This series of posts attempts to explain everything you want to know in simple terms using part of a well-known verse from the Rubiayat of Omar Khayyam as a mental anchor (i.e., A jug of wine, a loaf of bread and Thou). The idea of using a mental anchor helps you to anchor this new information in your long-term memory by purposely connecting it to a schema (stored memory map) that you already have stored there. In the first two posts I used wine as the first anchor to explain that the brain’s constant evolutionary-driven need to protect you forms the basis of almost all of your behaviors…why you do what you do. In part two I put on my Physics hat and explained how we exist in both the time domain and the timeless domain simultaneously using the analog of a loaf of bread. This explains “where” we do what we do. Part three of this series will attempt to explain “Thou” i.e. , who are we”. Having the answers to these three important questions, Why do we do what we do, Where do we do what we do, and who are we, I will offer an answer that summarizes everything in simple terms.
So, who are we? When the poet uses the archaic pronoun “Thou” he is creating a distinction between himself and the person he calls Thou. But consider for a moment what that distinction really means in light of the previous discussion regarding time. In the physical realm we are separated by time. You and I cannot occupy the same spatial location in time. That makes us appear to be separate entities in the physical realm. That’s easy for us to visualize because we live in that realm. Now consider however the implications of being in the timeless realm (outside the plastic bag surrounding the loaf of bread-the time constrained domain). As we said in the last post, in the timeless domain we cant change our time (because there isn’t any) but we can change our location. Unlike the physical domain where time marches on in the timeless domain there is no such variable. If there were, time would exist there (BAM!) If you didn’t get the implications of that the first time try it again. Location has no time associated with it-you are at a point or you are not. Speed depends on time, time depends on time, as does growth, shrinkage, gain or loss, etc. So any variable that can be expressed as a function of time cannot exist in the timeless domain. Remember that I said that you and I can’t occupy the same spatial location in time. That’s what makes us appear to be separate entities in the physical realm. However in the timeless realm, there is absolutely no prohibition on you and I occupying the same physical location! If I finished that sentence with, “at the same time” it would be incorrect…there is no same time or different time because….remember…. there is no time.
I hope you got that concept because it is the basis of my theory of who Thou “is” (i.e. who we are). My friends we are all parts of the same entity. For some that entity is called God and for some it’s a Universal Spirit, for others it’s something else. We have allot of pronouns in the physical realm, I me, you thou, we them, etc. but in that realm there will only be one….a universal I/we.
Knowing that you and I are part of the same universal entity perhaps we will start treating each other better. Would you cut off your arm? Would you curse your own hand? Absolutely not. In fact you would show love and respect to all other parts of your being, which interestingly enough is what most religions view of the timeless realm is…a place where love is the norm.
Knowing this can we somehow transfer those feelings to the physical realm? Of course. Perhaps when we realize that to truly love others you must stop loving the physical yourself and instead start loving the timeless yourself that includes everyone else regardless of their skin color, hair color, gender, or anything else physical. All of these things are temporary…constrained by time in space.
My friend who are you? You are a timeless being that is a part of the larger whole.
Now please start acting like it.
OK my friends. Part 1—explained why do we do what we do, Part 2 – explained how we exist in time within a larger timeless universe and part 3 – explained who we are. Now what is the final answer to our philosophical representation of a Jug of wine, a loaf of breda and thou?
The answer is that you are a timeless being that is part of the larger whole of all beings caught in the prison of time. That perspective causes you to see others as different instead of the same. This physical self, also knowing that it is not timeless but finite struggles constantly to survive causing you to do all the things that you do in your physical form.
Does knowing this help you to change yourself? I gave you a hint about how to do that in part 2. Remember that even though your physical form is trapped in the physical realm your mind is not. If you really want to become what you were meant to be you must explore the timeless realm with the only part of you that is not totally constrained by this realm. You must change your mental location so that instead of looking out, you are looking back in.
Dr. Andy
Bevilacqua Research Corporation CEO and CTO
“Cognitive Psychophysicist with an interest in almost everything”
Glorious!
Thank you for the nice comment.