The joy of living

“’The past is imperceptible, the future is imperceptible, and the present is imperceptible’....
Sutras of the Mother, translated by Ari Goldfield

If you look at your experience from the point of view of time, you can say that tables, glasses of water, and so on do indeed exist in time - but only from a relative perspective. Most people tend to think of time in terms of past, present, and future. “I went to a boring meeting.” “I’m in a boring meeting.” “I have to go to a boring meeting.” “I fed my children this morning.” “I’m feeding my children lunch right now.” “Oh no, I have to make dinner for my children and there’s nothing in the refrigerator, so I have to go to the store as soon as I get out of this boring meeting!”
   Actually, though, when you think of the past, you’re merely recalling an experience that has already happened. You’re out of the meeting. You’ve fed your children. You’ve finished your shopping. The past is like a seed that’s been burned in a fire. Once it’s burned to ashes, there’s no more seed. It’s only a memory, a thought passing through the mind. The past, in other words, is nothing more than an idea.
   Likewise, what people tend to call ‘the future‘ is an aspect of time that hasn’t yet occurred. You wouldn’t talk about a tree that hasn’t been planted as though it were a solid, living object, because you have no context for talking about it; nor would you talk about children who haven’t yet been conceived the way you would about people you’re dealing with here and now. So the future, too, is just an idea, a thought passing through your mind.
   So what are you left with as an actual experience? The present. But how is it even possible to define ‘the present‘? A year is made up of 12 months. Every day of each month is made up of 24 hours. Every hour is made up of 60 minutes; every minute is made up of 60 seconds; and every second is made up of microseconds and nanoseconds. You can break down the present into smaller and smaller increments, but between the instant of present experience and the instant you identify that instant as ‘now,’ the moment has already passed. It’s no longer now. It’s then.
   The Buddha intuitively understood the limitations of the ordinary human conception of time. In one of his teachings he explained that from a relative point of view the division of time into distinct periods of duration such as an hour, a day, a week, and so on, might have a certain degree of relevance. But from an absolute perspective, there’s really no difference between a single instant of time and an eon. Within an eon there can be an instant; within an instant there can be an eon. The relationship between the two periods would not make the instant any longer or the eon any shorter.
   He illustrated this point through a story about a young man who came to a great master in search of a profound teaching. The master agreed, but suggested the young man first have a cup of tea. “After that,” he said, “I’ll give you the profound teaching you’ve come looking for...”

The story continues, after which the article discusses the Buddhist perception of time, comparing it to quantum mechanics. Written by Yongey Mingyur Rimpoche, this article is reproduced courtesy of the book THE JOY OF LIVING by the same author, published by Bantam Books. It is available on SPECIAL OFFER to Yoga & Health readers. Please see page 48 of the November 2009 issue of the magazine.