Part I: Existence, Time, Etc.
As the first part of this series, I thought I would try to collate a few past and present ideas to try to form a working thesis on the definition of living/existence.
Life is one point. Not two points or three points, but one point in universal existence.
Growing up, I always was taught that human existence is a ray, starting at one point and going on in one direction forever. This makes sense when considered in the context of time in this world. It does not work when considering that time is impermanent.
Time did not always exist, and will not always exist. If time is not permanent, then that also means that the ray metaphor is possibly quite invalid. How can anyone know that a future incarnation of time will not intersect or run along the same path as the current incarnation. Furthermore, in the context of no time, there would be nothing binding an individual being anywhere for certain. He or she would essentially exist at all moments of time at the same time.
This is why I say life is a point. If it were a line segment, then it would have a starting point and a stopping point. If it were a ray, if would have a beginning, and if it were a line, it would have no beginning and no ending. All such models, however, are tied to our current perception of time. It doesn’t make any sense when considering a state where time is not an issue. If a being is not tied to time, there is no before, no after, no now. There is only being.
I hope this made sense. If there are many questions or disagreements, I will clarify in the next post.
August 7th, 2006 at 0:14
Point sounds too small.
There’s nothing inside, nothing outside. And you are THAT. Not part of that, but THAT.
August 7th, 2006 at 8:24
We’ll get to that. This is only part I
August 8th, 2006 at 15:36
I don’t care for point, either. An xline is too bounded. A plane is not enough; no, it must be all.
But all we can really percieve is the point.
On a related note, I disagreed with John’s comment over on my blog recently, because it was too small.
December 4th, 2006 at 16:42
[…] Some of you may remember a few posts I had a few months back on existence, the universe and so on (here are the links if you missed them: Part I, Part II, Part II-2, and Part III.) I forget exactly why this one was never published (other than it obviously being incomplete.) There aren’t any answers, just questions. I thought I would post the questions today and maybe follow up with some answers (or ideas about answers rather) later this week. It may seem that with all the interdependent arising going on with all the karmic influences everywhere there is not really any room for an individual to make his or her own choices. How does the whole ‘free will’ business play into this projection of the universe? Can we really make a decision, or is everything predetermined? […]