Moments

How long is the shortest moment? How short is the longest moment?

We usually measure the passage of time using hours, but sometimes we need a finer measurement—so we use minutes. But even a minute is too much time for certain purposes. That’s why there are seconds. And when you program computers, you need to start thinking about milliseconds (1/1000 of a second), milliseconds (1/1000000 of a second), and nanoseconds (1/1000000000 of a second.

Sit quietly for a moment. Be very aware of everything you possibly can. When you’re as quiet and aware as you can be, explore the passage of time. Sit still for what you think is a single second. After you do that successfully, sit for five seconds. Then sit for perhaps even ten or fifteen seconds.

Watch carefully to see if you can detect the passage of time. What do you notice? Is there a whooshing sound as time passes? Is there any sort of breeze or tussle of your hair or clothes because time is passing? Is there any sensation at all?

Then sit quietly for consecutively shorter times. Sit for fifteen seconds, and then for ten seconds. Try sitting for five seconds. Then sit for one second. Try sitting for a half second. Then a quarter second. Then sit for a single moment. See if you can figure out exactly how long a single moment lasts. How quickly does a single moment pass?

Could it be that time doesn’t really pass at all—that we make up the passage of time? Could it be there’s no such natural thing as an hour, a minute, or a second (just as the number “5” fails to occur in nature)? Could it be the passage of moments is not real- but simply a measurement of something? Could it be there’s only one single moment (eternity) and that our perception of passing time is really us chopping the single moment into smaller pieces?

Now is the fulcrum around which everything pivots (both the past and the future)!