What is Time? One view is that it is a perception of the human mind. We
perceive the “passage” of time based on movement from here to there and by
changes (increase or decrease in size or modification) in the structure of
objects around us and in us. The alternating cycle of day and night is probably
the primary determinant for the experience of time for life in this world. Do animals and plants have a sense of time?
Can there be “time” if there is no perceiving mind? The
answer probably is “yes” since the primary determinant is the day and night
cycle, at least in our world. Is the perceiver of “time”, namely me, who is the
subject also a part of time, the object? Again, the answer seems to be
“yes”. But, Time is also independent of the perceiver and the process of
perception. Time, indeed, rules space and what is in space, since no two
physical things can occupy the same space at the same time. Space and Time are
inter-related.
Time implies space or change. To go from one place to
another requires time however short that distance may be. The movement gives
the sense of passage of time. What about
change? Does passage of time causes change or does change gives a sense of
time? For a change to occur, time is needed. But, if there is no time, will
there be change? And why should change occur at all? If things are static, with
no change, will there be time? Some would say that the perception of change is
what gives us a sense of time.
What was there before time? That is a silly question. If we
talk about time like we talk about any other object, we need to ask “when did it
start?” If it did have a beginning, then what was there before time? That is
also a silly question.
Kannadasan, a major Tamil poet of the 20th
century said that there are two kinds of time.
One is cyclic and one is eternal. The cyclic one is associated with
life, and therefore with pain and suffering. The eternal one is associated with
bliss. Kannadasan thinks that there is only one time; humans see it as two. He goes on to say: “I am
in charge of the drama called Time. I keep today for myself and leave tomorrow
for time. If time asks me I do not
answer. I do not cry when time hurts me; and I do not laugh when life hugs me”.
Life is a mystery. Time is an even greater mystery. Time was
existent before life appeared on this planet. But, there was no one to call it
by a name.
Time is a constant of the universe. There are only two ways
to look at Time, as Kannadasan pointed out – as eternal, with no beginning and
no end or cyclic, in which case it has no beginning or end. The word cyclic implies
passage of time.
Once we human came into existence and found the ability to
speak and invent words, we coined the term Time to explain two things: A.
changes that take place in our own selves as modifications of the body and
around us with the rising of the sun and setting of the sun, flowers blossoming
and withering etc. and B. relation
between objects in space and the process of moving from one place to another,which takes “time”.
Time is a constant of the universe, but only at the present
moment. Sloka 1:14 in Uddhava Gita calls the Lord as Time (kaala) which is beyond matter and energy. Bede Griffiths (in his
book on The Marriage of the East and West, page 168) says: “We are conditioned
by time so that we see one thing after
another and can never grasp the whole. But the intuitive vision is a vision of
the whole. The rational mind goes from point to point and comes to a
conclusion; the intuitive mind grasps the whole in all its parts”. He implies that
spiritual intuition is the grasping of the whole, all in one moment, not
sequentially in time.
All these musings are based on metaphysical, spiritual and common sense views. Obviously this topic is a complex one and one has to be an
astrophysicist or an expert in topics such as Einstein’s Theories and Quantum
mechanics to fully understand the physics of Time. If you wish to delve deep, please read Stephen
Hawking’s book on A Brief History of Time and Richard Muller's recent book with the title Now
– The Physics of Time.
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