I could tell you that this transcript was written on a specific day, Thursday, and include the month, the 14th day of November, and the year, 2013. In truth, this has no real meaning, no natural construct to verify that the claimed “mark in Time” is what it is. This particular date, in fact, was designated by a handful of men who decided to perpetuate parts of an older calendar, adjusting this particular “Time keeper” to position religious holidays strategically throughout the “year.” 2013 A.D., (Antes Domingo - after God/Christ) is the designated year of the Christian Calendar, otherwise known as the Gregorian calendar, rolled out in 1582. The Julian calendar preceded that but, in fact, there are over thirty other versions of calendars that have been and are being used in various countries around the world to assume the task of measuring Time.
Wouldn’t time crash if we were not all on the same track? What would we be forgetting if there were no such things as calendars or clocks? How would this impact life on earth?
The answer, our current industrialized lifestyle would fall apart. The division of labor and the assignment of work shifts would be nearly impossible. School “management,” study periods and recesses, would become more informal. The making and keeping of appointments would be impacted. The commercial concepts of holidays, anniversaries, and birth dates, for example, would be much more vague and generalized.
The definition of Time down to the nano-second, has been, (if you follow any historic Timeline), a modern development, especially if you consider the estimates of our galaxy’s initial formation as occurring roughly 14 billion “solar cycles/years” ago. Linguistically speaking, before roughly 5000 “solar cycles” ago Time did not exist. And yet, life went on about its business just the same.
About this "Time," our ancestors decided to begin forming large communities. Prior to this, living off of the land, whether by hunting or gathering natural plant foods, had been a way of life for thousands of small families and extended family clans. But human behavior was about to change in a very big way.
Pre-historic, (or pre-Time referenced humans), undoubtedly struggled for their existence, thriving in places where plant life and animals herds were abundant. At this point in the development of mankind, there was only the pre-existing ecosystem, the daylight and dark, and the changes in the weather that needed to be considered. Reasoning through this world would have been relatively simple. Gather food during the good light, find shelter in times of extreme weather, hot or cold, and move on when the food or water supply became unavailable.
Once the small hunting parties more or less controlled or guided the members of their tribe or clan, as a matter of necessity. Sources of water were first valued as those environments in which life as a whole thrived. If and when the water dried up or froze over, it was vital to follow the herds to the next water hole or river. The interaction between man and nature was virtually seamless.
As Time went on, we humans found that we could create a barricaded corral or offer leftover grains and access to water to encourage the presence of small animals or birds, casually luring them into a compound or small village, thereby creating a supplemental food source.
There was obviously a motivation for the individuals in most of these primitive clans to work together as a collective to share the tasks of survival as much as possible. This may have occurred naturally in an unconcious effort not to overwork and possibly kill off the strongest and more capable leaders of these collectives. For us to propagate, as humans, our work was never ending. Leisure Time only came about as a result of a good day of hunting or a good growing season and was probably filled with games and activities that focused on honing the survival skills of the young or courting activities.
Men and women probably talked about their successes, as verbal languages began to become more common. Good hunting or gathering tips were likely discussed or shared with the younger members of the tribe. And it is important to note that about 5000 full cycles around the sun ago, humans rarely lived for more than 20 cycles. Many died in infancy, of incurable illnesses, or through accidents. Many generations were coming and going with only a tiny fraction of information actually being passed on to the next generation. And yet we thrived!
One would have to wonder how a concept like God could have been imagined by our Timeless brethren.
First, it would seem, would come the words and descriptions of life itself, the miracle-like process of birth and the mystery of death. The necessary attention given to the daily fight for life was and still is occasionally disrupted by natural forces, including things like volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, earthquakes, droughts, and wild fires, to name but a few. Animals that could attack and kill a man would also earn their respect and merit being given titles or names. Similarly the changes brought about by the seasons would eventually be assimilated into this primitive language base.
Music and dancing and storytelling served to remind members of the community of the significance of these natural phenomena but somehow something more than this began to manifest its self. Without the need or use of measured Time, we humans began to communicate to each other about a force, a force beyond human control, embe dded in nature and having the power of life and death. Whenever named, this became the shared attribute most often referred to as “God.”
This is before the human population exploded and we began competing with our fellow humans for food and other natural resources. This, both figuratively and literally brought about the beginning of Time.
Chickens, cattle, and goats were being raised domestically and the first farms planted and harvested seasonal crops. Hundreds and then thousands of people began to gather in sprawling communities and those same communities became linked by man-made roads and river passages to surrounding communities, forming the first social networks and a thing called civilization.
.
This obsessive colonization of regions took on a life of its own. At some point territories were staked out with borders defined by natural and man-made landmarks. Mathematics evolved as a means of documenting both populations and the food and other resources necessary for the system to work. This was also the birth of personal possessions. The simple communal lifestyle of the past was probably touted as out dated and un-futuristic.
Time became the crowning pinnacle of this new symbol-driven social system.
If you arrived or founded a village or city, within your lifetime you were its chief, or mayor, or emperor. You and your family, whether patriarchal or matriarchal, “owned” and subsequently ruled there unless deposed by unhappy citizens or overrun by external forces.
Time, as a new measurement of all things past, present, and future, put most of the focus of human kind squarely on the ruling class. In order to participate in this great new social experiment, attention had to be centered on the activities of daily living. A scheduling of the workforce insured that the tasks that were necessary for the community’s, citizens to acquire basic necessities: food, water, shelter, and clothing, etc. would be met in a “Timely manner.”
This, of course, also insured that those who planned out this itinerary would be taken care of first and with the best of those resources. Leadership had become a vocation, and a critical one at that. Once people left their rural roots to live in the larger communities, they found themselves being cast into different roles depending on the leader’s discretion, (or a managerial member of the ruling class or family). Attention was quickly diverted from the traditional hunter/gatherer lifestyle, including songs, dances, and spoken legends, and refocused on the merits of the ruler and the scheduled tasks at hand.
A reward system based on Time furthered this cause. If you worked so many hours over so many days, you were paid in staples that were critical to the well being of you and your immediate family. Rulers quickly learned that competition for more and better supplies provoked a more aggressive response to the work, often increasing productivity.
Bigger rewards such as tracts of land and larger houses were used to promote this new social economy.
In this same way, the earlier co-operative living models were quickly replaced with a system that pitted men and women against each other and put them under the shadow of Time. Folklore that celebrated a respect for life, the tribe, and the environment was most certainly downplayed unless it served a purpose. With Time came an overall restructuring of society. It changed everything!
***
How many people in this world of nearly seven billion, do you suppose, rise up from sleep to an alarm clock or to see a clock or calendar in the room? What happens if several billion people awake to this stark reality every day of their lives? The clock, the calendar, become a physical reminder, a prompting device that immediately steers the mind away from assessing the condition of the self and the natural world around the self, (the Essence of All Things Living and Innate), while at the same Time, refocuses everything on the artificial demands of the scheduled “day ahead.”
Immediately the brain begins this business of sorting and cataloging what needs to happen in order for you to stay on your schedule. You only have so much time to get dressed and ready for work or school, breakfast might have to be skipped altogether if you are running late. There is travel Time, work Time, lunch Time, quitting Time, more travel Time, dinner Time, and leisure Time before bed Time, if you are lucky.
But it doesn’t stop there. Next you check the day of the week, the month, and the year. Millions of scheduled variations that you have noted over Time also have to be taken into consideration in your Time management process.
“Thursday, Time to put out the recycling bins.” And, if or when the brain has any free Time, there is the whole process of planning and scheduling future events.
The maintenance of Time as a belief system is all-consuming. To suspend that reality is to ignore a lifetime of reinforced behavior. It would be the equivalent of discarding a faith in things unseen. Time is the “hidden religion.”
Can we believe in more than one thing at a Time? Of course, but the co-existent belief in Time will inevitably corrupt the nature of any other philosophical or theological premise.
Things must be linear. There must be a plausible Time line. It, like the observations of height, length, and width, literally allows us to describe the world around us in relative terms, right?
To ignore the hands of Time, is now considered a measurement of lunacy, a detachment from reality. “What year is this?” being a typical question asked by first responders when determining levels of consciousness or awareness.
***
So, I ask again, can we live without Time? How would it feel to be freed of the constraints of Time?
I believe in the powers of visualization. I don’t believe that I can heal myself from a life threatening accident or illness. That would be unnatural. My cells are always reacting to the environment and it to me. To think myself separate from the natural weave of life would be fruitless as much as fatalistic.
But, I do believe it is possible to envision alternate realities, to look upon other worlds, other possibilities, in moments of quiet contemplation. Although, linked, this is not the same as dreaming or daydreaming. Dreams may be our brain’s attempts to pull Time out of the equation, like trying to release a tightened spring; the tighter wound the more jarring the dream. Daydreams are more about bending Time in order to satisfy our baser urges. In both cases, consciously or unconsciously Time is still a part of the picture.
Visualization, (commonly associated with prayer and meditation), on the other hand, purposefully sets parameters and limits sensory distractions that may pull us back into the temporal world. Unfortunately, in urban settings it is much more difficult to get away from the trappings of our industrialized routines than it is in rural settings. The sounds of automobiles, foot traffic, even air traffic reinforce the constant clockwork of daily and weekly patterns. In close quarters, the sounds of television or radio programs also serve to artificially order our state of consciousness. And, of course, everywhere you turn there are clocks and calendars or signs with dates and times.
Disengaging from this outer world of stimuli may require ear plugs, eye shades, or alternate personal soundtracks. It would certainly require a room or outdoor space in which sensory distractions were minimized and comfort of body, either sitting up or reclining, was optimal.
There are many teachers more adept than I at describing the best ways to meditate or visualize alternate states of being. Most would tell you that this is a practiced art, an acquired and perfected skill. It is a road that if traveled will likely lead you to a heightened awareness of self and greater spiritual enlightenment.
***
If Time has become the super villain, how then is another belief to grow and thrive? We must first be willing to question our current reality, even if it’s in small ways. However, acrobatic attempts at taking your life back from this sun-dial circus may seem too crazy or even hopeless to achieve. So, how do you overcome the initial thought that this task might take too much effort?
The question to be asked is, “What is to be gained by making this change?”
There has to be something in it for you personally. Simply put, this is the basis of any belief. A belief system has to resonate, has to feel right. Our comfort with the thought or idea of or about something will eventually lead toward a series of actions. These actions will reflect the belief and end up reinforcing it further. On the other side of the coin, if you act with a certain understanding and you find that your actions don’t feel comfortable or satisfying, the belief will eventually fade and die. Habits, unfortunately, do not die as easily.
It is important to note that our beliefs do not have to be rational. We can choose to think anything we want but this may cause us to act in ways that separate us from people with different views.
Some would say, “There is so much divisiveness between people already. Thinking and acting different from the mainstream, you might as well be throwing gasoline on a fire!”
I would ask you to consider the existing separatist movements that already exist in the realms of social class distinction, race and ethnicity, social clubs and organizations, politics and religion. Most belief systems insist on an intentional moving away from all other “similar” groups. This is the way of groups who want to encourage and keep followers.
How to be in the world but not of the world has been discussed before. If we are to become reconnected to the fabric of God we can not allow ourselves to be influenced by the followers. We cannot be dependent on the edicts of others. To truly know the Essence of All Things Living and Innate is to be one with God every time we inhale or exhale, every time we eat or drink. There is no hope for or need of future absolution or intercession. This awareness does not elicit a series of ritualistic ceremonial exercises, but rather, it instills an ongoing exhilaration in the knowledge of that spiritual connection.
This is what we get. It is not some prize to be earned or to be randomly rewarded to us by some “representative” of God. This is a state of being, shaking off DIS-EASE and finding a natural balance within a truly sustaining ecosystem. In a world of chaos and uncertainty, it is a life of relative peace and harmony.
This is a state in which Time no longer is the dominate belief. Every moment of every day, regardless of order or implied importance, can be lived in the light of life. This is a cosmic candle that can be meditated upon for clarity of purpose. It is the smile of the Essence of All Things Living and Innate.
***
Envision yourself in a very large terrarium, a carefully tended parcel of earth. Every cell in your body must be nourished by the plants and animals of this place. The land, the water, and the air must be free of toxins, harmful contaminants that would break down the ecosystem at any level. There must be rich soil for roots to tap into and grow deep. There must be ample rain or access to cool, clear waters. The temperatures must be tolerable for all the living things in this environment to grow and stay healthy. The sun must be pleasant and radiant, given seasonal changes. This virtual space would expand or contract to include other people who are willing and able to see the same vision, a place of peace, a place of plenty, a place that might eventually be expanded to include the globe and perhaps reach out and into the stars. A place that reflects all that is God.
See yourself in this place, doing that which is necessary not only to care for yourself, but to assist in the shared caring of all that is within your “new world.” The natural cycles of day and night, the seasons, planting and harvesting, raising animals, maturing as a person, becoming a part of a greater family, and aligning yourself with the never-ending Cellular Transformation is to become one with God, the Essence of All Things Living and Innate.
Envision seeing the natural balance of everything, the dream of never being alone again, and it will fill your being with a constant sense of joy and satisfaction that you never before imagined possible.
Continue Reading - The Church of the Cellular Transformation - 4
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?AuthorID=11490&id=60162
A very interesting and timely article. I would tend to disagree about early man. I think that time is always been on the minds of early man because he and she knew that there was a certain time before lack of water or food would take a deadly toll. Therefore, every day became a race against that time when there was no water to drink and death would come.
That is why the concept of gods, not God became prevalent in hunting and gathering cultures. Whenever good fortune befell a tribe, a good omen was attached to the surroundings and they were sought again. Whenever there was bad fortune, the surroundings were labeled (the devil) and shunned.
Also, early civilizations seemed obsessed with time. The two most notable examples of very many is Stonehenge and the Mayan calendar, both very sophisticated timekeeping instruments that helped define time and survival for primitive people.
This second revised edition describes, from Onlinesss Self Awakening perspective, the major Truth-consciousness realm-waves of transcendent Self Awakening
A guide and challenge to Christians who want to live a life of true discipleship. It explains why worship is fundamental and how a life of true worship transforms one to Christ-likeness.
The world calls us to improve and promote ourselves. Is this
