll notice there are a lot of them going at once. Different rooms, different courts, different fields, different cities, different countries, different planets and galaxies and universes and different times! Players can play game after game, watching from above you'll understand. We can play on different teams, play for fun or play for keeps, play against somebody easy to beat or go up against somebody there's no chance to win, the harder it is the more fun. If there were no risk, if you knew you couldn't lose, if you knew the ending, would the game still be fun?
Lets say you and someone you know dying from an illness are playing chess in a beautiful house, lots of different rooms. In the middle of the play your friend sees how its going to end, he can't figure any way out, he resigns the game and goes off to explore the house. Does he/she think what happened was a tragedy? Is it a tragedy to you when he/she leaves? Now zoom back down to the chessboard but instead of playing the game you are the game. The chess pieces are named you, me, him, and her and instead of wood they are made out of flesh and blood and you've known each other all your life. Instead of squares there are houses and schools and streets and stores. Now the game turns so that the piece called "your friend" is taken. He/She disappears, completely off the board. Is that a tragedy? So the closer we get to the game and the more caught up in it we are, the more loss feels like tragedy. But loss is tragedy only for players, only when we forget it's chess we're playing, when we forget why, when we think our board is the only one that exists. The more we forget it's play, and we're the players, the more senseless living becomes. But life on earth is the same as baseball and fencing, as soon as the games over we remember I play because I love the sport! When you forget, all you have to do is float over the chessboard and look again.
Time was not, for it lay asleep in the infinite bosom of Duration.
Nature's acts are all cyclic and periodical, and her movements can best be described by moving circles ever returning on themselves. Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita refers to Himself as "Time matured" and speaks of the Universal Wheel of Time. But what is Time? We cannot see time; we cannot hear it, or smell it, or taste it; we cannot touch it! And yet no one doubts that time is and that it dominates our lives. Our every move is dictated by this most elusive and illusive factor—the time element. Its mystery has haunted human minds down the ages.
We speak of saving time and also of wasting it. We say time flies or time drags. And yet most people cannot say what time itself is! Our age is one of speed. We are constantly inventing mechanical devices to hasten all tasks and to traverse distances in space with ever-increasing speed. In a system based off of money people want to go faster and faster because they want to "save" time. The story is told of an old man who failed to respond enthusiastically to the glowing accounts of the speed of air traveling. He listened unmoved, and then asked: "But what will you do with the time so 'saved'?" It is not merely saving time that makes for progress, but how we utilize it.
However, while time is imperceptible to our sensorium, we can measure it. From the remotest antiquity men have sought ways and means of measuring time and found in Nature the basis for such measurements. Because astronomical events ever recur cyclically they were chosen to measure that unknown factor, time. We really measure the interval between the occurrence of an event and its recurrence. And so we have come to regard time as the interval between events. For us mortals time is measured by the journey of our earth through space. Our planet's trip around the Sun, the monthly orbit of the moon, and the daily rotation of the earth on its axis have given us our year, our month, our day. But while we measure the passage of time, time itself remains unknown.
In modern physics it has been found convenient to use "events" instead of "points" in describing physical phenomena, and so to the three dimensions of space, viz., latitude, longitude, and altitude, has been added a fourth—Time. Thus, if we want to describe the position of a moving object we measure its three dimensions in space and record the exact time of our observations. This is one of the key ideas in Einstein's theory of relativity. Time was regarded by Einstein as a fourth dimension. In his theory these four dimensions are so intimately related that they are referred to by one single expression, "time-space." Einstein's theory of relativity increased our knowledge about time, but did no reveal how to control, check, or direct it. We still remain the subjects of time.
What lies behind the passing flow of time? When we say this day has passed away, what do we really mean? Where has it gone to? We speak of the past, the present, and the future, but these exist only in reference to the consciousness of the one who experiences them on this plane. Madame Blavatsky offers this definition in the form of a question: "What is Time, but the panoramic succession of our states of consciousness?" (The Secret Doctrine, I, 44). And in that same work, in the second volume, explaining that humanity is the child of cyclic destiny, she concludes with the following quotation from a Sage:
THE PRESENT IS THE CHILD OF THE PAST; THE FUTURE, THE BEGOTTEN OF THE PRESENT. AND YET, O PRESENT MOMENT! KNOWEST THOU NOT THAT THOU HAST NO PARENT, NOR CANST THOU HAVE A CHILD; THAT THOU ART EVER BEGETTING BUT THYSELF? BEFORE THOU HAST EVEN BEGUN TO SAY "I AM THE PROGENY OF THE DEPARTED MOMENT, THE CHILD OF THE PAST," THOU HAST BECOME THAT PAST ITSELF. BEFORE THOU UTTEREST THE LAST SYLLABLE, BEHOLD! THOU ART NO MORE THE PRESENT BUT VERILY THAT FUTURE. THUS, ARE THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, THE EVER-LIVING TRINITY IN ONE—THE MAHAMAYA OF THE ABSOLUTE IS." (The Secret Doctrine, II, 446)
The above gives us the metaphysical key to solve our problem: Behind time, lies Eternity. Time belongs to the world of conditioned existence, the world of constant change. It begins at any given moment in reference to a particular event or a particular phenomenon. But behind that beginning, Time which is infinite and measureless already was because it ever is. Thus, conditioned time, which can be measured, which begins and ends, arises out of Timelessness or Eternal Duration. And that is why the present, the past, and the future have validity only in this world of relativity. They cease to be valid when we transcend that which pertains to the world of changing phenomena. This is suggested in the mystic title given to Parabrahm, Kalahamsa, "the swan in and out of time."
Can we transcend the illusion of time? All mystics and sages answer in the affirmative. Meister Eckhart refers to the illusion of time as hindrance which must be overcome if one is to hear the voice of SELF). He says:
Whoso will hear the Wisdom of the Father dwell deep and abide at home, and be at unity with himself. Three things hinder us from willing our own will. The first is instant gratification, the second is distraction, the third is the illusion of time. If a man could get free of these, he would dwell in eternity, and in the spirit, and in solitude, and in the desert, and there would will the will of CREATION.
"Accept the woes of birth," says The Voice of the Silence, and Lord Buddha taught as the first of the Four Noble Truths: "Sorrow Is." Have we accepted this central fact? Not merely passively, but with understanding? Rising above it will not be possible before intelligent acceptance. The first step in learning Ultimate Reality is to UNBEE. But such resignation must be a dynamic quality rooted in our perception that the Reality is always present, here and now, and can be apprehended amidst the moving, ever-fluctuating stream of time. The establishing of an orderly and rhythmic pattern of life in harmony with Nature's laws, the observance of punctuality(perfect timing), the unfolding of skill in action—these have been declared by all Teachers of Life to be the means of realizing the presence of the Eternal and the Uncreated within our own selves.
We have the power change the past, present and future with choice. We are unable to anticipate the future but we can decide in what direction it will go because the present is ours. We can always decide what happens to us, inside of ourselves, what our attitude should be, how we deal with whatever may come to us. When all is said and done it is our own response to life that counts and that transforms the world for us. We should live neither in the past, nor in the future, but in the Eternal Now.
Lets say you and someone you know dying from an illness are playing chess in a beautiful house, lots of different rooms. In the middle of the play your friend sees how its going to end, he can't figure any way out, he resigns the game and goes off to explore the house. Does he/she think what happened was a tragedy? Is it a tragedy to you when he/she leaves? Now zoom back down to the chessboard but instead of playing the game you are the game. The chess pieces are named you, me, him, and her and instead of wood they are made out of flesh and blood and you've known each other all your life. Instead of squares there are houses and schools and streets and stores. Now the game turns so that the piece called "your friend" is taken. He/She disappears, completely off the board. Is that a tragedy? So the closer we get to the game and the more caught up in it we are, the more loss feels like tragedy. But loss is tragedy only for players, only when we forget it's chess we're playing, when we forget why, when we think our board is the only one that exists. The more we forget it's play, and we're the players, the more senseless living becomes. But life on earth is the same as baseball and fencing, as soon as the games over we remember I play because I love the sport! When you forget, all you have to do is float over the chessboard and look again.
Time was not, for it lay asleep in the infinite bosom of Duration.
Nature's acts are all cyclic and periodical, and her movements can best be described by moving circles ever returning on themselves. Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita refers to Himself as "Time matured" and speaks of the Universal Wheel of Time. But what is Time? We cannot see time; we cannot hear it, or smell it, or taste it; we cannot touch it! And yet no one doubts that time is and that it dominates our lives. Our every move is dictated by this most elusive and illusive factor—the time element. Its mystery has haunted human minds down the ages.
We speak of saving time and also of wasting it. We say time flies or time drags. And yet most people cannot say what time itself is! Our age is one of speed. We are constantly inventing mechanical devices to hasten all tasks and to traverse distances in space with ever-increasing speed. In a system based off of money people want to go faster and faster because they want to "save" time. The story is told of an old man who failed to respond enthusiastically to the glowing accounts of the speed of air traveling. He listened unmoved, and then asked: "But what will you do with the time so 'saved'?" It is not merely saving time that makes for progress, but how we utilize it.
However, while time is imperceptible to our sensorium, we can measure it. From the remotest antiquity men have sought ways and means of measuring time and found in Nature the basis for such measurements. Because astronomical events ever recur cyclically they were chosen to measure that unknown factor, time. We really measure the interval between the occurrence of an event and its recurrence. And so we have come to regard time as the interval between events. For us mortals time is measured by the journey of our earth through space. Our planet's trip around the Sun, the monthly orbit of the moon, and the daily rotation of the earth on its axis have given us our year, our month, our day. But while we measure the passage of time, time itself remains unknown.
In modern physics it has been found convenient to use "events" instead of "points" in describing physical phenomena, and so to the three dimensions of space, viz., latitude, longitude, and altitude, has been added a fourth—Time. Thus, if we want to describe the position of a moving object we measure its three dimensions in space and record the exact time of our observations. This is one of the key ideas in Einstein's theory of relativity. Time was regarded by Einstein as a fourth dimension. In his theory these four dimensions are so intimately related that they are referred to by one single expression, "time-space." Einstein's theory of relativity increased our knowledge about time, but did no reveal how to control, check, or direct it. We still remain the subjects of time.
What lies behind the passing flow of time? When we say this day has passed away, what do we really mean? Where has it gone to? We speak of the past, the present, and the future, but these exist only in reference to the consciousness of the one who experiences them on this plane. Madame Blavatsky offers this definition in the form of a question: "What is Time, but the panoramic succession of our states of consciousness?" (The Secret Doctrine, I, 44). And in that same work, in the second volume, explaining that humanity is the child of cyclic destiny, she concludes with the following quotation from a Sage:
THE PRESENT IS THE CHILD OF THE PAST; THE FUTURE, THE BEGOTTEN OF THE PRESENT. AND YET, O PRESENT MOMENT! KNOWEST THOU NOT THAT THOU HAST NO PARENT, NOR CANST THOU HAVE A CHILD; THAT THOU ART EVER BEGETTING BUT THYSELF? BEFORE THOU HAST EVEN BEGUN TO SAY "I AM THE PROGENY OF THE DEPARTED MOMENT, THE CHILD OF THE PAST," THOU HAST BECOME THAT PAST ITSELF. BEFORE THOU UTTEREST THE LAST SYLLABLE, BEHOLD! THOU ART NO MORE THE PRESENT BUT VERILY THAT FUTURE. THUS, ARE THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, THE EVER-LIVING TRINITY IN ONE—THE MAHAMAYA OF THE ABSOLUTE IS." (The Secret Doctrine, II, 446)
The above gives us the metaphysical key to solve our problem: Behind time, lies Eternity. Time belongs to the world of conditioned existence, the world of constant change. It begins at any given moment in reference to a particular event or a particular phenomenon. But behind that beginning, Time which is infinite and measureless already was because it ever is. Thus, conditioned time, which can be measured, which begins and ends, arises out of Timelessness or Eternal Duration. And that is why the present, the past, and the future have validity only in this world of relativity. They cease to be valid when we transcend that which pertains to the world of changing phenomena. This is suggested in the mystic title given to Parabrahm, Kalahamsa, "the swan in and out of time."
Can we transcend the illusion of time? All mystics and sages answer in the affirmative. Meister Eckhart refers to the illusion of time as hindrance which must be overcome if one is to hear the voice of SELF). He says:
Whoso will hear the Wisdom of the Father dwell deep and abide at home, and be at unity with himself. Three things hinder us from willing our own will. The first is instant gratification, the second is distraction, the third is the illusion of time. If a man could get free of these, he would dwell in eternity, and in the spirit, and in solitude, and in the desert, and there would will the will of CREATION.
"Accept the woes of birth," says The Voice of the Silence, and Lord Buddha taught as the first of the Four Noble Truths: "Sorrow Is." Have we accepted this central fact? Not merely passively, but with understanding? Rising above it will not be possible before intelligent acceptance. The first step in learning Ultimate Reality is to UNBEE. But such resignation must be a dynamic quality rooted in our perception that the Reality is always present, here and now, and can be apprehended amidst the moving, ever-fluctuating stream of time. The establishing of an orderly and rhythmic pattern of life in harmony with Nature's laws, the observance of punctuality(perfect timing), the unfolding of skill in action—these have been declared by all Teachers of Life to be the means of realizing the presence of the Eternal and the Uncreated within our own selves.
We have the power change the past, present and future with choice. We are unable to anticipate the future but we can decide in what direction it will go because the present is ours. We can always decide what happens to us, inside of ourselves, what our attitude should be, how we deal with whatever may come to us. When all is said and done it is our own response to life that counts and that transforms the world for us. We should live neither in the past, nor in the future, but in the Eternal Now.