Enduring Autism Through Vedanta-Part II

Beyond Time-Space-Causation

There is another angle from which we can infer that the world may not be so real. That is investigating 'Time'. We live in time. But, time has a peculiar property. Time can be divided into three parts—past, present, and future. Past is dead; we cannot do anything about it. Future is not known and anything can happen. We can even die today. We are left with the present.

What is Present? Apparently, we know the answer. Do we really know? Let us say, one minute now is the present. Can we hold this one minute for ever as present? No, after one minute, this minute becomes past. Thus, the present minute became past. The so-called present is constantly changing to dead past: it is fleeting.

Another interesting factor about the present is the time-interval of the present. Arbitrarily, we can take one hour as the present—let us say, now it is 10 a.m. and we can say 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. is present. But at 10 a.m., is 11 a.m. really present? No. 11 a.m. is really future—one hour away. Similarly, at 10 a.m., even ten minutes after 10 a.m. is future—10 minutes away. At 10 a.m., even one minute after 10 is future. Theoretically, at 10 a.m., even one second after 10 is future; nay, even one billionth of a second later is future. Thus, theoretically, the so-called present is a vanishing quantity.

Intuitively, we rebel against the idea of a vanishing and fleeting present. Why? As we sit quietly, removing thoughts from the mind, as we go deeper, we feel an Awareness, that is Here and Now. That Awareness is Ever Present and seems to be abiding forever. Sitting deeply in that Awareness, time is a fleeting entity. Events in time are also fleeting like a cinema and we witness it. From that Reality, time itself is a fleeting phantom and so is the seeming world. Utmost blessed is that soul that can stay in that Reality forever! I am not there yet, but I get glimpses when I am in deep thought or listening to deep classical music.

Read more about the reality beyond thoughts on the Next Page

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