The Universe
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
How many moments are there? What is a moment? A moment is a vague concept of an unspecified length of time, generally considered to be a small point in time. But are there any real points in time? Can time really be divided into points of time?
Although we use a system of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds, these are all manmade measurements of time. A year is based on the orbit of the planet around the sun, and a day is based on the rotation of the earth relative to the sun. There is a natural pulse and cyclic repetition in the world that allows for a sense of periods of time. But that's not to say that periods of time are really set.
We come to accept and believe in our terms for time, assuming that time is really divided in this way. But time cannot truly be divided. It is a flow of change. We will find no true beginnings, ends or divisions of time. Time cannot be truly grasped and labelled.
It is more accurate to understand time as the appearance of change within an unchanging permanent. That is, the appearance of change that is perceived as the flow of time is known relative to One who remains unchanged and unmoving. Namely, Consciousness.
It is in Consciousness that the experience of change is perceived. Consciousness is unchanging and timeless. Change appears as a reflection of the unchanging nature of Pure Consciousness, like floating clouds reflected on the still water of an infinite lake. The lake remains still and unchanged whilst change appears within it.
There are not moments in time. There are no seconds or minutes etc. There is only Now. Now is not a point in time. Now is timeless, experiencing the illusion of time. Now is the Pure Consciousness which allows the perception of its opposites. But there is nothing other than Now, only an illusory appearance of 'not now'. There is only Now.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
This is a tough one for people and the mind to grasp or accept: nothing ever happens. But it can be explained to a degree. We must start by recognising that the nature of Being, the nature of Reality, is an Infinite Singularity.
The world that is perceived as moving and changing appears within the Infinite Singularity, and it seems as if the Singularity has exploded into different perceivable forms. I call it The World of Motion, because everything is moving, relatively speaking. Even things that appear to be still (like houses, mountains, tables and chairs etc.) are moving, as the universe swirls in its expansion and contraction. You see, it's also a World of Opposites interacting. Or so it seems.
Consider an Infinite Singularity. There is no inside or outside of it. There is nothing other than it. There is no distance or division in it. There are no dimensions to it. It cannot go somewhere else. It cannot move at all. Movement doesn't exist in it. It cannot change. Change doesn't exist in it. It is formless and invisible. It is pure clarity and unblemished perfection, although there is no-one to see it and call it this. In fact it really has no qualities. The descriptive words I've used here are plucked from a world of duality and opposites, where comparisons can be made. But an Infinite Singularity has no comparisons, as there is nothing other than it.
This Infinite Singularity is the unseen reality of the illusory world. The world appears as if the Singularity has been split in two and multiplied exponentially to form a multiplicity. Points of perception arise within this multiplicity, human beings, where we can look at the world as if it is the Singularity in separation. The Singularity is able to perceive itself in terms of duality, and concepts of opposites. It is from this standpoint that a human being can say, "Reality is a Singularity, and separation is illusory."
So the World of Opposites / Motion appears, and it seems that things happen, things are done, activity goes on between the opposite poles of beginning and end. But this is illusory. The Singularity is not broken in two. A multiplicity is not formed. There is never a separation in the Singularity, only an appearance of separation and illusion. The Singularity remains as it is. All the motion in the universe goes nowhere. It all seems to happen right here in the Singularity. Time seems to span out between the beginning and the end of the universe, but it is all right now in the Singularity.
The Singularity does not have space and time. It is Here and Now. There is no real movement or change. Nothing ever happens. There is a Law of Opposites that applies in the world that seems to appear, because even in the illusory appearance the Singularity must be maintained. That is, whatever is done in space and time must be undone. Space may appear to stretch out, but it must also stretch back in. The world may appear from a singularity, but it must return to a singularity. Whatever happens must unhappen. Its opposite must counter it to restore the balance of the singularity.
The Singularity is never out of balance, of course, and nothing is ever done. Yet the world appears as if something is happening, so it necessarily must unhappen. This happening and unhappening is commensurate with space and time. So space and time is the appearance of the unfurling and refurling of the Singularity.
If this is difficult to grasp at first, recognise that in a dream nothing ever happens. Dream images may appear and disappear. Distances may be travelled but you never go anywhere. It is similar with the universe but with a more formal structure. What happens within the unfurling and refurling of the universe has infinite possibilities, but it must all be counterbalanced by the nature of opposites.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
Eckhart Tolle famously wrote about The Power of Now. Let's look at the Power of Here. Essentially Here and Now are the same, just considered from different perspectives.
Wherever you go you are Here. You could go on a climb to get to the peak of a hill or mountain, and when you get there you are still Here. Wherever you go you still have a sense of being Here. Yes, you can say you're at the top of a mountain, you're on a boat in the sea, you're on a beach, you're flying in a plane, or relaxing at home. That's the world in which the body lives. But you're not the body. You are the presence right here, and it's not possible to be anywhere other than where you are.
The world gives us an experience of being somewhere other than here, but it's a play of space, depth and distance within our Infinite Hereness. Truly all space appears Here. We never experience anywhere other than here. If we look to a distant hill, bridge, building, or even a distant star, we perceive it right here. The three dimensions of space are experienced right here in spaceless Consciousness.
This understanding can help us to become centred. There's no real centre, of course, but when we believe that we have gone out into the world and become a lost soul, we can find our way home by returning to the centre of stillness within the appearance of the world. What that means is that we can remind ourself that we are not lost, we are not confused, we are not a human being trying to cope in a vast world. We are simply Here.
We can observe thoughts that seem to be in front of us, but they appear within us. The space of the world seems to go out from our Centre of Awareness. But rather the thoughts, body and the world appear within Awareness right Here.
So rest right Here, as you are. If you find yourself becoming entangled in thoughts, return yourself right Here where you observe thoughts. If you find yourself believing you are the body caught up in problems, return yourself right Here. Here is the placeless place of our shared being. It has no dimensions. It does not get lost or drawn out. You remain perfectly as you are right Here.
Here is the presence of our being. The dimensions of the world seem to stretch out from Here. But Here has no depth. It is infinite. All space is Here. All time is Here. All space and time is Here and Now.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
Do you believe space and time are real? What about Spacelessness and Timelessness? Most people take it for granted that space and time are real, yet there is good reason not to simply accept this. For space is the illusory appearance of distance, and time is the illusory appearance of change.
The true nature of reality has no dimensions and does not change. Space and time are created, or more accurately space and time come into appearance. They are not the essential nature of What Is.
I should explain what I mean by 'What Is'. I use that to refer to the essential nature of the universe or reality. The term 'existence' isn't quite what I mean, as the Latin 'exister' means to stand out. What I mean is not what stands out, but rather what the universe stands out from or in. It is the universe that seems to stand out. The universe is the world of space and time. This appears or stands out from and in What Is. What Is has no qualities that can be defined. At best we can say it is Spaceless and Timeless, it is a Singularity, infinite without form or definition. It is beyond space and time, being without distance or separation, and without change. It is the perfect stillness within which the world of motion appears.
What Is is like the screen within which a movie plays, where depth is perceived, where there is change and progression. But the depth and change perceived is not the nature of the screen, which has no depth or change.
Space appears as the opposite of reality, seeming to have depth, distance and separation. The true nature of reality is without separation or distance. Time appears as the opposite of reality, seeming to be form changing. Reality is formless. That Which Is has no form.
When space and time appear, the form that appears cannot be permanent. The only permanent is the formless What Is. So form naturally changes. It rises and falls with the flow of opposites.
Space and time are the reflection of the formless unchanging Singularity of What Is. By understanding the reflection we can see the unseen nature of reality. Reality is not what we see. What we see is the reflection of Reality. Reality is Here and Now, Spaceless and Timeless.