Prisoner of Time

"Wherever man becomes conscious of the pre-given, pre-conscious, originary pretimelessness, he is in time-freedom, consciously recovering its presence. Where this is accomplished, origin and the present are integrated by the intensified consciousness." ~Jean Gebser, Philosopher




[Presence] is defined as:

• The fact or condition of being present, or of being within sight or call, or at hand. Its like when they do a role call of who's in class. The teacher says "Carl?" and I say "Present!" They can then assume that if I'm present, then I will be actively engaged in listening and paying attention in class. When we are present, we pay attention. We are more aware of the lessons to be learned here at the University of Life. I like how it says "being within sight." When we are present, our truer self is within sight. We can see that, when we free ourselves of time, we become aware of the subtle aliveness of our being. We feel the inner workings of the body. The fact that you are a living thinking being in a universe more immense than the imagination can comprehend, becomes a reason for great joy and gratitude in your life. 
• The part of space within one's immediate vicinity. On the molecular level of a human being, atoms, relative to their size, have the same amount of space between them as the galaxies in the universe which are separated by light years. There's unexplored space within us, an entire universe inside each of us. Who you are has infinite depth and meaning.
• Something that is felt or seems to be present The presence of our being is felt from deep within us. 
• The state of being closely focused on the here and now, not distracted by irrelevant thoughts When we are not distracted by irrelevant thoughts of a past that can't be changed and a future that has not yet come, then we become present. "Origin and presence are integrated by the intensified consciousness" meaning, the truth about where we come from and who we really are is recognized in that moment when we have freed ourselves of time.

Prisoner of Time

This drawing was a lot of fun to do. Here, the life cycle of man is shown from birth to death. The snake is the ego that manifests itself as the devil. It constantly tries to keep us a prisoner of time. It whispers, to us, "The last grain of sand will eventually fall and you cannot control time." It seems like we can control most aspects of our lives these days. However, we can't control time, but maybe we can not let it control us. "My life will mean something if this happens, or that happens" No! Your life is meaningful now. If we rely on future for our fulfillment we loose touch with the present and stop noticing all the good that is in our lives now. We even take for granted the air we breathe. 

Earth is completely encompassed by a never ending universe full of galactic collisions, supernovas, black holes, meteor showers, extreme temperatures, and radiation. However here we are. We step outside on a chilly autumn night and look up at the moon sitting still. The wind blows gently. The swaying of the trees makes a harmonic sound. You're surrounded by life. The plants, trees, insects, birds, animals, and us. We breathe the oxygen that trees exhale, and in return, they breathe the carbon dioxide that we exhale. Even if there is life on other planets, we are rare. It's like the universe won the lottery when Earth came about. It's a miracle. It's the greatest miracle of all and we've all already experienced it. We are it.  We ponder it for a moment and take a deep breath of sweet life. 

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery

The owl in the drawing is used here as a symbol of wisdom. The wise owl knows that to be free of the burden of time will bring about a flowering of consciousness represented by the rose. The man moves away from his identification with form. The ego melts away into the formless, conquering time, no longer unconscious, but aware of himself in the present.

"Christ... provides a prototype of this ego-freedom. Christ demonstrated a way of being in which one is no longer threatened by 'resubmersion'  in the dark waters of the soul, or committed to the 'optical illusion' of the ego, but capable of acting with the wholeness, and the unity of time, in mind." ~Daniel Pinchbeck

 

 Christ chose to shun the ego. An ego-less world is one that is non-judgmental. It's not racist nor greedy It's not jealous nor envious. It's not sad nor hopeless. It's no longer a race against time nor a race against one another, but a journey of life, a journey that we all share.

Buddha was aware of the ego as well. He taught:

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him."


"All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?"


"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."