Each one of us, at some time during our lives, looks out at nature and envies the plants and animals. We observe that they are born; they die; they live through hardships and joys the same way we do, but with two important differences: they never deviate from being themselves or living in the ever-present Now.
Allan Watts acknowledged these truths when he wrote, “As far as we can judge, every animal (and plant) is so busy with what he is doing at the moment that it never enters his head whether life has a meaning or a future. For the animal (and plant) happiness consists of enjoying life in the immediate present.”
By remaining within the ever-present Now, every living creature retains its personal integrity and “keeps it real,” except for homo sapiens. Unlike other living beings, humans en masse have fallen out of the ever-present Now and are now trapped in linear-sequential time, a state dominated by the past and the future.
It’s people living in modern Western societies who suffer most from this fall and its consequences. Unlike the rest of nature, which finds it’s freedom and joy within time itself, in the 21st century humanity finds itself trapped by time and the inevitable cycles of birth, death, and rebirth.
Earlier in European history, there were two concurrent views of time. There was eternal time, which extended from everlasting to everlasting. It was the domain of Universal Consciousness, the unmanifest creator. Within eternal time, there was no birth, death, or rebirth – or any way to measure the interval between events.
In contrast, linear-sequential time began infinitely in the past and will continue to travel in the same direction until the end time. In the West, in earlier epochs, there was often a dramatic confrontation between the two realms of time. The confrontation between linear-sequential time and eternal time was reflected in conflicts within the early church between the scholastics, who’s religion existed within linear-sequential time and whose method was rooted in the writings of Aristotle and the early church fathers, and the Gnostics. The scholastics believed that personal salvation, their ultimate goal, could only be achieved by reconciling Christian faith with reason.
According to the scholastic belief, there was a moment of creation when time began and an end time when God’s plan would be realized through salvation. At the end time, they predicted, the remnant of humanity would re-experience the joy and freedom it lost through original sin – which they believe trapped, even the faithful, in linear-sequential time.
In contrast, mystical traditions like Gnosticism recognized that salvation was eternally imminent. By putting their faith in intuition, insight, and catharsis, they recognized that personal liberation required a person to step outside the rational framework into eternal time where there was no death or rebirth.
To the Gnostics and those who shared their beliefs, Christ was the alpha and omega who stood outside sequential time. For those who accepted his invitation, Christ opened the door to eternity and union with Universal Consciousness.
As we know, the scholastic tradition triumphed over the mystical tradition in the West. Since then, linear-sequential time has dominated Western civilization; as a result, people have valued qualities such as status, control, and wealth, which only make sense if they exist exclusively in linear-sequential time.
Go East, Young Man
Fortunately, in the East, the scholastic view was never fully accepted. As a result, Eastern adepts were able to develop reliable methods to escape from the prison of linear-sequential time into eternity, where they could experience Sat, Chit, Ananda – eternal life, Universal Consciousness, and bliss. This is essentially what the Indian Tantrics sought to do. They were looking for a way to experience eternal time and the bliss that accompanies it. Like their Gnostic brethren, they found the path to immortality by studying the mechanics of eternal time and humanities position within it. It’s by understanding the Tantric notion of time that we begin to understand what a person must do in order to liberate themselves from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
The Tantric View of Time
Unlike the prevailing Western view that holds that time is linear and sequential, Tantra has always held that past and future are part of the landscape which enriches an eternal present. This initial insight made it possible for Tantrics to function outside linear-sequential time and to experience Sat-Chit-Ananda.
According to the Tantrics, past and future support the ever-present Now in the same way as the background of a painting supports the foreground – giving it a perspective, even though it occupies the same flat canvass. Past and future, as the analogy explains, are spilling out of an eternal present, enriching it, and giving it a context. This view puts man directly at the center of things by always keeping him in the eternal Present. Past and future become the scenery which spill out of his consciousness and which color his world. The past seems far away, but that is because it is skillfully painted in perspective. It is no farther back than the present moment.
In Tantra, this view of time is represented by a monster who spews time out of his mouth. If we use the analogy of a car moving rapidly down a straight stretch of road and by subtly changing our perspective pretending that it’s the landscape around us that is moving and that we are not moving, as drivers sometimes do, we get some feeling of the Tantric experience of time. The Tantric adept stands still and watches the cosmic movie flowing through him. Since everything is projected through him, there can be no depth of time – no point where everything he experiences originated; he becomes both the creator and focal point of his own subjective universe.
In addition to watching the movie of the mind, Tantric masters learned that their orientation to time was subject to the masculine and feminine forces represented by Shiva-Shakti. This means that a person’s position in time – whether they’re centered in linear-sequential time or eternal time – depends on how they’ve balanced themselves between the opposing masculine and feminine forces within their subtle field of energy and consciousness.
People are Polarized
Now for the good part, according to the Tantrics, the front of the human body has a feminine polarity. It’s receptive and sacred to Shakti, which means it functions within linear-sequential time. In contrast, the back of the body has a masculine polarity. It’s assertive, sacred to Shiva, and functions within eternal time. That polar relationship makes it possible for a person to change their orientation to time by becoming more feminine or more masculine in relationship to a central point in their subtle field.
The problem most people face is that they position themselves in the front of their bodies. Their postures, voices, and breathing reflect this. They walk tilted forward. Their voices are usually thin and raspy and don’t resonate from deep within them. As a result, they find themselves breathing into the front of their chests so that their chests expand forward, rather than breathing into the back of their chests so that their backs expand and their shoulders lift.
Human beings remain trapped in linear-sequential time because they center themselves in the front of their bodies. The simple solution would be to move backward. By doing that, it’s possible for them to achieve a healthier balance and to reposition themselves in eternal time. In order to achieve that, I’ve developed a technique called the Timeless Meditation. It will allow you to enter eternal time, while you continue to function with conscious awareness in linear-sequential time. The exercise takes about twenty minutes a day.
The Timeless Meditation
To begin the meditation, find a comfortable position with your back straight. Close your eyes and breathe deeply through your nose for two to three minutes. When you’re ready to continue, bring your mental attention to your heart chakra in the center of your breastbone. Breathe into your heart chakra for five inhalations. The prana that accompanies your inhalation will activate the chakra further. Then assert, “It’s my intent to center myself in my heart chakra field.” Enjoy the shift for two to three minutes. Then assert, “It’s my intent to visualize a screen two and a half meters (eight feet) in front of me.”
As soon as the screen appears, assert, “It’s my intent to visualize an image of myself on the screen.” Immediately, your image will appear on the screen in the appropriate size to fit comfortably. Continue by gazing into the eyes of the image. After a short time, you will feel that you are looking through your own eyes at the person on the screen. When that happens, it means you’ve shifted into eternal time. Enjoy the experience for ten more minutes. Then release both the image and the screen. When you’re ready to bring yourself out of the meditation, count from one to five and open your eyes. You will feel wide awake, perfectly relaxed, and better than you did before.
and it goes on and on and on, this sweet ,sweet song.
And it goes on and on and on !