Descriptions of time, level 3The Great Space perspective shows everything to be more integrated--an infinite form . . . without an infinitely extended temporal dimension. From this perspective, different times express only an openness and accommodation of Great Space; they do not establish temporal succession, discrete moments, or `things in time'. (p. 81, TSK)
The vitality of Great Time is the direct expression or evidence of the openness of Great Space. Great Time plumbs the depths and breadth of Great Space. Just as ordinary sound needs space in which to occur, and in turn gives evidence of the extent of that space, so Great Time resounds in, speaks of, and sounds out the infinity of Great Space. All appearance is Great Space. Elaborating on this, we can see that although all form and partitions are Great Space, the givenness of form and the partitioning or drawing up of form into particular configurations is Great Time. Great Time shows or conveys (in both the common evocative and vehicular senses) Great Space by exhibiting infinite variety. (p. 99, TSK) Different times do not violate the nondistributive nature of Great Time. They are not linked, in a way that irrevocably separates them, by their respective positions in a temporal series. The 'series' is a fiction. (p. 106, TSK) All energy whatsoever, all potential for the appearance of elements which we take as phenomena in time--volition, causation, and so on--derives from Great Time. (p. 126, TSK) Time is neither linear nor sequential, in fact, there are neither moments nor successive movement, and thus no succession. (p. 136, TSK) Great Time, through the intermediary experience of 'time', is the source of inspiration and spontaneity. It is the muse that all artists seek, the feature which allows us to perceive and celebrate the otherwise hidden dimensions of all the presentations that constitute life. (p. 142, TSK)
Time ceases to be seen as unfolding distributively, from one thing to the next. Instead, it penetrates directly through all meanings and partitions to show Great Space in a perfect, timeless encounter--timeless in the sense of being unconditioned and without ordinary duration. (p. 150, TSK) Great Time is the universal bearer, but does not do, bear, or express 'things'. Great Time is not a thing or process....Great Time is neither law-like nor random. It is not a happening or a 'taking place' at all. . . . We might say that it is the inseparable partner of Great Space, the other member of the primordial marriage and love affair. (p. 159, TSK) When fully appreciated, Great Time is seen to be a kind of perfectly liquid, lubricious dimension--it is quintessentially 'slippery'. For this reason--although there seems to be movement and separate places to move to on the first level, and still more open, fluid possibilities of movement on the second level--on the third level there is no 'going' and no separate places. It is as though all the friction in the world were removed--nothing can then walk away from anything else. So, from a third level view, an eternity of `straying' still leaves us very much `at home', intimately united. (p. 162, TSK) |
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