In Christian mysticism eternity is the presence of all time at once. Most other mystics say about the same. Briane Greene writes this:
"… the intuitive sense of time’s flow can be vividly portrayed in this framework by a variation on the movie-projector metaphor. We can envision a light that illuminates one time slice after another, momentarily making the slice come alive in the present - making it the momentary now - only to let it go instantly dark again as the light moves on to the next slice. Right now, in this intuitive way of thinking about time, the light is illuminating the slice in which you, sitting on planet earth, are reading this word. But, again, while this image seems to match experience, scientists have been unable to find anything in the laws of physics that embodies such a moving light. They have found no physical mechanism that singles out moment after moment to be momentarily real - to be the momentary now - as the mechanism flows ever onward towards the future.
Quite the contrary. (…) there is convincing evidence that the spacetime loaf -the totality of spacetime, not slice by single slice - is real. A less than widely appreciated implication of Einstein’s work is that special relativistic reality treats all times equally. Although the notion of now plays a central role in our worldview, relativity subverts our intuition once again and declares ours an egalitarian universe in which every moment is as real as any other. (…) we argue that every part of the spacetime loaf (…) is as real as every other, suggesting, as Einstein believed, that reality embraces past, present and future equally and that the flow we envision bringing one section to light as another goes dark is illusory.
… Just as we envision all of space as really being out there, as really existing, we should also envision all of time as really being out there, as really existing too. Past, present and future certainly appear to be distinct entities. But, as Einstein once said, "For we convinced physicists, the distinction between past, present and future is only an illusion, however persistent."
Brian Greene
The Fabric of the Cosmos
Penguin, 2003 (132/139)
It seems that there is one perspective from which all time exists at once, and many perspectives from which it does not. Philosopher Colin Mcginn speculates that consciousness originates outside time. Perhaps it does, for everybody speaks of the stillness of ultimate reality, and what could eternity be but unchanging stillness, perhaps even the peace that passeth all understanding?
thank you for your enthusiasm and positivity... i see humans are also extremely arrogant and mean :P ha j/k
