Thank you, saidevo, for you words on “time is an illusion” – I think you do an excellent job describing this major position on “what is time?”
Quote:
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Originally Posted by saidevo
…Close your eyes, switch off all lights, and sit down in a dark room.
Try to relax and still your mind. Just watch the thoughts flow by,
do not participate in them. Stay on in this position as long as
you can.--Now, what impression do you get of time or time passing?
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As someone who grew up in the 1960s and 70s in a liberal household in the US, I have done and continue to do quite a lot of what you describe.
I have just finished doing it again. Among many sensation, I felt an increased awareness of my body’s activity. One of these activities is the regular, clock-like beating of my heart, and the slightly delayed pulsing of the arterial termini it supplies.
So the impression I get of time it that it passes regularly, peacefully, and with awesome ease, but that is does pass, irresistibly.
Here is an exercise I’ve found more conducive to producing a sensation of timelessness:
Position yourself in front of a clock with a smoothly-moving second hand.
Still youself.
Focus on the second hand, anticipating first its position now, and its position one great division – five seconds - hence. See that it has reached the anticipated position. Now, anticipate its position now, and in a shorter division hence. See that it has reached that position. Continue.
At some point, without shifting your attention from the clock, consider what you are doing. Consider that 5 seconds is a long time, and that each subsequent division is likewise a long time.
What impression do you get of time or time passing?
