Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
2 March 2018
Here and Now (1)
“Eternal Moment”
Every man and woman is very sure that they can do what they wish to do in the moment, which is ‘here and now’. To every human being it is taken for granted that it is possible.
The enlightened have, however, proclaimed that man is not the doer. So how could man or woman understand that man is not the doer is the question?
Now, every moment is ‘here and now’. Therefore, the present is the moment ‘here and now’ where man or woman can do what they wish to do. Also, in between the moment ‘here and now’ and the past moment is also a moment ‘here and now’.
Similarly, in between the moment ‘here and now’ and the future next moment is also a moment ‘here and now’. This signifies that the moment ‘here and now’ is eternal and a division between moments is not an actuality.
The eternal moment is a mystery and so too the moment that is not actual. Now, science, as knowledge, informs that the smallest unit of numerical time is one zepto second, which is one trillionth of a trillionth of a second, and this is known in the moment as well.
Firstly, within this duration of time nothing could be done, but yet man and woman are convinced that they can do what they wish in the moment ‘here and now’. And it is obvious that they can do.
Secondly, if the smallest unit of time could be added to make the next moment, then too to do any action in the here and now would not be possible because, to do any action, a certain duration of time is needed.
If the time needed to do were to happen, no action could ever be done in the here and now as every action gets done in different durations of time, from minimum to maximum.
Nevertheless, actions do happen in the moment of different duration of time from minimum to maximum. Actual action does not happen in the moment here and now because, in the time-duration present within the moment, only an incomplete movement is present.
Also, a movement of an individual in a moment is not separate from the movement present in any moment in that particular individual. This signifies that an individual’s life is a singular movement.
The intelligence in life projects an optical illusion of an action in the moment here and now, while all there is in any moment here and now is a minimal, incomplete movement of the whole body of an individual.
The enlightened have rightly proclaimed that daily life is a singular movement and an action in this singular movement is an optical illusion.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2018
Editor’s Note:
The intelligence in life has evolved the birth of man’s faculties, as revealed by Dr Shankar in these articles. It includes the birth of the illusion that he and she can do, or not do, what they wish in the ‘here and now’. Thus, in daily life, the ‘here and now’ has significant credentials. It is the perfect time and place for carrying out an action - and with authority and efficiency. However, it is a tribute to this intelligence that every man and woman’s conviction that he or she is the author of action is dissolved by the gradual maturing of understanding.
Julian Caper, UK.
German Translator’s Note:
Being here and now instead of mentally digressing in past and future is considered mindfulness. Mindfulness to live in the here and now is considered a personal effort of the individual, with the intention of practicing serenity and presence. You should focus on what you are doing or what is happening around you. However, this knowledge is based on two fundamental misunderstandings regarding the nature of life: first, the individual is not the thinker, and second, thoughts are not in the here and now of life, but in the illusionary here and now of the mind. However, the here and now of the mind is, as Dr. Shankar shows in these articles, there and then, a place and a time where man is not really present and therefore he can not think, speak or act.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.