Time and the Universe

Review We have been talking about the meaning of the word “tantra” to get a general introductory picture of it. We saw that there are two meanings – one is the “warp of a loom” upon which all the threads of the themes of practice from sutra are interwoven as the different...

Chapters 9 to 12 Nine: Indicating the Meditations for Refuting Static Functional Phenomena (1) All (functional phenomena) arise as a fact of being the result (of a collection of causes and circumstances). Therefore, there’s no such thing as a static (functional phenomenon...

Is There a Common-Denominator Temporal Interval? The Gelug Prasangika Position  We were speaking about the issue of a common denominator. Is there an actual temporal interval, somehow like a blank screen, that’s the basis for labeling by different persons with many different...

Introduction  Within the discussion of time, we also have the discussion of the future, the present and the past. Jorge touched on that a little bit in the discussion about blocks of time. If there’s nothing that is an absolute present, then likewise past and future, which...

Introduction and Question about Concepts and Nonexistent Phenomena We started going through the second half of the text, the chapters that deal with voidness, (specifically the topic is refuting or overcoming the incorrect views regarding voidness and the deepest nature of how...

The Basis for Valid Cognition of “Not-Yet-Happenings” As we have seen, one facet of a “karmic tendency for a result” is the karmic tendency’s “temporarily not-giving-rise to its result, so long as all the contributing circumstances for giving rise to it are incomplete.” That...

Review  In our discussion about the issue of free will or choice versus predetermination or determinism, we saw that there are many, many factors that are involved and many pieces of the Buddhist teachings that we have to put together in order to understand what’s going on...

(1) Closer Analogies The Kalachakra Tantra has many unique features not shared in common with the other anuttarayoga Buddha-figure systems. The upward and downward analogies of general anuttarayoga still pertain to its practice, except that Kalachakra does not entail practice...

The Relation between Objects of the Three Times We have seen that there is no common-locus of a “result, which is not yet happening,” a “result, which is presently happening,” and “a result, which is no longer happening.” Moreover, although a continuum can be validly imputed...

Review of Previous Sessions  We have been discussing the issue of time from a Buddhist and a relativistic point of view in current Western science. We’ve seen that, from a Buddhist point of view, time is a measurement of the change that occurs during the interval on a...