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Time an Illusion?

Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 10:26 AM
Can someone explain to me how once the meditator reaches certain attainments the experience of time becomes an illusion? What does this mean? How are we defining time here?

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 4:18 PM as a reply to Jinxed P.
I think time being an illusion refers to the seeing the insubstantial nature of concepts of past and future.

As you probably know, the goal of the path is complete freedom from concepts, or the full understanding that our conceptual thinking is not true, or truly existent. As one increases in attainment one understands more and more that concepts are 'false', or not inherently existent. In essence one comes to understand from firsthand experience that the concepts we hold to be true, in their own right, are naught but static reflections of the way things truly are, and have no ultimate truth. All that truly is is that which we are experiencing at this present moment, or in other words all that is is the present moment.

Thus when one considers the concept of time from the standpoint of attainment, past and future are only insubstantial mental constructs. All that truly exists in experience is the present moment. So while time could be postulated to exist, based on memory, and past experience of say a clock's display changing time, from the standpoint of experience, there is nothing but the present moment which is constantly changing.

Another way to look at this is, given that the past is a memory, and the future an idea, both are conceptions occurring in the present moment. So truly there is nothing outside of the present moment.

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 9:25 PM as a reply to Jinxed P.
Anything that happens essentially goes into the past instantaneously. The present moment for us is elongated by short-term memory.

Try listening to this for more info:

Time and the emptiness of time

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 10:09 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Here's an intentionally contrary rendering for a completely different psychological effect:

Richard Zen:
Anything that happens essentially goes into the past instantaneously.

No, that right there is the illusion.

Time is not a moving/flowing stream of events.

Objects move. Time does not.

Time/Space is the arena in which things move.

Nothing is going anywhere except to some other location.

There is nothing/nowhere to emerge from or disappear into.

There is movement of objects within a vast stillness.

Time is an arena, not a stream.

The notion that anything "goes into the past" is an artifact of psychological time only.

(This is not a philosophical construct that I want to argue about... it's just something to contemplate that might lead to a radically different experience of time, for anyone who's into these things).

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 10:06 PM as a reply to John Wilde.
That's exactly what I mean. It's hard to put into words but if you measure time you can subdivide the time infinitely. It's conceptual. Actual time is still being debated between quantum mechanics and relative time of Einstein. Ultimately we want to see how clinging and time go together in meditative experience.

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 10:23 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Richard Zen:
That's exactly what I mean. It's hard to put into words but if you measure time you can subdivide the time infinitely. It's conceptual. Actual time is still being debated between quantum mechanics and relative time of Einstein. Ultimately we want to see how clinging and time go together in meditative experience.


Yep, and how different ways of framing experience can lead to radically different types of experience. (That's more of interest to me, too, than arguing about what time really is).

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 10:44 PM as a reply to John Wilde.
John Wilde:
(That's more of interest to me, too, than arguing about what time really is).


It's more interesting in meditation because we can see how perceptions of objects and how we cling to them can lengthen time (along with dukkha). Even the general public can notice that watching a clock and waiting for something (good or bad) to happen makes it seem slower than being in a flow state getting work done. "Time seemed to go by so quickly".

Though I do like some of the physics theories:

Everything Forever

"...for us physicists believe the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one."


In my explorations of timelessness I reveal that ordinary space is not merely full of other empty spaces, but empty space is actually the whole of all physical realities; all the universes of the many worlds theory. Profound as it may be, if the theories I propose are correct, space is full, rather than empty. Material things are less than the fullness of space. In fact, it may be that space must include all possibilities in order to seem empty to us. So in summary, the universe we see is just a fragment nested in a timeless (everything) whole, rather than a single material world magically arisen above some primordial nothing. All universes exist without beginning or end in the ultimate arena of time, and each moment we experience exists forever.


Yeah I better just meditate...emoticon

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/19/14 10:57 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Richard Zen:

Try listening to this for more info:

Time and the emptiness of time


This talk is quite good. Goes into more depth than most.

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/21/14 8:04 AM as a reply to (D Z) Dhru Val.
[quote=(D Z) Dhru Val]
Richard Zen:

Try listening to this for more info:

Time and the emptiness of time


This talk is quite good. Goes into more depth than most.

I like how he goes further and further and eventually talks about perception/evaluation. Since our brains do that so quickly it's easy to see how the brain is creating objects and then going into a like or dislike of them and then clinging.

Eg. Perception: "This object sucks". Clinging: "This object sucks because, because, because, because...." You have to interrupt the "because" but also be ready for the perception to move onto something else.emoticon

I also sometimes like to ask, "where's the aversion?" "Is it here?" "Is it there?" It's a good way to shake things up when caught up with the "because, because, because". Or you can ask "why?"

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/20/14 2:04 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Richard Zen:

Try listening to this for more info:
Time and the emptiness of time


Thanks for the link! Really nice talk.

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/21/14 1:02 PM as a reply to Jinxed P.
You aren't dependent on time, discovering that makes time an illusion. You could spend lightyears but you still are the same. Thought first thing is to realise who you are.
And it won't take away suffering, there is constant challenge in the universe. Its possible to piss off Buddha or Jesus but not many are capable that does not mean that it isn't possible.

edit: its just a thought, gamble.

RE: Time an Illusion?
Answer
2/21/14 2:00 PM as a reply to Jinxed P.
mind have impulses of consciousness and it process reality in frames which begin with information of previous impulse and correct on it. There are many frequencies of those frames and time frames can change their tempo. Eg. 'self' is faster than my default time frame and it runs like twice as fast, first beat starts with *my* beat and second beat ends when my beat ends so that I can clearly see passing away and arising of new self in the middle. My theory is that identification and clinging forces speed of self into rest of mind that generally prefer lower frequency and just can't keep up with it causes dukkha. Syncing at 1/2 or at even different ratios of frequency to self is preferable mode of operation (EQ) instead of trying to speed up (A&P) and fall out of synchronization (DN)

with this even NOW is illusion as its just preprocessed quantified reality in chopped to sliced and processed at definite intervals.

there is no past, no future and not even now...