Musings about time

Those who desperately want to believe in the possibility of time travel would like to describe time as a set of slices arranged in a linear order from left to right or in vertical order from bottom to top and that it is possible to physically visit any slice of time in the past or the future.  They aver that it is possible to use technology to skip from one slice to another in random order and change the sequence of events for positive/ negative outcomes.  A number of time travel movies have explored the potential impact of such visitations on the past or the future.

While this, makes for a collection of very interesting tales, it must be remembered that our concept of time travel stems from our experience of the flow of time. Physical experience of time indicates that time is a linear flow.  Time flows from past to the present and into the future in an unending stream.  The past can never be physically revisited and the future cannot be physically experienced in the present.  The past can be remembered and the future planned for. The present alone can be lived in.

Adopting a more scientific approach, it must be appreciated that time is an artificial construct. Humans have defined time on the basis of the rotation and revolution of our planet.  Since the planet takes approximately 365 days to go around the sun, we have called it a year. As the planet takes 24 hours to rotate on its axis, we have defined the day.  The seconds, hours, minutes, months and seasons are all sub-divisions created from the position of the sun or the moon in relation to the earth in the cycle of rotation or revolution. So we can safely say that we have created time on the basis of our experiential understanding of the way light and heat from the sun reaches us at various points in the rotation and revolution of the planet. The ticking of the clock reminds us of the diurnal and annual movement of our planet. It follows that if were to define time on Mars, the duration of the day or month or year will be completely different.

The Travelling Twin Experiment

An oft discussed experiment in this context is the hypothetical experiment of the travelling twins.  One twin stays on earth and the other goes into space in an ultra-fast rocket that travels at the speed of light. The travelling twin travels for two years as per the ticking clock and calendar on board the rocket. When the traveling twin returns to earth he is two years older than he was when he left the earth. However, the 2-year travel time in the ultrafast (faster than light travelling) rocket equaled 30 years of time on earth. So the twin who remained on earth is 30 years older than the day when he was separated from his traveling twin!

Our Space-time worldview

Unfortunately, we have come to regard time and space as the frame of our existence.  We forget that time-space are artificial man-made constructs and illusions generated artificially. We allow the diurnal motion and annual motion of the earth to convince us that life is nothing but a large clock ticking relentlessly from our birth to our death. 

But let us take a step back and look how concepts of time evolved in the West and the East.  

Western Perspectives on Space-time

Western Philosophy and Science were based on observation of the external world.  What can be observed; recorded and replicated is true.  Subjective experience cannot to be considered proof enough as it cannot be replicated.  Consequently, there was no model for the study of the subjective experience of space or time in Western thought. In fact, there was no discussion about the interaction of space and time in Western Philosophy or Science till the theory of relativity was mooted by Einstein.  Till then, it was accepted that time and space are fundamental dimensions of the Universe but they are to be measured independent of each other using distinct methodologies.  The hourglass and then the clock was used to measure the passage of time and rulers, gauge blocks were used for studying length and breadth of space.  Therefore, when Einstein claimed that space and time were inseparable, the western world was shocked.  The theory seemed to challenge common sense and demand deeper study. Later, as they probed the concept, they came up with new understandings. Cognitive sciences and neurosciences have, since, revealed that:

·         We use shared neurological mechanisms to make psychological judgements about time and space.

·         Space and time are regarded as interchangeable in our minds.  This is demonstrated in verbal expressions “Moving forward”; “Lagging behind”; “thinking ahead” and so on or we say “My daughter lives 2 days’ journey to the west” (space/distance perceived as time).

·         And so on…

Modern day physicists delving into the mysteries of the quantum world, are eager to explore the frontiers of space-time continuum in multiple ways. They are frantically discussing multiple dimensions, multi-verses, teleportation and time travel as hypotheses that may one day be proven realities.

Eastern perspectives on Space-time

Contrary to the West, Eastern philosophers have always demonstrated a tendency to accept subjective experience as real.  Time and space are not considered different dimensions.  They are considered two faces of the same coin. They are properties of the external world of experience. They agree with their Western counterparts that:

·         Matter occupies space for a given period of time.

·         Matter has a beginning and an end in time.

·         Matter occupying space is subject to the ravages of space and time (Kalachakra).

·        Mind perceives the world in terms of space and time using the five senses; the mind and the intellect (Maya).

However, they repeatedly assert that, time and space apply only to matter and have no impact on consciousness, which is all there is.  So time and space must be accepted and discarded.  Vedic literature informs us that Kala (time) chakra (Wheel) is only for the body located in a bounded space-time. Kalachakra has a finite beginning and an end.  Karma, again, is space-time concept. The soul binds itself to a body and time, with the explicit purpose of working out its Karma. Therefore, Space-time is born when the body is born.  Therefore, Man would be better occupied in finding ways and means of transcending the “space-time” conundrum and ascending to the state of Nirvana, mukti, Moksha (freedom from space-time).  The state of Samadhi is the state of time-less-ness and space-less-ness. It has no beginning or end.  Matter—does not matter. 

As a consequence, Eastern Philosophy is focused on overpowering the formidable grip of sensory perception and the believable illusions of a wayward mind in order to destroy the bondage of space-time!  

Has anyone conquered space and time?

Time as we know it, is a physical construct; a measure (defining the rotation and revolution of the earth), applicable to the physical body in a predefined space (earth).  Note that there are two variables and a constant in this construct—the physical body(constant), time (variable 1) and space (variable 2). The travelling twin experiment proved time can be stretched (or varied) if space occupied by the body is varied.  But, time cannot be slowed, stopped or changed in any manner so long as the body remains on earth.

Eastern philosophers, on the other hand, believe that time and space can be varied if the constant (body) is taken out of the equation.  It is the physical body that keeps time and space anchored.  Thousands of subjective experiments conducted by eastern scientists called Siddhas are provide recorded evidence of their ability to control time and space by taking the physical body out of the equation. These Siddhas have the recorded ability to divest them of their physical body instantly and re-manifest another body for themselves thousands of miles distant from their original location (space)(see Paul Brunton’s “A Search for Secret India”). Yet others, are able to manifest multiple physical bodies in parallel space-time continuums to complete the tasks they have undertaken (see: Paramahamsa Yogananda’s “Authobiography of a Yogi”). Unfortunately, all these stories are dismissed as old wives’ tales and even the Siddhas who have manifested this ability are shy of talking of it as they regard it as a mere side-effect of their main practice!

In the context of this discussion we may conclude, that time is an illusion we have created to give ourselves a frame of reference for our life on earth. We must all agree that, while the time-space construct is valid, it is not real beyond the time-space we physically occupy.  If, like the west, we are content with objective proof of the illusion of time and want to do nothing about it—that is ok.  But, if you want to truly understand the nature of the illusion, walk with the thousands of eastern masters who have gained mastery and control over time and space by taking the physical body out of the equation (by overpowering the formidable grip of sensory perception and the believable illusions of a wayward mind) and seeing time and space for what it is—Maya (illusion)