It’s About Time – Part 2

I do realize that the term “conceptual time” is not an entirely clear or accurate name given that all time is conceptual. However, past and future exist in the mind only and, since the mind is the birthplace or source of conceptualization, not only is the term adequate and appropriate for this portion of the discussion, but it also serves to accentuate that fact. Simply put, the past is memory and the future is projection, both of which are mental concepts.

The past, as just mentioned, is memory. It is the accumulation of experiences which are recorded in Consciousness. One might ask why Consciousness would bother to save a record of these experiences that have already happened. What is the point? Well for one, the past is a treasure trove of information and lessons that can be drawn upon when that recorded experience has relevance to current situations or events. Such experience can provide useful and helpful knowledge on how to handle these current situations. Recorded experience also aids in developing habits and routines that can help handle much of life’s more mundane tasks without needing much attention. Such tasks are handled automatically much in the way that the body handles tasks like breathing, sleeping, blinking, etc. This frees one’s attention to focus on the now and the current events passing through the now, the experience of which will be recorded and added to memory, thus becoming the past as well. Memories of loved ones that have passed on can help keep the love for them alive in one’s heart. Joyous experiences can be reflected upon in difficult times to help ease their burden. The purpose of the past can even be as simple as remembering how to get to someplace one has been to so there is no need to look up directions.

This is all well and good as long as one doesn’t become fixated or dwell too much on the past. When experience relevant to current events is drawn upon, it is brought into the present moment and used as an aid to better handle said events. To dwell on the past, however, is to get caught up in the mind and lose focus of the now, which is when life happens. This often occurs when there is unresolved trauma or past experiences that were unskillfully handled, leaving behind emotional wounds and trapped emotional energy. These can be triggered by current events and usually present as disproportionate reactions to those current events because the reaction is to the trauma, not to the current event. For example, one could overreact and blow up in response to a seemingly small situation, or the opposite could occur where one has little or no reaction to a situation that should elicit a greater response. These disproportionate reactions can be troublesome and can often cause harm or exacerbate an already difficult situation, but they can also serve as a red flag or an indicator that something is going on beneath the surface. These reactions can reveal trauma and emotional wounds that one was previously unaware of, thus providing an opportunity for them to be addressed. Doing so allows the healing process and the releasing of that trapped, emotional energy to begin. Another way in which one can be fixated on the past is by giving too much attention to the running commentary that most have going on in their head. This running commentary is the mind’s way of processing and recording current events. Although it may seem as if the commentary is the present, I assure you it is not. For the mind to fabricate that commentary, the events had to have already happened. Giving too much attention to this commentary is like listening to a ball game on the radio. The announcer is the running commentary on the events of the ball game and, while listening to him will provide you with information about the ball game, he can only ever comment on events that have already happened. Anyone who has been to a ball game or even watched one on TV knows that witnessing the game first-hand is a much richer and more meaningful experience than listening to that commentator. The first-hand experience has a much greater impact and is far more thrilling and exciting. Giving attention to the running commentary in the mind is dwelling on the past, albeit the very recent past, but still the past. To do so is to miss out on the first-hand experience of witnessing the rich and meaningful events of life as they are happening.

The final purpose of the past I will mention also provides a nice segue into the next aspect of conceptual time I wish to discuss; the future. The past is the source material or inspiration for the mental projections that create the future. Experience, combined with imagination, allows one to mentally fabricate possible futures: anticipation, expectation, or hope of what could be; of what might come to pass.

Much like the past, the future has its purpose as well. It provides direction in life so one is not wandering through it haphazardly. The future enables one to establish goals and create plans to reach those goals. It is important to note though that those plans and goals are established in the now and they provide a roadmap or the aforementioned direction that keeps one on course toward the fulfillment of those goals. This is the difference between planning and projection. Planning is the creation of the steps required to move toward the goal, projection is the imagining of the goal itself. The future can also provide hope if the current experience is a painful or unpleasant one. The possibility that things can get better is an inspiration to keep one going through difficult times.

Again, this is all well and good provided one does not become fixated or dwell too much on the future. Calculations, logistics, and planning all take place here and now to help create direction for the future. Obsessive projection, however, robs attention from the present and traps one in the mind causing them to “live” in their projections, not in actual events. This again results in missing out on life as it’s unfolding in the now. It can also cause unnecessary frustration if the actual events that unfold don’t match the projections, which is often the case. It is unlikely that one who is lost in their projections would have a firm grip on reality, and the discrepancy between actual events and their distorted projections reflects that. Another complication is that the possibilities imagined through obsessive projection can multiply exponentially leaving one lost and confused at best, completely paralyzed by fear and anxiety at worst. To compound matters, if one’s past is littered with emotional baggage, unresolved trauma, and painful or frightening memories, the projections based on that past are only going to exacerbate the fear and anxiety because they will be fueled by that pain. Similar to the past though, frustration, disproportionate fear, and anxiety can be red flags or indicators to let one know that something is amiss. It could be that there are unresolved issues that need addressing or simply that one has wandered off course and has gotten lost in their projections. If one finds that they are constantly frustrated by current events, or that things never seem to work out the way they thought or hoped they would, these are good indications that one is giving too much attention to the future.

The possibility of the future is potentiality and it is the nature of the potential to eventually actualize and become something. In this case, some aspects of the projected future eventually become current events, once again providing a nice segue to the final aspect of conceptual time I wish to discuss; the present.

The present is now, which appears as though it’s nestled quite comfortably between the past and the future. This can create the Ego-based perception that conceptual time is linear, with the past behind and the future ahead. Once again, this perception is limited and is ultimately untrue. Much like chronological time, conceptual time is cyclical as well. Experience and imagination fuel projections of a possible future and those projections focus one’s attention and provide direction. Eventually, some aspects of that possible future find their way into the present and become current events. The experience of these events gets recorded in Consciousness as memory and they become part of the past, which fuels the next projections and continues the cycle. The Ego also sees itself as a person moving forward through time from past to present to future, but all actions and movements that can create this misperception take place in the now. It is time that is constantly moving, constantly flowing. Picture the hamster in his hamster wheel. He runs and runs but doesn’t go anywhere. It is the wheel that is constantly moving and turning. Conceptual time is like that hamster wheel, continually cycling events from the projected future into the present, and then into the past to then create new projections. With the broader perception that results from embracing Consciousness as the proper identity, it can be seen that one does not move through time, but that time moves through them. This clear perception fixes one’s position perpetually in the present, thus revealing the difference between the permanent nature of the now and the ever-changing concepts of the past and future.

The now is not simply another aspect of conceptual time. It is something different. The now has a sense of realness to it that the past and future lack. This is because, as mentioned, past and future are concepts that exist only in the mind. Also mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, now is the only “time” that can be said to truly exist with time in quotations because the now is not technically an aspect of time. As it is always now, the now is timeless. The now is reality itself or rather; it is the contact point between reality and the events that flow through time. When an event comes in contact with the now, with you, a temporary stamp of reality is imparted to it for the duration of its appearance in the now. As it passes beyond the now, the event gets recorded in Consciousness as an experience and becomes part of the past, making room for the next event to flow into the now. This is why it is critical to remain present as much as possible. When present, one can make use of consciousness, not the mind, to gain direct insight into current events. It is through this direct insight of the now that life is truly lived. The mind and its concepts of time have their place as has been referenced, but now is the only thing that is real.

This brings the discussion to the final part of the chapter and to the real purpose of time; beyond the simple unit of measure of linear time, beyond the cyclical aspects of both chronological and conceptual time in which events flow. As Consciousness, one can see that time is in you, not you in it. The true purpose of time is that it serves as a function of Consciousness.