It is fairly simple to realize that present is the only real time, as past is no more, and the future is not yet. When we take a look at the linear scale of time, we can see that everything which we ever experience, know, or understand- happens always in the now. But this alone is not the paradox of time.

We store memories which we call past, and we imagine things that have not yet happened, as a possibility for future. No matter how much we indulge in the memories of past or project our hopes and desires on an imagined future, it is clear that we never actually leave present, for every thought that ever crosses our mind, always does so in the ‘now’ of the present moment.

So, past is just a concept and future is just another concept, created by thought, in the reality of the present moment, hence only present is real.

This brings us to the paradox of time- right on that narrow edge between the past and the future, that moment where the future is meeting the past, that thin hairline of a border, the sharp edge of that blade where one side meets the other.

The paradox right on this border which we call ‘now’, is that there is no ‘now’ here!

The more closely we scrutinize this moment at the border, the more we can cut it into smaller and smaller, until there is just nothing left. The future is touching the past, with nothing in between, the edge where they touch, has all time, or no time.

What we call ‘now‘, is the timeless!

Take a look at the linear scale of time again. It was clear, that the present moment is the only real time, because past is not real anymore and future is not real yet. But, we have also seen, by zooming on all the way down to that sharp edge of the blade, where future turns into past- there is nothing in between the future touching past- there is no space for the present to even exist!

‘Present’ appears to be just a name given to this edge, this meeting point- it is as much of a concept, as past and future, and is therefore not real!

It appears that past, future and present, all three are not real.

Time is an illusion, a mere concept that appears to be real and seems to dominate and drive our existence in the physical world, at least at the scale of our sensory perceptions. But it may just be a mere inference, an assumption!

Nevertheless, we do experience things and events in a linear unidirectional flow of time, which feels very real, as much as our existence in this world. So, there is an inherent reality in our experience of time.

What then, is this reality that we sense and superimpose on our concept of time? Where does this conviction, our absolute faith in the reality of time come from?

It comes from our own being. Our concept of time borrows our own reality!

This reality is who we are. This is our reality, our being. This reality is the reality that we share, with all that is. This is our one common reality, our being one with all of existence.

In other words, that present which is the only real time (but is still a concept), borrows our own reality. We ourselves are the reality of time, ‘we’ as a presence impart our reality to each ‘now’, because we are, because we exist, and our being is what we always call ‘now’.

As long as we continue to exist, our “now” continues to exist.

So, the reality of time experienced by us, is the reality of any experience in the present moment, is the very same reality of our own Self. This reality of ‘now’, is our most intimate truth in plain view!

The picture above tries to illustrate this point. The flame on the burning rope is us being alive in the moment. This flame is where the future, that is not yet, bursts forth into a bright flash, which engulfs its potential in the now, and merges it with the ashes of all those moments, that have forever gone, to rest into the past.

This flame is the life, it is the living presence, reality, being, awareness, consciousness, the isness. It is what we really are, that which everything really is. This flame is the eternal ‘now’, the timeless! Any moment that we perceive as present, as now, is illumined by our being present to it. 

Anything that has slipped into the perceived past, has passed through the flame of our presence into memories, similar to the burnt part of the rope, that is not real anymore. Any moment in past is not real, merely a thought pulled from the memory, similar to the ‘rope-shaped-ash’ residues, where there is no real rope.

The future is where we see an intact rope- a perfect unblemished potential, a projection of our imagination! The flame of our presence is yet to burn and illumine those events with our reality, so they remain as a mere potential, a fresh possibility of the unknown, untouched, un-lived, imaginary life, until we meet it with our actual presence and burn it with the flame of our reality.

This burning rope illustrates the concept of time, but also shows, what really gives life, value and meaning to time. It is our presence, awareness, that makes the present ‘now’ and the absence of this presence, that makes it either past or future.

We, define time by our presence. We are the soul, the flame, the heart of time, we are the ‘now’ of all time.

We are the life that animates, and the light that illumines this elaborate paradox of time.