Connecting with the timeless dimension in our lives

 

Human beings have a need to understand how we relate to the timeless eternal cosmos. The ordinary everyday life which is happening in time and space is our focus, but we also have one foot in the eternal world, and we need to relate to that dimension as well. This may be seen in light of different perspectives - for example science may understand it as processes in the brain, religion as experiences of divine interventions, and jungian psychology as the human innate need for meaning and wholeness in life.  

In meditative traditions, with thousands of years of experience with exploring the inner realms of human being, the timeless dimension is called the eternal now. This eternal dimension may be accessed through activities like meditation, dreamworks, interpreting synchronicities, fasting, yoga, exploring our inner life, looking at significant symbols, rituals and so on. Experiencing the eternal dimension may also arise spontaneously in our lives. One traditional name of of this spontaneous experience is epiphany. 

Epiphany can mean a powerful religious or spiritual experience, or a sudden understanding of something important, a great revelation or realization. It may feel as a veil has fallen from your eyes, and you perceive life as it really is, like you catch a glimpse of truth. Sometimes an epiphany creates lasting transformation. An important example from the traditions of christianity is the story about the apostle Paul (Saul) in Acts 9. Paul was a zealous persecuter of christians, but after meeting Jesus in spirit on the way to Damascus, he becomes the most important christian missionary, building the fundament for the christian church in the world. Jesus in this context is to me a representation of the timeless dimension, which may be experienced as a personal relationship with a you, an impersonal that-phenomenon or as an experience of an aspect of your self.

In the story about Paul its emphasized that Paul was blinded by meeting Jesus, and after three days a diciple told him he was sent by Jesus, so that Paul/Saul may see again: "At that instant, something like scales fell from Sauls eyes, and his sight was restored." Because of the epiphany Paul now sees differently, notices more. His perception of reality is radically transformed, in a way which impacts his thinking and acting in the world. He has become a christian and his identity is changed. To me this shows the point of the experience of the epiphany: the scales fall from your eyes and you perceive the world, yourself and your purpose in a totally different way.  

The story about Paul is about his change in religious outlook, but the importance of an epiphany to me isnt about religion but about the possibility of transformation of perception, which is a change of values, beliefs, and habits. One key to understand the transformation is the scales which fell from the eyes of Paul. These scales may be interpreted as a metaphor for experiences from our past, which shape how we perceive the present moment. Our past may be a hindrance to see the now as it is.  In the eastern wisdom traditions the imprints of the experiences from the past are called samskaras, habits and patterns of understanding and experiencing which are a product of our conditioning. The samskaras give shape to the choices and actions of a person, they are like a pair of glasses shaping and colouring our perception. 

A modern perspective on the samskaras which shape and limit the perception of reality, is that they are imprints of trauma. New research shows how traumatic experiences from the past get stuck in the body and the nervous system, so the person is in constant freeze or alarm mode, and this shapes the way reality is perceived and experienced, and which reactions and choices the person makes in response to her or his perceived reality. Trauma often leads to an experience of separatedness and isolation, and is a part of the fundament and cause of conflict and violence.

The story about the epiphany that Paul experienced, shows that through a connection with the timeless or eternal dimension in our lives, we may be transformed and our perception of reality may become radically different. Through an epiphany which breaks through our ordinary everyday consciousness, the scales may fall from our eyes, and we may see life more objectively and less impacted by social conditioning, past experiences and trauma. This may also happen however through activities which enhance our receptivity to this dimension.

This access to an eternal  dimension of reality outside time and space, makes it possible to experience  everything as connected and part of a greater wholeness. The point is to become less identified with our historical identity in time and space, and hence more free and open to receive the present moment. As the poet William Blake wrote: "If the doors of perception was cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."