Philosophy and the "Eternal Now"

That really simplifies matters,.:) Thanks for the equation, as I understand it, of several synonyms. so, time-points=instants=moments.

I have a special attraction to verbal economy apparently not shared by many philosophers. For they seem to find it compelling to maximize the rate of "logomitosis," if I can so metaphorize. The personal orientation is quite the opposite.

Perhaps this verbal economy is the product of a mere pinhead.:) But it is felt that it has more to do with clarity, and lucidity of expression. And many philosophers have by no means mastered this crucial art of lucidity or limpidity of speech (writing).

The "eternal now" of mysticism seems much simpler (and thus clearer) to this nonphilosophic mind. It is really, really simple, both of comprehension and of example, simple in the mind, and simple in the world.

Your inquiry about a definition of "time" is indeed challenging and crucial to speaking about maya. The attempt to meet this challenge here would result (and has) in something such as the following:

Time is the backdrop, the background, created by Mind, for the occurrence of events. It is the mental potential in which an event or interaction can occur. It is the mental context that forces sequentiality upon events. It is an organizing mechanism of Mind so that It can perceive he universe in small quantities (called "events"), so as not to be overloaded with the massive perception of the whole temporal or spatial cosmos at once (in an "instant" or "now").

But it must be added that a careful definition of time is not very useful to the mystic, for to her, it is a part of maya. In the final analysis, time is a limitation of the faulty and tiny human mind. In the "eternal now," it simply does not exist.

A bit clearer than mud, it is hoped.:)
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