Experiencing time as NOW

Everyone would have been frustrated at some point in our lives at the unexpected need of having to wait for a train that has been delayed. Such a feeling of frustration is so common and ubiquitous that when we complain about the wait, we get sympathetic ears immediately. But, is being frustrated the only option available. Can something be done about it? Of course, there are many activities that are traditionally done to kill wait time. But, is there another option with a totally different perspective? To find out, we need to analyze and understand what the mind goes through during such an experience.

While time by itself is merely a series of successive moments, we normally experience time cumulatively. 'Two hours', is a cumulative experience of 7200 seconds. The connotations of such a view point is that, the mind has to work out something to do / accomplish in that duration. If nothing can be done, we immediately get bored / impatient. If we are forced to simply stand, like in the case of a long queue, the mind constantly wanders and indulges itself in various thoughts. If not, we need some glossy magazines to kill time. Our mind has to be compulsorily engaged for those two hours. We might call this as experiencing time as duration because there is no attention to be paid at each moment. The cumulative result at the end of the duration is what matters.

Now, is there an alternative to this? What about not experiencing time as something that is cumulative? Here, neither the previous second nor the next second are paid attention to. This way, our experience of time is always NOW - just the present moment. In this case, there is nothing to accomplish over the two hours; the mind is not allowed to wander. Even in this case, the mind might have to be tethered to something - breath or whatever is in the field of awareness at that moment. But, attention is paid to each and every second because everything that happens, happens within the field of awarenss of the moment. The mind is not permitted to wander at its own will, but is tethered to the moment at our own will. This could be hard at the outset but it helps to recognize that a tough learning curve is a mark of a skill worth learning. As always, with practice, it becomes easier and one is able to enjoy the skill. In addition, this mode of experiencing calms us down tremendously. Most of us are mentally tired most of the time because our minds are ceaselessly wandering. Forcibly giving it some rest calms us down and relaxes us tremendously. This is somewhat similar to what happens when we have a new experience that we like or when we are surrounded by tremendous natural beauty or when there is an emergency. In those situations, the mind comes to the NOW automatically. But such situations seldom happen automatically and hence its important for us to practice this.

Courtesy: http://advaitatoons.blogspot.com

This is not to say that experiencing time cumulatively is bad or undesirable. To accomplish any task, we need the ability to experience time as duration. But, do we have a choice to not experience it as duration, say when we have to wait for someone. Very few people have it? Experiencing time moment by moment is a wonderful skill to possess and can be cultivated only by practice. This, IMO, is one of the many important purposes of meditation, where we try to experience time moment by moment and not cumulatively. If we cultivate this skill to sufficient levels, then we will be able to seamlessly switch between the two modes of experiencing time. Whenever impatience / boredom threatens, we would have the skills to deal with it. We could stop boring others by our rants about how we had to wait. While the clock ticks continuously, our experience of it may or may not be continuous. In other words, while clock time is constantly flowing, we could develop the ability to arrest the flow of psychological time at will.

Traditionally, people refer to the ability to wait without ranting as patience. While this is not wrong, this might not be entirely accurate. Patience is wonderful, but the word does not emphasize the idea of staying with the moment. So, while the patient person might not rant about waiting, they might be happily indulging in arbitrary thoughts (whose ill effects are well documented). The good news is that, for a patient person, it might be easy to stop the flow of psychological time as the first worry of doing nothing for a certain duration does not scare them. Irrespective of whether one has the ability to be patient or not, if one clearly understands the problems associated with not having an alternative to experiencing time cumulatively, one would be motivated to cultivate the skill of experiencing time as NOW.

A more deeper understanding of the normal mode of life indicates that all planning like career, ambition, hope, greatness etc, are all a product of compulsorily experiencing time cumulatively. Without experiencing time cumulatively, it is not possible to plan for something 20 years hence. We are constantly having to face the prospect of living the rest of our life. The idea of the rest of life is indeed the idea coming out of experiencing time as duration or psychological time. Hence, we have to plan on what to do / accomplish in that duration. Our status, prestige success etc at the end of the duration matters so much that we cant simply go through it moment by moment. When this is seen clearly, ambition, goals for life etc drop instantly. Its very scary at the beginning as one might worry, 'what if' I realize I have lost out after 10 years. This is caused by the pressure of the society which is totally intent on living time as duration - all ads always talk about a happier future, parents want nothing but success in everything their kids do, society gives incentives to the 10% on top and fuels the race for the top etc... But, when the theory is thoroughly understood, then the worry is assuaged a bit. Many smart individuals over the centuries have been pointing at this time and again. A clear understanding of their words also helps. Finally, the thing that helps most is personal practice. With more personal practice, even on simple things, the truth of the NOW dawns more and more clearly. Then, we will have a choice to experience time the way we will, and then, we might not necessarily be indulging in all of the things that we consider the foundation of our lives - our careers, multi million rupee apartments etc... We might even free ourselves from the compulsory need to worry / plan for these things. Sadly, most people dont even know that such an alternative exists. An alternative that is readily available but that which needs a little practice. The NOW beckons. It beckons every moment. Now, now and now.