Time and the Middle Way

 

 

 Is ‘Everything already done? -  Is there nothing left to do?’ ,  Well, that’s what some say. But is it true?

 

Yes. It is

 

And No, it most assuredly is not.

 

How can that be? Well, it’s a paradox, - a paradox created by the concept of time.

 

Because if we look , we soon see that time And time again

It is time

That has misled us

 

Because when we think of things as being ‘done’ or ‘not done’, we are automatically thinking along a linear timeline.  But time does not truly exist.  And neither does space.  Einstein coined the term time-space continuum to describe this dynamic duo.  And Einstein knew that time didn’t exist.  But we believe in this linear timeline.  Because of this belief, some choose to adopt the idea of “complacent acceptance of what is”, while others choose to continue to search and expand their understanding.

So, which is true?

 

What is true is beyond our common way of thinking, so this may not make sense to some of you at this time.  Even so, I am happy to try and point to it for those who are able to hear it:

As with all truths, it is so simple, so utterly simple that it confounds our common way of thinking:

The simple truth is-

There is no beginning or end.

For they are one and the same.

There is no alpha and omega

For they are one and  the same

At any point, everything is done

Yet any point is also the ongoing process of becoming

that which it is.

 

That’s really all there really is to it.

 

But I know this doesn’t seem to answer the question at hand, so let’s discuss it a bit further: Should we sit quietly in complacent acceptance of all that is. or

Should we seek to evolve, to create, to change things that no longer suit us?

 

 

Though you may not believe me at first, the Truth is, there is no difference between the two  - no difference between change and acceptance, once you remove time from the equation.  The confusion occurs because we think of “complacent acceptance” as being passive, inactive, while we think of “creating and interacting” as being active.  But they’re actually just alike because without time, we lose all sense of active and inactive, of instigating or passive. It’s all the same. Soooo ‘change’ is really no different than ‘sitting complacently like a leaf on the river of life’ because either is exactly the same without time.  That’s the key to this seeming paradox – without time. Can you see this?

 

So, if time doesn’t really exist, then why the heck is it here, and how is it causing this confusion?  Time and space are our means of establishing Placement and sequence. Time and space is what allows me to be here, while you are there.  Otherwise, we’d be something like this (stuck together) It also allowed me to do this video before you watched it.  Convenient, wouldn’t you say?  Simply put, time and space allows us a place in which we may experience our experiences as we do

 

Normally, we picture time passing somewhat like marks on a ruler being revealed one at a time.   But how would it effect time if you could see the entire ruler all at once?  What if you could see your entire life all at once? Do you see how seeing it in its entirety removes the concept of “active” or “passive”?  There is no doing.  It just is.  And what if what appeared on the ruler was dynamically created, not set in stone (which is a concept of time), with all possibilities open at all times?  How would that be?  Because that is closer to the truth

 

The bigger our perspective, the more of the ruler we see.  Though everything is actually one and the same, it can seem to exist independently here compliments of (you guessed it) time and space.  But in truth, everything is always present, happening and not happening all at once.  But this is all very difficult to imagine with our normal thought processes because by default we are limited to noticing only what our perspective allows us to.  This thought completely fries our little time-sensitive brains, which is why we have to step out of the Time Machine, because that is the function of the time machine – to provide us this time and space in order to be able to place and sequences our events, our experiences.  But the time machine is just a device, not reality.  In reality, there is no need for sequence or placement.  But when we hear this, our attachment to time causes us to hear only “already done’, which time-constrained minds think that it means everything must be predetermined, already set in stone.”  No.  I know this is a brain buster, but  No.  Absolutely not.  Nothing is predetermined.  Nothing is set in stone.  It only seems that it must be that way from our seat in the Time Machine.  Everything is dynamically created.

 

 

So if we hang our heads out of the time machine and look beyond time, we can see the higher truth: Acceptance and Change are the same - BOTH just experiences pressed upon the canvas of Time.  So, which one should you use?  Well, that depends upon your selected position in this wonderful dynamic dance we call Life.  In other words, what you choose depends upon you and your perspective, and, some what ironically, you and your perspective will depend upon what you choose.  And neither is necessarily more or less correct.  In fact, one would not be able to exist without the other.

 

So let’s stop locking ourselves into the Time Machine and forgetting that it is just a device for placement and sequencing, not true reality.  Let’s not get stuck in it and refuse to come out, because that only assures that we will continue to see only on differences, for that, after all, is the purpose of the time machines.  Time and space’s usefulness to you is to provide you these differences, to separate things, to allow us to choose and experience different things.  But we must never forget that the higher truth is, there is no separation, no beginning, and no end.

 

May we see beyond the veil and

Never doubt that time and space are illusions,

May we Never doubt that we are eternal,

and most importantly,

May we never doubt that all is One.

 

Let us recall what Buddha taught:  “A string wound too tightly will break.  But a string not wound tightly enough will be too slack to be played.” 

 

This is what the Buddha was pointing to with his teachings on The Middle Way. The Middle Way is Neither, and both, - all at the same time.  It is not clinging to just one, or the other.