Past + Future

[Portto]

Where does the past go?
Where is the future coming from?

[question]

Appearances change, but they change within the now. I think there is no existence to past and future (other than in a theoretical sense), so I guess they don't come and go.

I think the real question is: is there even a Now? When I do they Tolle exercise, how do I know that the Now that I'm focussing on isn't just an idea of the now that I'm trying to focus on? Maybe concepts like the now, absolute consciousness, presence, I am, are actually nothing more but pointers to _______?

[lightmystic]

For me, past present and future are still here. They don't go anywhere. It's just that the mind filters them out so we can have the experience of a logical coherent story. Where does the "past" in a story go when you turn the page? It's still there, just not being focused on for the sake of a consistent story....

[zendancer]

"Past," "present," "future," and even "now" are ideas. Time is an imaginary grid. Like ego, if we search for "now," we'll never find it. It is just a way of cognizing our experience and rendering it imaginable. The truth is___________.

[karen]

I always thought there was something fishy about time. I would look forward to something I wanted or dread something I didn't want. Then BOOM here it is - whoops there it went!

And that is considered normal.

Then later in my habitual quest to figure things out, I figured that time was an illusion created by the bottle-neck of the senses. (No doubt I had heard or read this elsewhere, but then became my own when figuring it out in a round-about fashion).

Sometimes I try to see what timelessness is, but I can't even know the present moment.

...now back to your regular broadcast...

[lightmystic]

I know! You'd think that we'd figure that out eventually, right? It took me a long time to start to trust that, and I think the trusting process is still happening....

Feb 10, 2010 13:29:39 GMT -5 karen said:

I always thought there was something fishy about time. I would look forward to something I wanted or dread something I didn't want. Then BOOM here it is - whoops there it went!

And that is considered normal.

Then later in my habitual quest to figure things out, I figured that time was an illusion created by the bottle-neck of the senses. (No doubt I had heard or read this elsewhere, but then became my own when figuring it out in a round-about fashion).

Sometimes I try to see what timelessness is, but I can't even know the present moment.

...now back to your regular broadcast...

[Portto]

Thank you all for your replies.
Lots of nice experiences and clarity!

[jimmytantric]

Past and future are based in time therfore have no basis in reality.There is only present moment and even that doesn't exist because after a 1/100 of a second passes that now becomes past! It'sonly in nothing that ALL is there is no other way all else is Illusion! The good news is YOU are this Nothingness! Good luck OM

[klaus]

I've always thought of past and future as existing simultaneously in the now.

[karen]

It really seems like future events/conditions prepare me in the now.

[Portto]

"Here it is – right now. Start thinking about it and you miss it." ~ Huang-Po

This quote makes me angry and happy at the same time...

[zendancer]

Nice quote and so true. The moment we reflect upon what we see, we go into the mind and leave the real world behind.

[Portto]

Maybe we could define "past" as something that can be found in some form of memory, and "future" as something that we assume.

[zendancer]

Hmmm. We could define it in an infinite number of ways, but will that help in any way? The truth has nothing to do with time.

[Portto]

HaHa. You're right. It's a game.

But does language help in any way? Does science help in any way?
Definitions help in the same way - but they keep us preoccupied with the illusion, indeed.