Time

  What is our experience of time? Time is defined as “a finite extent or stretch of continued existence, as the interval separating two successive events or actions.” It is the known (of the past) or imagined (of the future) space between one moment and another. The only thing we can say about this stretch of continued existence is that it has one characteristic, and that is change. We know time has passed because what existed at the beginning is different than what exists at the end. Without this change or movement, there is no time.

 This moment is the fruit of the moment that came before and the seed of the moment that will follow. A moment is just a picture of existence where nothing is in motion, but all the energies at work can be known. The next moment will be defined by how clearly we perceive these energies and the ways in which they interact with one another. If we perceive things as they are, then our actions will be in sync with the energies at work. But if our vision is distorted by our desire for things to be different than they are, then our actions will not be in sync and the next moment will be out of sync with the energies at work, resulting in suffering because we can’t force things to be how we think they need to be.

 We experience time because the universe is always in motion and we have been gifted with the illusion of being separate from this universe. To wonder if time is real is to miss the point. Change and transformation are the point. What matters is not how long the interval is but what kind of change occurs. And the nature of the change matters because the motion of the universe has always defined a journey. From the beginning, these changes were about the creation of a self-aware being so that the one could become two and the universe could be known and time could exist. We call this movement evolution and talk about the universe being billions of years old, but time actually did not exist before a self-aware being arrived who could know these changes. Our being asleep to who we really are creates the universe and time and the journey we are on to experience all the possibilities that this separateness creates. And when we are done with all the exploring, there is the journey defined by a transcendence of this separateness. The experience of the two becoming one.

 Time does not exist. What does exist is this moment and where this moment leads is entirely dependent on what we bring to it. If our intent is for this moment to enlighten us, then we will bring openness and awareness and allow the truth of this moment to guide our actions. Pay attention and listen carefully. Everything is already here and now.