Ulladu-Narpadu Verse 15: Past & Future
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2017-04-22

This series is classified Ajata-vāda | Jñāna-yoga | Turīya | Sahasrāra-cakra

"The past and future stand only by depending upon the present, which remains always. While occurring, the past and future are both only the present. Therefore the present is the only time. In other words, there are not three times—past, present and future—there is only one time: the present. The truth is that the present is nonexistent as one of the three times, and the sole Reality underlying the sense of present time is the ever-existing Self. Trying to know the past and future without knowing the truth of the present is like trying to count without knowing the value of the number one."

The past and future can seemingly exist only if the present seemingly exists, because it is only with reference to the present that other times are called either past or future. But if one keenly scrutinizes the present moment in order to know ‘What exactly is it that is called the present?’, the present as such will be found to be truly non-existent, and hence the past and future will also cease to exist. How? If we try to attend to the exact present moment, even one millionth of this so-called present moment will be found to be either past or future. If we attend even to such subtlest past and future moments, and if we try to know what exists between those subtle past and future moments, we will find that there exists no such thing as the present moment.

When the unreal snake is found to be non-existent as a snake, the ever-existing rope, which is the sole reality underlying that snake, alone will remain shining. Similarly, when the unreal first person is found to be non-existent as a first person or individual, and when the unreal present time is found to be non-existent as a time, the ever-existing Self, which is the sole reality underlying both the first person and the present time, alone will remain shining.

Just as the ego has two aspects – the real aspect ‘I am’ and the unreal aspect ‘I am So-and-so’ – so the present has both a real aspect and an unreal aspect. If the present is experienced as one’s mere being, ‘I am’, devoid of all thoughts, it is real; but if the same present is experienced as one of the three times in which thoughts of the other two times (past and future) occur, it is unreal. (as the thoughts can only be about past or future).

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