The Timeless Perspective; The Real

A central teaching of the Buddha is that all phenomena are impermanent. The Diamond Sutra says 'all that has a form is impermanent and unreal.' There is a quote from 'A Course in Miracles' which I find to be very memorable and intuitively meaningful. "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.". All that disappears with time is unreal. To appreciate this, let's think about Reality, the Universe, itself. Compare even your entire lifetime with the time-span of the Universe. Compare even this entire planet with the distance of the Universe. Consider what an immeasurably small blip any manifestation is. Given this, you can appreciate the thought of manifested existence as being 'un-real.' You can also appreciate the idea of reality as being dream-like, all events being little blips which appear for a little bit, and then disappear, having no real lasting existence. This is difficult to grasp when you are centered in your ego, but more apprehensible when you see from the perspective of Reality itself, which is Truth.

In order to see things from the perspective of reality itself, you must step out of time-based modes of apprehending reality. You must step into the eternal perspective. The eternal perspective is above all change. It is equally present at all points in space and time, and this is Reality itself, the Truth. Detachment, seen as the ultimate aim in Buddhism and Taoism, is the natural result of seeing things from the Eternal perspective.

Now first of all, let us examine what is meant by 'the eternal perspective.' 'The timeless perspective' could also be used. It is not asserting a core, a 'thing' to be found, beyond other things. It is rather the space wherein all appearances appear. It is beyond any appearance, because any appearance is time-bound. It has a beginning, and it has an end. Eternity, or the timeless, does not; although without this timeless reality, no manifestation can occur at all. Realizing this perspective, attachment naturally falls away. Craving, attachment, and aversion are not possible from the timeless perspective. Time is implied by everyone one of them. Anything mental or physical which is bound up by time and impermanence is illusory. That which is not, is the Real.