Such simple words yet so often so
very misunderstood. There is another way to look at the concept expressed by Peter and Paul (above). You might say
that Paul, going for ‘quantity’, embodies the past and the future. The long lost
memories, the dreams of things yet to come. Peter, however, knows the truth. He
knows that immortality is the quintessence of a single instant of eternity.
It is not easy to reconcile eternity with NOW. Yet, in a
strange way they are synonymous. When you touch infinity, time stops. It is not
that it is limited to a single instant. It is that the single instant embodies
all eternity. There is no ‘was’ or ‘will be’. There is only IS.
And yet this enigmatic IS exists in infinite potential and
in endless becoming. It sounds like an oxymoron but when you experience it, it
will become real.
While the future, even though it already exists in its
potential guise, due to its infinite possible configurations is unknowable, the
moment of Truth encompasses all possible eternities. Perhaps that is why we,
the Human species have called it the Divine. Though it cannot be embraced by
our mind, it can be experienced by our consciousness, which has no limitations.
Why?
Because our consciousness is the individualization of the omnipresent
Eternal. In consciousness we are inseparable from that that IS. There are
ephemeral moments in our lives of indescribable joy, filling us with euphoria
that sometimes lingers on for minutes; then dissipates into the illusion of our
material life. Such moments are beyond anything offered by any religion.
As we can see, such ‘isness’ cannot be put into words. Many
have tried—few, if any, succeeded. We have the Songs of Solomon, Isaiah’s
verses: “For unto us a child is born”, Jalaluddin Rumi’s euphoric aspirations…
they come close, but…
We cannot define the indefinable without limiting it.
Our mind can handle the concept of NOW only as pertaining to
the past—albeit, to billions of years. I attempted to do so in my novel NOW—Being
and Becoming. Try it. You might like it. (If you are not yet a ‘Kindlite’,
it is also available in paperback).
My thought is that immortality lies in how we respond and touch people in our lives. In our day to day living everyone we come in contact with, we impact in a either a small or large way. what that person caries away in their memories of us, is our immortality in a way. If the impact is large then it is more noted and will perhaps be spread to others. Perhaps Peter's truth was that he realized that immortality is more abstract, than concrete that there is only the given moment we get and it is what we do with that moment that creates our own immortality. The abstract lies within the memories of those we touch. concrete would be the physical manifestation of those memories set down in writing and or marked monuments to our existence, or the ultimate concrete would be to live forever as in the case of Lazarus. But if one is a believer of re-incarnation of the soul, then immortality exists within those memories that the soul carries of past lifetimes. But immortality as human does have a concrete existence it lies with the bounds of the science of our bodies as our DNA is pasted down through centuries. But yes, immortality does exist in this moment and we will always be inseparable from the Is, because now this moment it our eternity and our immortality. Great philosophers and theologians have been pondering the existence of our souls immortality for centuries, making it more complicated than it really is. Memories are the quintessence keeper and holder of eternity and immortality. Religion is but a venue and a organized set of rule for man to follow. Various religions are but road maps leading man to perhaps same place. Sadly man does not follow the rules of the religious dogma and continues to be inhuman to his fellow man. As a species we are flawed by our malevolence to ourselves and this is the immortal legacy we seem to leaving to each other.
ReplyDeleteI thank you for your comments, Bren. Much appreciated. I hope you'll become a frequent visitor.
ReplyDeleteStan