LETTING GO OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME
LEARN TO USE TIME IN THE PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE- WE MAY CALL THIS "CLOCK TIME" - BUT IMMEDIATELY RETURN TO PRESENT-MOMENT AWARENESS WHEN THOSE PRACTICAL MATTERS HAVE BEEN DEALT WITH. IN THIS WAY, THERE WILL BE NO BUIL-UP OF 'PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME", WHICH IS IDENTIFICATION WITH THE PAST AND CONTINUOUS COMPULSIVE PROJECTION INTO THE FUTURE.
CLOCK TIME IS NOT JUST MAKING AN APPOINTMENT OR PLANNING A TRIP. IT INCLUDES LEARNING FROM THE PAST SO THAT WE DON'T REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES OVER AND OVER. SETTING GOALS AND WORKING TOWARD THEM. PREDICTING THE FUTURE BY MEANS OF PATTERNS AND LAWS, PHYSICAL, MATHEMATICAL AND SO ON, LEARED FROM THE PAST AND TAKING APPROPRIATE ACTION ON THE BASIS OF OUR PREDICTIONS.
BUT EVEN HERE, WITHIN THE SPHERE OF PRACTICAL LIVING, WHERE WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT REFERENCE TO PAST AND FUTURE, THE PRESENT MOMENT REMAINS THE ESSENTIAL FACTOR. ANY LESSON FROM THE PAST BECOMES RELEVANT AND IS APPLIED NOW. ANY PLANNING AS WELL AS WORKING TOWARD ACHIEVING A PARTICULAR GOAL IS DONE NOW.
THE ENLIGHTENED PERSON'S MAIN FOCUS OF ATTENTION IS ALWAYS THE NOW, BUT THEY ARE STILL PERIPHERALLY AWARE OF TIME. IN OTHER WORDS, THEY CONTINUE TO USE CLOCK TIME BUT ARE FREE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME.
BE ALERT AS YOU PRACTICE THIS SO THAT YOU DO NOT UNWITTINGLY TRANSFORM CLOCK TIME INTO PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU MADE A MISTAKE IN THE PAST AND LEARN FROM IT NOW, YOU ARE USING CLOCK TIME. ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU DWELL ON IT MENTALLY, AND SELF-CRITICISM, REMORSE, OR GUILT COME UP, THEN YOU ARE MAKING THE MISTAKE INTO "ME" AND "MINE". YOU MAKE IT PART OF YOUR SENSE OF SELF, AND IT HAS BECOME PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME, WHICH IS ALWAYS LINKED TO A FALSE SENSE OF IDENTIFY. NONFORGIVENESS NECESSARILY IMPLIES A HEAVY BURDEN OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME.
IF YOU SET YOURSELF A GOAL AND WORK TOWARD IT, YOU ARE USING CLOCK TIME. YOU ARE AWARE OF WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, BUT YOU HONOR AND GIVE YOUR FULLEST ATTENTION TO THE STEP THAT YOU ARE TAKING AT THIS MOMENT. IF YOU THEN BECOME EXCESSIVELY FOCUSED ON THE GOAL, PERHAPS BECAUSE YOU ARE SEEKING HAPPINESS, FULFILLMENT, OR A MORE COMPLETE SENSE OF SELF IN IT. THE NOW IS NO LONGER HONORED. IT BECOMES REDUCED TO A MERE STEPPING STONE TO THE FUTURE, WITH NO INTRINSIC VALUE. CLOCK TIME THEN TURNS INTO PSYCHOLOGIAL TIME. YOUR LIFE'S JOURNEY IS NO LONGER AN ADVENTURE, JUST AN OBSESSIVE NEED TO ARRIVE , TO ATTAIN, TO "MAKE IT" . YOU NO LONGER SEE OR SMELL THE FLOWERS BY THE WAYSIDE EITHER, NOR ARE YOU AWARE OF THE BEAUTY AND THE MIRACLES OF LIFE THAT UNFOLDS ALL AROUND YOU WHEN YOU ARE PRESENT IN THE NOW.
I CAN SEE THE SUPREME IMPORTANCE OF THE NOW, BUT I CANNOT QUITE GO ALONG WITH YOU WHEN YOU SAY THAT TIME IS A COMPLETE ILLUSION.
WHEN I SAY, 'TIME IS AN ILLUSION" MY INTENTION IS NOT TO MAKE A PHILOSOPHICAL STATMENT. I AM JUST REMINDING YOU OF A SIMPLE FACT - A FACT SO OBVIOUS THAT YOU MAY IT HARD TO GRASP AND MAY EVEN FIND IT MEANINGLESS - BUT ONCE FULLY REALIZED, IT CAN CUT LIKE A SWORD THROUGH ALL THE MIND-CREATED LAYERS OF COMPLEXITY AND "PROBLEMS" . LET ME SAY IT AGAIN, THE PRESENT MOMENT IS ALL EVER HAVE. THERE IS NEVER A TIME WHEN YOUR LIFE IS NOT "THIS MOMENT". IS THIS NOT A FACT?
THE INSANITY OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME
YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY DOUBT THAT PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME IS A MENTAL DISCASE IF YOU LOOK AT ITS COLLECTIVE MANIFESTATIONS. THEY OCCUR, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE FORM OF IDEALOGIES SUCH AS COMMUNISM, NATIONAL SOCIALISM OR ANY NATIONALISM, OR RIGID RELIGIOUS BELIEF SYSTEMS, WHICH OPERATE UNDER THE IMPLICT ASSUMPTION THAT THE HIGHEST GOOD LIES IN THE FUTURE AND THAT THEREFORE THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS. THE END IS AN IDEA, A POINT IN THE MIND-PROJECTED FUTURE, WHEN SALVATION IN WHATEVER FORM - HAPPINESS, FULLFILLMENT, EQUALITY, LIBERATION, AND SO ON- WILL BE ATTAINED. NOT INFREQUENTLY, THE MEANS OF GETTING THERE ARE THE ENSLAVEMENT, TORTURE, AND MURDER OF PEOPLE IN THE PRESENT.
NEGATIVITY AND SUFFERING HAVE
THEIR ROOTS IN TIME
BUT THE BELIEF THAT THE FUTURE WILL BE BETTER THAN THE PRESENT IN NOT ALWAYS AN ILLUSION. THE PRESENT CAN BE DREADFUL, AND THINGS CAN GET BETTER IN THE FUTURE, AND OFTEN THEY DO.
USUALLY, THE FUTURE IS A RELICA OF THE PAST. SUPERFICIAL CHANGES ARE POSSIBLE, BUT REAL TRANSFORMATION IS RARE AND DEPENDS UPON WHETHER YOU CAN BECOME PRESENT ENOUGH TO DISSOLVE THE PAST BY ACCESSING THE POWER OF NOW. WHAT YOU PERCEIVE AS FUTURE IS AN INTRINSIC PART OF YOUR STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOW. IF YOUR MIND CARRIES A HEAVY BURDEN OF PAST, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE MORE OF THE SAME. THE PAST PERPETUATES ITSELF THROUGH LACK OF PRESENCE. THE QUALITY OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS AT THIS MOMENT IS WHAT SHAPES THE FUTURE - WHICH OF COURSE, CAN ONLY BE EXPERIENCED AS THE NOW.
YOU MAY WIN $10 MILLION, BUT THAT KIND OF CHANGE IS NO MORE THAN SKIN DEEP. YOU WOULD SIMPLY CONTINUE TO ACT OUT THE SAME CONDITIONED PATTERNS IN MORE LUXURIOUS SURROUNDINGS. HUMANS HAVE LEARNED TO SPLIT THE ATOM. INSTEAD OF KILLING TEN OR TWENTY PEOPLE WITH A BUTTON. IS THAT REAL CHANGE?
IF IT IS THE QUALITY OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS AT THIS MOMENT THAT DETERMINES THE FUTURE, THEN WHAT IS IT THAT DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS? YOUR DEGREE OF PRESENCE. SO THE ONLY PLACE WHERE TRUE CHANGE CAN OCCUR AND WHERE THE PAST CAN BE DISSOVED IS THE NOW.
