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The Problem of Time (Read 10403 times)
Yvvak
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The Problem of Time
Apr 18th, 2014 at 1:30pm
 
Hello everyone,

While looking into various channeled material, I've come across a recurring theme that is honestly confusing from every way that I think about it, and that is the idea of "no time" or "simultaneous time", in which the past, present, and future are all homogenized into one. I know that this was discussed a bit in my thread back in March, but I was hoping we could discuss it a bit further and delve into the implications. My first concern is resolving the conflict between simultaneous time and free will, partly because if the future is already occurring, then the events leading up to that future must occur in order for it to occur, thus bringing determinism back into the mix. My second concern is the notions of sequential order, motion, progression,and change in the afterlife. None of these can occur without some sense of time, so this leads one to believe that the nature of the afterlife is static. The best way that I can reconcile these issues is to look at it from the realm of probabilities. For example, the future "exists" as probabilities which may or may not actualize in accordance to one's freedom of choice, and (this is more my personal hope) the past "exists" as probabilities as well. The model I have just proposed, however, also takes in the fact that consciousness exists outside of "time", but still experiences the phenomenon of growth via the exploration of the various probabilistic timelines. At that level, the sense of temporal order still exists, but simply as "I was at this level of growth, but my exploration caused me to rise to this level of growth." Personally, this makes more sense, because it eliminates another problem of multiple selves spread throughout timelines all existing at once.

I realize that the very nature of this problem is incredibly convoluted, and this model that I've thought up is probably riddled with holes, but it makes some sense to me at this time. I was hoping you all could give your opinions on the matter and perhaps help me see a simpler explanation than the one I've proposed.
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #1 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 8:12am
 
I don't know the answers to these kinds of questions and am no scientist. But, I have had a few experiences which have made me question the idea of only one specific timeline with specific occurrences on it being the basis of our existence here.

These were moments in time in which it seemed that there would be one outcome, but there was a different one instead, a different outcome which was bizarre and not easily explained in my own mind. I am bringing to mind a moment in time when I was physically going to do one thing but the moment got twisted somehow and I found myself doing something completely different. This sounds vague, but if you experience it, you will be left wondering, what just happened.

In another instance, I saw something which was there one minute and when I looked again it was completely gone. It was an entire scene outside and included an huge object which could not be moved.

I could tell myself I'm just nuts, or maybe something else is going on. So, I am interested in the idea of multiple timelines existing, and I have heard others here describe such situations, impossible situations, which did occur to them.
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #2 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 10:18am
 
Reminds me of a story I've told before so I apologize in advance to those who've already know it.

Anyway my mom's nephew was a customs official at an upstate NY town near the Canadian border.  One day as he was relaxing on his front porch, which was located on one of the main roads through town, the scene suddenly shifted.

Instead of the usual traffic going by, the road was now cobblestones and the traffic, instead of cars, consisted of horses and carriages.  Passersby were dressed in early 20th century clothes.

According to her nephew, it wasn't just a visual thing.  He could clearly hear the sound of wagon wheels clattering on the cobblestones, the smell of the horses, and the laughing and yelling of kids.

He swore he was not asleep or dreaming, the scene lasted only a few moments but it was a totally real experience.  He was transfixed, unable to process what he was seeing and hearing.

Then the scene gradually "dissolved" and once again the normal traffic resumed as it had prior to his experience.

For years he had kept the story to himself.  It wasn't until he retired that he told family members.  I'm sure he was concerned that it might jeopardize his job if such a story came out at the time.

Assuming it wasn't a lucid dream, the question is whether this was an example of simultaneous time.  And if it was, the question then raises many other questions as well as possibly answering other riddles.

For example, if past/present/future time is really all One Time, it might explain how some people are able to predict or foresee future events.  Maybe they already took place and somehow a "window" becomes open under certain circumstances.

The more interesting question is whether an event in the "past" can be altered and "future" events be changed accordingly (the so-called butterfly effect).

This gets into the "Seth" material and others that claim anytime a decision is made whether big or small, it sets up a whole new probable reality wherein both decisions were made and the consequences of both decisions play out.

I decide to marry A rather than C, and although I am now living a life with A, there is another dimension where I'm living a life with C.  Or I leave the house after deciding I want to see a certain movie and am killed in a traffic accident.....on the other hand I decide to stay home instead and both scenarios then play out.

As Yogi Berra once said, "when you get to a fork in the road, take it."  Exactly!  The world of probabilities explained in one sentence.

For those who are interested in this sort of thing, Jane Roberts wrote a fascinating book called The Education of Oversoul #7.  Used books are still available from Amazon at low prices.

I am not a fan of Seth, but this book was not channeled and whether you accept her version of the elasticity of time or not, it sure makes for entertaining reading!

R
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DocM
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #3 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 11:41am
 
Tom Campbell, author of My Big Toe, suggests that our notion of space-time is formed here, due to constraints on physical reality imposed by the greater consciousness at how fast physical phenomenon occur or can travel; i.e. "c" or the maximum speed of light.  Non-physical reality (the afterlife, the realm of thought)  has no concept of space/distance, as it exists outside of our reality.   TC contends that non-physical reality can process data at a much faster speed than "c," but that we are unable to appreciate this from our perspective.  He therefore believes that there is a "time" there, consisting of such a speed that it is beyond our appreciation , (and that time is a fundamental phenomenon), but that the notion of space is fabricated - a concept created by the limitations imposed in a physical world where "c" is the maximum velocity of things. 

Thus to hear TC discuss things, "space" is a concept created in our physical reality system due to the constraints of "c" limiting how information is processed. 

Free of the physical world, during meditation or after death, there is no actual distance and "c" no longer limits the maximum rate of travel of information.  As such, there are numerous accounts of moving almost instantaneously through your intent - and the more you desire to see or do something, the quicker you experience things.  Likewise, people report telepathic content with others, where huge amounts of information are communicated in "thought balls" that appear, to our minds as almost instantaneous (compared to the transfer of information in the physical world through light, reading a text, speech delivered by sound, etc.)

You still are in the "present" in whatever consciousness frame you find yourself in.  You can explore the past or future if you set intent to do so in NPMR (non-physical reality), but what you are doing, in essence is going through data streams which include probabilities.  Thus you may have the experience of being in the future, as reported in some NDEs, but this is a virtual future, and changeable by probabilities and possible variables. 

Swedenborg speaks of no notion of time in the afterlife (as we are accustomed), but that for those in the afterlife they are aware of their current "state" and that they change from one state to another. 

I like TC's explanation of time being a fundamental process, but NPMR's time being comprised of a much faster velocity than "c" and therefore space not being found there.  But admittedly, this is one theory.  Still, multiple travelers have commented on the differences in space and time encountered on spiritual journeys to NPMR, both through meditation and NDEs. 


M
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #4 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 1:03pm
 
First of all, I can't say that I have this time thing all figured out.

Second, I'm not going to go by what channeled sources have to say about it.

That said, much of what Doc said about Tom Campbell's views seems correct to me.  My feeling is that we always live "now" and now is always going to be here even if we are aware of all moments of time during now.

It is hard for me to believe that we will reach a point where we can never have a new thought because all such moments have already taken place. As long as we always exist now, we can always have a new thought. It is more of a matter of reaching the point where as Tom Campbell suggests (as paraphrased by Doc), we can have a lot more thought while non-physical than while physical. We might experience an entire century in an instant.

Regarding space, since God can never be separate from a part of himself, space can't be an absolute limitation. It is a matter of how much we limit our experience of all that is.

By the way, I listened to a Tom Campbell video and at one point it seems as if he stated that parallel universes don't exist in the way that some physicists and some channeled sources state. Rather, different possibilities exist. A possibility doesn't have to become a reality simply because it exists. Through our free will we decide what possibilities manifest. My feeling is that this interpretation is correct.

Even if time were simultaneous this wouldnt mean that free will doesn't exist, because a chronological sequence could be seen that is based on a large number of now-based decisions.

The best way to answer the time related free will question is to ask ourselves "how do we feel right now?" "Do I feel the freedom of choice that exists within me right now?"

Albert

P.S. Since Jane Roberts was able to write the Oversoul books Roger referred to without Seth's help, and since she wrote science fiction and ESP books before Seth supposedly came along, perhaps she could've written Seth books without the existence of an actual Seth. The accuracy of such books might be based on what Jane and her husband were able to come up with.
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #5 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 1:13pm
 
I tend to agree with Tom on his concept of time, and i can fully agree with people's claims that time is different somehow, but when some channeled material suggests that the entire phenomenon is illusionary, i find it a bit hard to grasp.
DocM wrote on Apr 19th, 2014 at 11:41am:
Tom Campbell, author of My Big Toe, suggests that our notion of space-time is formed here, due to constraints on physical reality imposed by the greater consciousness at how fast physical phenomenon occur or can travel; i.e. "c" or the maximum speed of light.  Non-physical reality (the afterlife, the realm of thought)  has no concept of space/distance, as it exists outside of our reality.   TC contends that non-physical reality can process data at a much faster speed than "c," but that we are unable to appreciate this from our perspective.  He therefore believes that there is a "time" there, consisting of such a speed that it is beyond our appreciation , (and that time is a fundamental phenomenon), but that the notion of space is fabricated - a concept created by the limitations imposed in a physical world where "c" is the maximum velocity of things. 

Thus to hear TC discuss things, "space" is a concept created in our physical reality system due to the constraints of "c" limiting how information is processed. 

Free of the physical world, during meditation or after death, there is no actual distance and "c" no longer limits the maximum rate of travel of information.  As such, there are numerous accounts of moving almost instantaneously through your intent - and the more you desire to see or do something, the quicker you experience things.  Likewise, people report telepathic content with others, where huge amounts of information are communicated in "thought balls" that appear, to our minds as almost instantaneous (compared to the transfer of information in the physical world through light, reading a text, speech delivered by sound, etc.)

You still are in the "present" in whatever consciousness frame you find yourself in.  You can explore the past or future if you set intent to do so in NPMR (non-physical reality), but what you are doing, in essence is going through data streams which include probabilities.  Thus you may have the experience of being in the future, as reported in some NDEs, but this is a virtual future, and changeable by probabilities and possible variables. 

Swedenborg speaks of no notion of time in the afterlife (as we are accustomed), but that for those in the afterlife they are aware of their current "state" and that they change from one state to another. 

I like TC's explanation of time being a fundamental process, but NPMR's time being comprised of a much faster velocity than "c" and therefore space not being found there.  But admittedly, this is one theory.  Still, multiple travelers have commented on the differences in space and time encountered on spiritual journeys to NPMR, both through meditation and NDEs. 


M

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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #6 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 1:26pm
 
I agree on all points, Albert.  My gut feeling, which I'm trying to listen to more, tells that consciousness uses time as a tool through which it can explore an infinitely vast range of possibilities. Perhaps the theory of simultaneity and my idea are saying the same thing in a different manner, but I just find it hard to wrap my mind around multiple "mes" running around doing the exact opposite of what I've done  Grin
recoverer wrote on Apr 19th, 2014 at 1:03pm:
First of all, I can't say that I have this time thing all figured out.

Second, I'm not going to go by what channeled sources have to say about it.

That said, much of what Doc said about Tom Campbell's views seems correct to me.  My feeling is that we always live "now" and now is always going to be here even if we are aware of all moments of time during now.

It is hard for me to believe that we will reach a point where we can never have a new thought because all such moments have already taken place. As long as we always exist now, we can always have a new thought. It is more of a matter of reaching the point where as Tom Campbell suggests (as paraphrased by Doc), we can have a lot more thought while non-physical than while physical. We might experience an entire century in an instant.

Regarding space, since God can never be separate from a part of himself, space can't be an absolute limitation. It is a matter of how much we limit our experience of all that is.

By the way, I listened to a Tom Campbell video and at one point it seems as if he stated that parallel universes don't exist in the way that some physicists and some channeled sources state. Rather, different possibilities exist. A possibility doesn't have to become a reality simply because it exists. Through our free will we decide what possibilities manifest. My feeling is that this interpretation is correct.

Even if time were simultaneous this wouldnt mean that free will doesn't exist, because a chronological sequence could be seen that is based on a large number of now-based decisions.

The best way to answer the time related free will question is to ask ourselves "how do we feel right now?" "Do I feel the freedom of choice that exists within me right now?"

Albert

P.S. Since Jane Roberts was able to write the Oversoul books Roger referred to without Seth's help, and since she wrote science fiction and ESP books before Seth supposedly came along, perhaps she could've written Seth books without the existence of an actual Seth. The accuracy of such books might be based on what Jane and her husband were able to come up with.

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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #7 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 1:53pm
 
Boheric:

Regarding the "multiple mes", if you have reached the point in your Soul evolution where you treat others in a respectful and loving way, does there really have to be other yous that treat people in an unloving way?

Where would the momentum and energy for such action come from?
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #8 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 2:06pm
 
Valid point, it also undermines any weight a decision carries. "good" choices are taken simply out of personal gain, and any sense of choice becomes a series of hoops through which we jump in order to achieve our best personal outcome, which seems a bit lopsided in a system that seems to look highly upon selflessness and achieving the best possible outcome for all involved parties. I'm not trying to slander the idea of multiple selves by any means, but I can't overlook some of its implications.
recoverer wrote on Apr 19th, 2014 at 1:53pm:
Boheric:

Regarding the "multiple mes", if you have reached the point in your Soul evolution where you treat others in a respectful and loving way, does there really have to be other yous that treat people in an unloving way?

Where would the momentum and energy for such action come from?

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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #9 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 3:03pm
 
I believe it is possible to scrutinize something without having to slander it. This is what "resonates" with me.

In another Universe the opposite resonates with me. Wink

All kidding aside, "in this Universe," some people will say the multi-universe viewpoint resonates with them while other people will say it doesn't. This shows that resonation meters don't always work accurately. Therefore, we need to consider things thoroughly and deeply, sometimes even beyond what first resonates with us.

If the multi-universe viewpoint is true to the extent some people contend, then for each of the words above there is an alternate universe where I mispelled each word so that all possibilities could be manifested. In each case enough energy had to be made available so all that is could be re-created in a differing version. This means that every conscious being had to be re-created just so "I" could have universes where each word was mispelled.

There is more to this absurdity than what I just stated, because it is also possible that for all of the other things in this universe that took place differently as I mispelled one of the above words, an alternate universe had to be created.

Or perhaps reality works in a much more sensible way and despite what Bashar or some other channeled source says, multi-universes aren't created in a senseless way.
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #10 - Apr 19th, 2014 at 10:20pm
 
As to the idea of multiple "mes", etc., my take on it is that there may be different digital data streams out there that we can explore, that are parallel to our own reality, but that they are not part of our own.  So, I very much doubt that there are a dozen versions of me, you or anyone else in earth-school physical reality. 

It seems clear to me that we can explore probabilities and possibilities in the right consciousness frame of mind, but that these frames or streams must be different from our own physical reality.  But some who experience NDEs or astral travel, etc. may not understand that they are exploring a divergent stream, and assume that it must relate to what they know to be real.
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #11 - Apr 20th, 2014 at 4:02am
 
For me it is easiest to understand this concept of "no time" if I think about what is meant by the word "time."  Here in physical reality we tend to see time as inseparable from the events that occur Here.  We see those events as always following from the past, through the present and toward the future.  We believe time and this flow of events will always be together.

But what if events could exist without any requirement that we experience them only in a one-way-moving-sequence?  What if all the events in every sequence were available for us to experience, without the constraint of one-way time?  For example, what if we could chose the age we want appear to be?  And then change our minds and chose again?  "Aging" would lose it's meaning, wouldn't it.  We wouldn't be "growing old."  We'd be choosing our appearance to fit our mood or desire in that moment.  And the next moment we could chose to experience a different age appearance.

So all events are available to us, but there is "no time" constraint on our ability to chose which ones we want to experience.  There is only an eternal Now in which we are free to create new experiences, or re-experience any we like.  Or be in more than one "place" at one "time."

Want to know how the pyramids were built?  Just chose to experience that, enter that "sequence of events."  Chose to jump around in the sequence if you like.  Redo events in the sequence, but perhaps chose a different location.  Be at the quarry watching workers cut stone and move it to the pyramid site. And be observing the stones being set in place while you are still at the quarry.  And when you're satisfied with those experiences, return to where you were before you were at the pyramids without any time having passed There while you were "gone."  If you were in a conversation with someone "before" you went to the pyramids, you rejoin it as if you were never "gone."  The constraint of time's passage no longer exist.

Maybe the easiest way to understand it is to say "no passage of time" instead of "no time"

Clear as mud?

Bruce
    

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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #12 - Apr 20th, 2014 at 9:30am
 
Thanks, Bruce. 

I think that makes much more sense.  Otherwise, timelessness seems like insanity.  You know, I am currently reading a novel on my Kindle.  While doing so, I remembered an interesting passage from the first chapter.  I scrolled back from the 10th chapter to the first, and then, after satisfying my curiousity, I scrolled forward again to the 10th.  On rare occasions, if something piques my interest, I jump ahead and then reverse course and go backward. 

Now the novel is still in the sequence in which it was written.  My ability to rewind or fast forward in no way changes the logic or the overall meaning of the novel.  But due to the nature of the Kindle, or my ability to change perspective, I can travel backward or forward along the data stream, or choose a linear approach to reading. 

I venture to say, that freed of a human body and constraints of the earth physical world sense of time, we have choices to change perspective (as Bruce mentions) and view things from different angles.  But this doesn't have to imply insanity or senselessness.  Sequences of events still exist, but our perpspective and perceptual abilities have greatly expanded.

Thanks again.

M
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #13 - Apr 20th, 2014 at 10:21am
 
Interesting thread.
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Re: The Problem of Time
Reply #14 - Apr 20th, 2014 at 12:27pm
 
Bruce,
This view is actually one of the only ones I can comprehend, and I especially enjoy your mention of experience, which I see as an intrinsic function of consciousness that escapes the bindings of our notion of time. For example, when you return from your journey to analyze the building of the pyramids, you bring back with you an amount of experience that wasn't previously there, and as a result, your consciousness has grown larger than it would have been had you not decided to take the journey in the first place; the same goes for Doc's kindle example, where his deeper analysis provided him an overall growth in experience. This notion allows for a rudimentary sense of progression in both our time bound earth experience and our experience over There, and seems to clear up any need for multiple selves. I do believe, however, that experience can be "forgotten", or hidden away for the duration of something that a person would want to see through completely new eyes. In fact, the main application of this concept of temporary forgetfulness can be observed in our experience of Earth life.
Bruce Moen wrote on Apr 20th, 2014 at 4:02am:
For me it is easiest to understand this concept of "no time" if I think about what is meant by the word "time."  Here in physical reality we tend to see time as inseparable from the events that occur Here.  We see those events as always following from the past, through the present and toward the future.  We believe time and this flow of events will always be together.

But what if events could exist without any requirement that we experience them only in a one-way-moving-sequence?  What if all the events in every sequence were available for us to experience, without the constraint of one-way time?  For example, what if we could chose the age we want appear to be?  And then change our minds and chose again?  "Aging" would lose it's meaning, wouldn't it.  We wouldn't be "growing old."  We'd be choosing our appearance to fit our mood or desire in that moment.  And the next moment we could chose to experience a different age appearance.

So all events are available to us, but there is "no time" constraint on our ability to chose which ones we want to experience.  There is only an eternal Now in which we are free to create new experiences, or re-experience any we like.  Or be in more than one "place" at one "time."

Want to know how the pyramids were built?  Just chose to experience that, enter that "sequence of events."  Chose to jump around in the sequence if you like.  Redo events in the sequence, but perhaps chose a different location.  Be at the quarry watching workers cut stone and move it to the pyramid site. And be observing the stones being set in place while you are still at the quarry.  And when you're satisfied with those experiences, return to where you were before you were at the pyramids without any time having passed There while you were "gone."  If you were in a conversation with someone "before" you went to the pyramids, you rejoin it as if you were never "gone."  The constraint of time's passage no longer exist.

Maybe the easiest way to understand it is to say "no passage of time" instead of "no time"

Clear as mud?

Bruce
    


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