Life is just...

[Zera]

You know, I was thinking today, while I was living one of the best moments of my life, that it was simply that instant. And it would be gone. As a matter of fact, as I am writing this, it is already gone. And my take on it is only lying in my memory. So basically, what we know as life, is simply the instant you're living right NOW, and when it's gone, it is just the memory of it...Kind of scary really, because you realize everything just goes away at some point or another. And whatever you don't remember, it's as you really never lived it.

[LucidFlanders]

Every second is gone from moments.

[NonDualistic]

It gets even more interesting when one realizes that even thoughts of past memory and potential future occurrance can only happen in the moment. The only place where anything can happen is Now There is no past, there is no future There is only the moment All is Here Now

[really]

Only in a state of flux.

[Xaqaria]

The worst part is, your perception of what is now is actually a few milliseconds ago. Not only can we not experience the distant past or the future, but we can't actually experience now, only just before now.

[Bonsay]

The worst part is, your perception of what is now is actually a few milliseconds ago. Not only can we not experience the distant past or the future, but we can't actually experience now, only just before now. What about through meditation?

[Replicon]

You can always bring back feelings of the past, though with a slight sense of nostalgia. In general, enjoy the moment, because it's all you have.

[LucidDreamGod]

I was thinking about this alot lately actually. It also includes a method of releiving stress, one that works for me, where you just stay in the present moment and think of the past as meaningless and doesn't exist anymore, and the future as not existing yet. all and all theres still problems where it doesn't seem to help much.

[thegnome54]

What about through meditation? Does meditation increase the speed of your neuron's action potentials? It's pretty much the whole 'light cones' deal. In order for you to process information from the 'outside world', you first need to receive it. This always takes some nonzero amount of time. Just like we are seeing what the stars looked like years and years and years ago, we are also seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting what the world around us was like a few milliseconds ago.

[Carôusoul]

The title of this thread is the answer to this thread.

[Taosaur]

I posted this video elsewhere just yesterday, but if anything it's more relevant to this subject. It's Alan Watts talking about the nature of time, the past and present, and causality. It's broken in 3 parts, about 20 minutes total. http://youtube.com/watch?v=QhQc4gdKKm8&feature=related http://youtube.com/watch?v=NSRyY9P6Wjw&feature=related http://youtube.com/watch?v=5z6NNR-7E6A&feature=related

[dragonoverlord]

Scary stuff huh?

[ChrissyMaria]

Ya know, I get this feeling sometimes while in waking life, that somehow this isn't REAL For some moments I get a feeling as if im a spectator viewing myself from a tv station inside my brain or something, and I feel like im on auto-pilot and almost as if Life is just a more realistic dream, or something. Life is a mystery, always will be, some questions will never be answered, unfortunately if all questions were answered, people would have nowhere to look anymore, without the 'unknown' people's drive and purpose seems, purposeless, we need questions with no answers to keep us going. Live in the moment but do think about your past and future, they are not in the present but are just as relevant as the now.

[Jeff777]

"Just? Just get a clue!" - Jim Carrey

[Cyclic13]

a contradiction Any Questions?

[Sornaensis]

You know, I was thinking today, while I was living one of the best moments of my life, that it was simply that instant. And it would be gone. As a matter of fact, as I am writing this, it is already gone. And my take on it is only lying in my memory. So basically, what we know as life, is simply the instant you're living right NOW, and when it's gone, it is just the memory of it...Kind of scary really, because you realize everything just goes away at some point or another. And whatever you don't remember, it's as you really never lived it. Aw, crap you beat me to posting this! I had been thinking about this for a while. Not so much life as time. Time only exists in relation to two objects that are moving. In the case of biological time, time is dependent on how fast your brain can store memory, and you can access it. This would also account for reflex times.

[thegnome54]

Any Questions? Yeah! When did actually posting a coherent, relevant comment go out of style? Linking extra information is great, don't get me wrong. But do you really expect us to wade through these tonnes of information to try to guess what it has to do with the opening post? The sources you link explicitly say that the ouroboros has been used to represent many different things. Which one are you talking linking about, and why?

[Cyclic13]

What's there to explain? Everyone and everything ultimately bites it's own tail... thus becoming a contradiction realized. Every answered question, leaves another question to be answered. A contradiction. Every effect requires a cause, and every cause requires an effect. A contradiction. Every source has a branch, and every branch is it's source. A contradiction. Every intent that is expressed, is lost in it's own expression. A contradiction. Better?

[Sornaensis]

Erm? That's just circular. "No circle has a beginning" Not really a contradiction

[Cyclic13]

They, as everything here, are always opposing ideas though... dependent yet independent... hence the contradiction. When thinking in causality, you only see the cause and think what came before that. You see the effect and wonder what was it's cause. When in fact, they are the same. They are each other's causes and effects. Thus, a contradiction realized... "The subject is the object of it's own subjection. The object is the subject of it's own objection." -ME

[Replicon]

Every answered question, leaves another question to be answered. A contradiction. How is this a contradiction? It might look more like a contradiction if getting a question answered made you know LESS, but the number of questions you have is in no way an indication of how much you know. Getting a question answered gives you the wisdom to seek questions in new places. This is a non-contradiction.

[Cyclic13]

How so? In essence it is an endless loop which cannot be fulfilled. The knowledge that one seeks is always a carrot on a stick one step ahead of the seeker. Since knowledge is practical understanding of something. The more you try and reach for that understanding, the more you realize you don't understand. I believe it was Einstein who said, "The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know." That sounds like a contradiction to me. Two opposing ideas from the intent and result. In essence, you try to go forward by endlessly going backwards. (ie. a contradiction)

[tyrantt23]

Every source has a branch, and every branch is it's source. A contradiction. This is definitely not a contradiction. Sorry, I didn't mean to be picky, and I definitely don't mean to get away from the original topic, but it was flashing and screaming at me, so I had to say something. I really like the first 3 posts though, by Zera, LucidFlanders, and NonDualistic. So basically, what we know as life, is simply the instant you're living right NOW, and when it's gone, it is just the memory of it...Kind of scary really, because you realize everything just goes away at some point or another. And whatever you don't remember, it's as you really never lived it. This is a great quote. Don't waste time... don't sit around, live your life, now, because now is the only time that you may have. The past is but a memory; the future is but an expectation... a hope... a dream. At the same time, it saddens me for knowing how many past events I have forgotten. There are so many things from my childhood that I can't remember. Those lost memories are gone, and it really is as if it never happened. If I try really hard, I might remember an event or another, and it gives me a great feeling of nostalgia, but the moment is gone. All there is left is the now.

[Replicon]

How so? In essence it is an endless loop which cannot be fulfilled. The knowledge that one seeks is always a carrot on a stick one step ahead of the seeker. Since knowledge is practical understanding of something. The more you try and reach for that understanding, the more you realize you don't understand. I believe it was Einstein who said, "The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know." That sounds like a contradiction to me. Two opposing ideas from the intent and result. In essence, you try to go forward by endlessly going backwards. (ie. a contradiction) It's only a loop if the answer to your original question makes you know less about your original question. But "Increased awareness of lack of knowledge" is not the same as "decreased knowledge".

[Cyclic13]

This is definitely not a contradiction. Sorry, I didn't mean to be picky, and I definitely don't mean to get away from the original topic, but it was flashing and screaming at me, so I had to say something. Ah... the ever eluding meaning of words... communicating intent is frustrating sometimes, isn't it? This is where, "Every intent that is expressed, is lost in it's own expression", comes into play. Of course, anyone can nitpick on wording and the implications those words give. Because in the end, the meaning with any word falls on the perceiver, and is all a matter of their own perception of it. However, we could say that a branch is thought of as an independent stem of the source, and the source an independent root of the branch. One separately being spawned of the other. However, when you realize they are in fact one and the same, the whole separation thing could be interpreted as, two things which are independently dependent, and dependently independent. Holding true to the idea of a contradiction. Again, it's all a matter of how you view the separation of the two words I used. It's only a loop if the answer to your original question makes you know less about your original question. But "Increased awareness of lack of knowledge" is not the same as "decreased knowledge". Also, the same applies here. It's all how you take each word in correlation to one another. For me, it's pretty straightforward but I see where your coming from. As the awareness of one's lack of knowledge goes up exponentially as they acquire knowledge they will eventually reach the asymptotic realization of the fact that true knowledge does not exist. So, in fact, what they were striving for wasn't ever there, only perceived as being there. Just another contradiction. And, the unbelievable irony of all this is, we are becoming yet another contradiction by opposing one another in arguing over the use of the word, contradiction. Ah...good times.