The Ocean Of Time
by Carl Peterson ©2002
Humans have long entertained the idea of traveling through time as we are able to move through our physical world. Recently we have started to express that we do move through time, though in a restricted, linear direction, with apparent lack of control over our destination. I’d like to suggest a different thought; that we are able to move through time in several directions (regrettably, not backwards).
First, let’s identify who we are. Each person is made up of four bodies; the physical, emotional, mental, and astral (I’ll use this word in an attempt to placate those who may be put off by the use of “spiritual”). Collectively we know the combination of these bodies to be a specific person. Our physical being is locked into the linear progression of time that we perceive. This is evidenced by the physical changes that we undergo, usually referred to as aging (regardless of our age, we are aging). We develop too and acquire new capabilities or mental strength. Sometimes, due to illness, neglect, or injury, our mental and physical bodies regress to earlier stages, though I would not suggest that this is time travel. The fortunate or unfortunate outcomes of these bodies are the happenstance of our travel through a chosen time continuum. Nor would I suggest that the changes in our emotional states at different times to be variations in our direction of travel in time either. Again, our emotional condition is a result of experiences in the surrounding environment and our reactions, mature or immature, are the results of conditioning, experience, and disposition. The physical body is readily recognizable to most of us and we discern one from each other by these characteristics. Our emotions describe who we are in our relationships, while our mental bodies are defined by our acumen, wisdom, and recollection.
The astral body, however, is not constrained by any of the factors influencing the other bodies. In fact, I would like to treat the astral body as a symbiot to the others. The astral body is indeed a time traveler, able to move to any when in the time dimension as readily as we move to any where in the physical dimension. And like us, the astral body fantasizes about the ability to travel in another dimension. As a being of time, the astral body is unable to change location without mechanical assistance. By attaching itself to a human, a suitable host, the astral body is able to move about, but it must trade its ability to move effortlessly through time. In its efforts to return to its native state, the astral body creates the desire to travel through time.
So let’s consider for a moment the turns and twists created by this symbiotic relationship. Beyond our ability to comprehend, each decision we make launches us in a new direction in time. All that is exists in parallel and our time shifts are so minute that we do not perceive the shift from one continuum to the next. We become aware of these parallel continua with experiences of déjà vu or when we come across an accident along our route and say something like “good thing I didn’t leave four minutes earlier.” Consciously or unconsciously we decided to not leave earlier, or we deviated through our existential paths to come across an event that we previously experienced.
Imagine trying to row a small boat across a span of ocean with rolling and breaking waves. From our destination we can look back at our point of origin and see the straight path; yet we may also be able to discern the meanderings of the actual path we took to reach our goal. The decisions that others make are like the waves of the ocean, distorting the straight path and influencing the decisions we must make at each moment along our journey to keep our craft pointed in the right direction. As a wave pushes our dinghy causing us to make a different stroke than we would have originally planned, so do the decisions of others cause us to make those decisions that “seemed right at the time.” So instead of a boring linear continuum, imagine our passage through time to be more like the navigation of a vast moiré design, upon which we can change direction at any juncture. And when you have the chance, decide to reminisce of a pleasant time and rejuvenate – feel young again. It’s the next best thing to going back in time.
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