The Principle of Time
A reader espouses these popular beliefs and deserves comment:
(1) There is no past or future, but only the present.
(2) Truth “is never about the outside.”
(3) Things on the outside can only hurt us when we believe they can hurt us. If we “free ourselves” from negative thoughts and energies no harm can come to us.
Let us start with number one. She makes a good point that we should not live in the past or the future, but I maintain that neither should we live exclusively in the present. Think back to the Pendulum principle which we discussed earlier. People tend to go to the extremes as does a pendulum making the point of truth which should be lived a moving target difficult to pin down.
Going to the extremes always leads to illusions and we can go to an extreme by living too much in the past, the future or the present.
Now we have all met people who live too much in the past or live in their dreams in the future, but how could one live too much in the present? After all isn’t the present all there is? If this is true then the true reality is that we indeed live totally in the present and the truth is to merely acknowledge this. Right?
Not right.
Why?
Answer: Present time is no more a true reality than is past time or future time. This is understood when we realize the principle which creates present time.
What is that principle?
Present time is created through the interplay of past time and future time just as soul is the creation of matter (a past creation) and Spirit (perfect future creation).
As we discussed earlier, the present as we understand it is not a point, but a package or quantum of time which is composed of past, present and future. Consciousness itself is merely the registration of these packages of time moving by us as a film clip with each package consisting of around one sixtieth of a second, but even within this quantum there are billions of points of time past, present and future.
Consciousness, therefore cannot live in the present for the present cannot exist without the future and the past.
In reality we “see only the past” (as taught by the Course in Miracles) because our consciousness is always at least a sixtieth of a second behind the true present. Therefore, all of us technically live in the past because we never catch up to the true present.
In this reality we cannot exist exclusively in the past, present or future. This reality is created from this Trinity of forces, and wholeness (or holiness) consists of living wisely within all three of these points and managing their direction, so the past, present and future all become desirable realities.
But how can the past become desirable if we had a bad experience there?
If we manage the present and the future wisely then even past painful experiences become springboards to joyous living and are turned to a pleasant memory rather than painful.
When I think back to my most painful memories that I have learned from I certainly would not want to go through them again, but because I have learned lessons from them they have become some of my most precious memories that I cherish very highly.
On the other hand, when one does not learn from the past the pain from the past remains and the present, past and future all become distorted and uncomfortable to pass through.
What would happen if there were no past or future?
Answer: There would also be no present for the present is the interaction of the two.
If then there is no past, present or future what would there be?
Answer: There would be no form, no energy, no consciousness, nothing to act or to be acted upon, no sadness, no joy, no duality. There would be NO THING.
Now some say the state of NO THING is the goal to which we should all aspire, but if this is so then why are we here to begin with?
Obviously this universe, with you and I in it, are here for a purpose and if we do not live through this experience we are in with wisdom then we are negating the grand purpose of God.
Aesop’s Fable of the Grasshopper and the Ant (revised)
There was a positive thinking grasshopper who had not a care in the world. He spent his day singing and playing for he had no fears or cares about any dreadful future of lack. Thus he made no preparations to prepare to avert an unhappy situation which was far from his consciousness.
The grasshopper came across some silly ants who were working very hard to store and prepare food so that when the winter comes they would not freeze to death.
“Come play and sing with me,” said the Grasshopper, “for look – the sun is shining, the weather is good – let us enjoy life.”
“We enjoy work as well as play, said the ants and now is the time to work so we may be prepared for the freezing cold and time of lack to come.”
The grasshopper, who had never seen a winter, ridiculed the ants. “You ants are doing all this work for nothing. From the time of my first memory the sun has shined in its strength and there has always been plenty of fruit and greens for me to eat. Life is for play and joy. Do not be deceived into thinking that you must go through this drudgery of work to prepare for a fearful future. Let your fears go as I have and you shall be forever free.”
“We do not work out of fear,” said the ants, “but work to be free from fear. When the winter comes we shall see who will really know what fear is.”
The grasshopper shook his head and went his way playing, singing and making fun of the ants until the day of winter.
A day of great cold came and snow blanketed the area. The grasshopper was freezing and there was nothing to eat and a fear overtook him the likes which he had never before experienced. Then he remembered the busy ants and the thought occurred to him that they would have food stored up for a time of lack.
He sought out the ant colony and peeped in the ant hole and sure enough there were the ants dancing and singing as they feasted on the bounty they had stored up. The grasshopper called out to them and said:
“Help me please. Give me some of your food that I too may survive the winter.”
The ants responded. “You are much larger than us and if we help you our colony will starve also. You had your chance to prepare and your answer was to think positive and enjoy life. We looked to the future and prepared. We enjoyed our work and now we enjoy our play. Now is the time for you to learn the lesson that is taught by lack and fear that such a situation will never again happen to you. We wish you well.”
The door was then shut
Question: Is being like the grasshopper and thinking positive thoughts and having no fear enough to avoid negative consequences in life?
Why not?
Is looking to the future as did the ants a silly thing to do, or is it wise?
Trusting Goodness
Concerning the electrical crisis in California I notice that they are having a huge conflict there about whether they should continue to regulate the retail price the utilities charge. It is becoming obvious to even the densest mind that the utilities there can only continue for so long in selling electricity at a rate which is below their own cost. Rationalizing that the utilities are just greedy will only carry so much weight and then finally the truth must be faced.
It is obvious that when you build no new power plants for ten years and the population doubles that you are going to have shortages. Compared to Gray Davis, George Bush looks like a genius here. In the last five years Texas has built 22 new power plants with an additional 15 under construction.
The environmentalists have shot themselves in the foot on this power plant shortage and support of price controls. The result has been that the price of electricity has been artificially low and this has discouraged the development of alternative fuels which will be a big boon to the environment.
Before those who control the money get serious about alternative fuels there has to be a financial attraction and there will be little attraction when utility prices are artificially low.
A problem with many environmentalists (but not all) is that they are anti technology and it is technology which is eventually going to give us a clean fuel source which we shall use for thousands of years to come.
Some are so extreme that they want to limit the population of the earth to a couple million people and return to tribal living and run naked with the bears, but such is not the vision of the new age held in the minds of the Great Ones.
The possibilities of mankind will be revealed in outer form through technology as a forerunner to the full revelation of the inner powers.
We have been exploring avenues where the Beast maintains its grip through getting people to follow the leader without thinking.
As I said earlier ground zero for the Beast is the principle of freedom and any expansion of freedom is always fought by those with the mark of the beast through deception and ridicule.
The principle of freedom expands when one sees the Christ in his fellow man and develops a basic trust in the general goodness of people. As it is, the few are always eager to take away freedom from the many because of distrust. The few with influence always fear that the many will not use freedom wisely and therefore they do not deserve it and should not have it.
Examples:
The utility companies (which are run by people) are greedy and therefore we must control not only the price they charge, but the price they pay for power.
Free Trade. We cannot trust the eventual triumph of the goodness of the human spirit in allowing free trade and we must restrict it.
Drugs. We cannot trust people to make their own decisions about what is good or bad for them so we must control them.
Guns. We cannot trust people with guns, therefore we must take them away.
Vitamins and herbs. We cannot trust people to take wise dosages therefore we must restrict their use to a doctor’s prescription.
Woman’s right to choose. Of course this must be restricted.
Free speech. We must restrict speech that is politically incorrect.
Right to one’s own property. There are many laws restricting the reasonable use of your own property and many more proposed.
In the name of goodness, protection, mom and apple pie almost every freedom we have is under attack from one source or another.
The Beast maintains its power through the manipulation of emotional energy and to escape its influence we must rise to the plane of the mind and the mind can only be developed in an atmosphere of freedom
When you examine the various countries of the world you will see that the less freedom the people have the more they are influenced and controlled through emotion.
To move to the Age of Aquarius we must free up the mind and the mind is freed up as freedom itself abounds. This is why basic democratic rights had to be established on the earth before the new age could come in.
It is indeed true that there is not complete safety in freedom and we must all ask ourselves this question: Do we want perfect safety or freedom? Which is the most important?
Do we all want to be forced to drive 30 miles an hour down the freeway so we cannot have an accident bad enough to kill ourselves?
If we truly desired safety above experience we would have never been born in the first place because life itself is a great risk. The very fact that we are here in a place of risk illustrates that deep within the souls of us all is a greater desire to be free and to explore and to BECOME than to just be still, stagnate and safe.
It is becoming clear that giving our power and allegiance to an unjust authority negates the principle of freedom and DECISION.
On the other hand, many take this rejection of authority to an extreme and reject a just or an earned authority.
Name three just authorities and explain how these can enhance the principle of freedom rather than negate it.
A reader comments:
“So it is really more true to say not that it was an Aha ……. but something more like “yes, I knew that, or yes I felt that. The Presence of God is overflowing in me at this moment and I feel like my entire body is glowing!! Oh what a tiny taste of heaven!!”
When someone writes like this I know that such a person has indeed touched the Spirit through the soul. Those who have felt this contact indeed understand the words of Christ which state: “My reward is with me.”
The reward of the just is not some palatial heaven with golden streets, but a true communion and oneness with God and for that we do not have to wait for a second coming, flying saucers or death. The reward of God is here for us now awaiting our decision to accept.
Feb 10, 2001
Copyright by J J Dewey
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