Time

Café-Salon Philosophique #80

(note: there was no #79)

April 21, 2001

No. of Participants: 4

Topic of Discussion: "Time"

Time. What is time? How do we measure this "thing" we call time? How did this concept form into the word, "time?"

What makes something real? Reality? Why is a book called a book, or water called water? Who named these things? Why are there so many differences, but yet similarities between languages?

How do we distinguish between that which is real and genuine from that which is fake? As Jalal al-Din Rumi once said, "There is counterfeit gold because real gold exists."

Beth says, "Our reality is based on the life experiences we have. Truth for one person can happen at many different levels."

"Time is measured by a clock, but yet there is infinity," said Samuel. Why are we always in a hurry? Where do we think we are going? When, how and where did we become slaves to time?

Samuel then asked Dennis to define his "concept of time."

"We function in time by dreaming, through memories, life experiences and the waking state. We form our ideas, thought, concepts, and dreams into reality," he said.

"There are certain kinds of "dreamy" states that you can't live in, otherwise you would be sleep walking through life," Dennis continued. "For example, certain forms of meditation, out-of-the-body experiences, channeling, the New Age way of thinking does not keep you rooted in the practicality of living life."

"The human body does need the measurement of time, but we don't need to be a slave to it," someone mentioned.

"We all have our own sense of timing," said Samuel. "There is no such thing as time," said Rae. "It is just a concept."

"We think there is something we have to prove, said Dennis, but, actually at a higher level there is nothing to prove."

"We form concepts by our thought forms," said Beth. "Words are just a way of describing the concepts."

"Our concept of time is wrong," said Dennis. "How?" asked Beth. "It just is," said Dennis. "Define what you mean," said Beth. "It's just not right," said Dennis. "It is inaccurate, incorrect." "By whose standards?" asked Beth.

"Well, I'll try to explain," said Dennis.

"To me, the future, past and present are all happening at the same time. Therefore, you are looking at infinity." "Our measurement of time really is infinitely small," added Rae.

"What do you mean time is small? How can you prove that?" said Beth. "There is nothing to prove," said Dennis, only that we conceive time wrongly."

"I agree our perceptions and notions about time are inaccurate, but I do find time to be an accurate measurement for the chain of events," said Beth.

"I guess because we are all at different levels of thinking that the reality of time gets shaped from whatever level we are working from," she added.

It seems we are all trying to prove something by "racing" against the clock, competing against what???

"All we are doing here is generalizing and making assumptions about this factor of time," said Beth.

"What are we doing here now in this time and space?" asked Samuel.

"My assumption is, that we are here sharing energy and exchanging bits and pieces of information," said Beth. "I like meeting interesting people, and I really do like to try and stay away from forming personal opinions and having certain expectations about others."

"For most people, it is very hard not to instantly "scan, judge and size" someone up. The eyes of a person seem to almost automatically "see" the other person as the outer appearance rather than looking beyond....We "judge" the book by its cover."

"We all make assumptions," said Rae.

"There are as many ways of thinking and being here, as there are people in this continuum of time and space.

It just so happens at this moment in time and space, we are communicating with words. Words are just one of the ways for communicating our direct experiences with others.

"That's how we convey our body of knowledge," said Beth.

"Experience is the key," said Rae.

From Samuel's point of view, he feels that "words are a curse to mankind." "Words beget words." "It is one of the most in-effective ways to communicate." "We need to graduate beyond words."

"Ninety-nine percent (99%) of real communication, happens through silence, body language, (gestures, facial expressions) and how one moves the body through space."

We like to "talk about" how to live, rather than living!!

"Actually, before the word, there was movement." "Movement is vibration, life, vision, the stuff of creation and the essence of everything." (Excerpt from S. Avital's Public Park Lecture/Workshop, 1978)

"Most humans like to stay trapped in the written and spoken word, rather than embracing new experiences through the movement of the body."

We are lazy, and would rather exercise our mental intelligence, rather than finding ways for exercising the body intelligence," said Samuel. Notice I am saying body intelligence, not "physical fitness."

"It is possible to communicate without words. Anything is possible. Our mind does know how to function without the use of words. It's just that we were taught and conditioned to "name" everything." We are taught to move by thoughts rather than through actions.

"Words really are inadequate for describing the essence of all objects - animate and inanimate."

The problem is, we don't want to take the time to explore the unknown space. The soundless. The silence. The invisible. The inner.....

For most people, the thought of visiting this realm is too uncomfortable. The familiarity of the external, outer noise and stimuli is more appealing.

We are all actors upon this stage of life. And it is sad but true, most of our "drama" and actions in life are carried out through words, rather than learning through the body intelligence - total, authentic, creative, bodily expression.

"The real poetry of life is beyond words."

"It is the movement of all cells working harmoniously together in unison."

I would say, that there is only a few who truly want to take the time for learning and discovering through creative, bodily expression.

Most of us will continue to "follow the crowd," be "automatons," continue the daily grind of being slaves to the clock, rather learning through the inner journey.

In essence, life really is precious and timeless. It's what we decide to do with time - live life (joie-de-vivre!), sleep walk, or analyze it to death.

What are you doing with your time?

The next Café-Salon will meet May 5, 2001 at the Boulder Book Store, located at 1107 Pearl St. in Boulder, Colorado. Start time is 6:30 p.m. Hope to see you there!

Bring a new and interesting topic. Invite your friends.

Reported by Alessandra