Thursday, July 24, 2008

Vedanta Verse 296

This is a verse in which the phrase “kalatraya abadhyam” occurs. The interpretation of “never sublated in three times” is fascinating. What remains un-negatable in the three periods of time past present and the future, is the self, the ever present awareness. That which is never ever replaced by time is the Self.
When time is experienced I am there,
When time is not there I am there,
The non existence of Time is known to me when I wake up from deep sleep. I experienced no time is my own experience for which I the self has to exist. Thus, I am, is never negated by time. Nor is I am in time, for when I wake up, I wake up along with the notion of time. It is not that time exists outside my awareness and it is absolute.

An analysis of Time.
What is time in actuality? It is synonymous with memory. This kalatrya abadhyam “never sublated in three times” is also akhanda bodham, “ever shining”.

What does “ever shining” mean? The term ‘Ever’ has nothing to do with the three times, past, present and the future. ‘Ever’ has to do with the now. The past and the future are both rooted in the present, now, past is not another time, nor is future another time, both past and the future are rooted in the now,

Nobody experiences the past, we experience only the present, similarly nobody experiences the future, we only experience the thought of the future in the present. Thus past and the future are imagined in the ever present, the now, the being.

There is no past, but the memory of the past, there is no future but a thought of the future. Memory of the past is felt in the present, the thought of the future is felt in the present, thus what is always present is the now, the ever present, awareness, in which is rooted the memory or the thought of past and future.

What about the present? Can present be called Time?
Present is not another period of time, present is Now=Being=to be= to be present. Present is the Subject. The past and the future are creations in the ever present. The ever present is confounded with fleeting time which is another thought registered in the Now, the Being, the ever present.

Past is experienced in the present, the future is experienced in the present, experience itself is never of a past time,

Present is ever the now, the present, being and is never replaced by future or anything. Present never disappears, thoughts disappear and appear, when present is distorted it looks like past and future.

This is very much within our realm of experience but not grasped. We always think of the present as fleeting and thus negate the ever present as “gone”/the past. We have to recognize the present, the truth/the very support of the past and the future.

The present never comes or goes, I mistake the present with the thought of the past and the future.
This verse says that we ought to recognize this ever present, timeless, Self and remain peaceful, giving up all disturbing values, like vanity etc.

What is profound here is the analysis of time, and seeing the self as ever present awareness. St Augustine, the medieval Christian theologician, “never sublated in three times” also makes an analysis of time to prove that there is no time. If anyone is familiar with that pl let me know.

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