Pluto
Meowing to go out
- Dec 27, 2020
- 4,163
Firstly, what is time? There seem a few ways to approach the question.
My dictionary says, "A nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future."
It could also be described as the fourth dimension, following three spatial dimensions. Or, a fully integrated aspect of spacetime (General Relativity).
Or, we can say it is completely nonexistent. More on that later.
What is Identity?
Identity is the most fundamental essence of existence. However, upon closer inspection, it consists of 2 parts:
1) The content of a typical response to the question, "Who are you?" Things like gender, nationality, opinions, employment, family history and so forth. Note that all of this is learned and potentially prone to change.
2) The consciousness, which is self-evidently real in your own living experience, yet otherwise futile to define or understand.
In even simpler terms, there is consciousness (the real) and stuff that is now appearing in front of it (the unreal).
By one analogy, consciousness is like a VR headset. The virtual world appears real, though is actually just a bunch of tiny coloured pixels. The headset is real, but it goes unnoticed to the one who is convinced that the VR world is anything more than a distraction from reality.
Similarly, when asleep and dreaming, one is in a virtual world, functioning as a virtual self that can feel very real at the time. Yet every inch of the world, and even the character at the centre of it, collapse suddenly upon waking out of it.
What time is it?
Time can be viewed as unreal because it is a construct of mind. The past did not happen because it cannot be seen or interacted with. Memories are a mere thought imprint. Photographs are merely data or ink. Even if the past formerly existed, that's another way of saying that it does not exist in reality, which is only now.
The future is also unreal because it consists of speculative thoughts.
That leaves only the present as real. Yet it need not be called the present because there is nothing else in existence. It is reality. We can go as far as to say that your entire life consists solely of this moment. See for yourself, right now, if this is true or not.
Everything else is merely mental content which projects a virtual world, virtual events and a virtual self. All content is merely thought.
Who are you without time?
Putting it all together, then, what happens when we subtract time from identity? Who are you without the illusion of time? Answer: the identity construct collapses. The self doesn't merely die, but it was never real to begin with.
"No," you protest, "I am Stormy." Alas, in reality, somebody randomly made up a name and you were conditioned into adopting it as an identity.
"No," you rebut, "I am European." This time, somebody made up verbal names for different regions of the planet, separated by imaginary lines.
"No," you insist, "I am a student." Can that fundamentally define you? Did you not exist prior to that occupation? Will you vanish after completing your studies?
We can go on and on like this. Every definable identity consists only of beliefs that collapse under scrutiny. Thoughts consist of stories which require the mental construct of time to maintain the illusion of a self. Constant thinking is necessary to keep the apparent self inflated. Yet every thought is mere noise upon inspection. First the stories collapse, then the 'me' who is the protagonist.
What remains?
This leaves us with no such thing as time, and no such thing as self. What remains is consciousness plus a mind constantly trying to seduce us into identifying with substanceless thought. An intellectual understanding is one thing, but if this reality is seen clearly, even once, it can never be unseen. You will never believe in your personal story again.
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