Mind & Heart – 2: The Mental Prison of Time and Change

The Unfolding of Temporal Illusion

The sense of loss, anxiety, and regret that pervades human experience is deeply tied to the prevailing belief in the passage of time. Modern thought conceives the self as a transient entity, emerging and disappearing within a flow of moments, each slipping into nothingness. This assumption not only shapes personal suffering but also structures the very way reality is understood. The belief that things come into existence and pass away is not a neutral observation but an interpretation—one that necessarily unfolds into fear, uncertainty, and the relentless search for permanence where none appears to be found.

Yet, this interpretation does not arise arbitrarily. It follows a necessary sequence in the appearing of thought. The sense of time’s passing is not merely a psychological phenomenon but a foundational framework that has shaped historical consciousness. Religious and metaphysical traditions once provided structures that mitigated the terror of impermanence, pointing toward an underlying permanence that could not be erased by time. As these frameworks have receded, the direct confrontation with temporality has intensified, compelling a deeper inquiry into the nature of Being itself.

The Illusion of Change and the Fear of Contingency

The assumption that all things are contingent—that they arise without necessity and vanish without remainder—gives rise to existential uncertainty. The belief in impermanence generates the expectation of loss, the anticipation of suffering, and the underlying anxiety that nothing can truly endure. This is not merely an emotional response but the logical unfolding of a premise: if things become, they must also cease to be.

Yet, this very unfolding contains within it the seeds of its own contradiction. The perception of change presupposes something that remains—the structure that allows change to be recognized. If all were truly transient, even the awareness of transience would dissolve. The recognition of becoming already implies something beyond becoming, something that does not pass away. This realization does not immediately dispel the fear rooted in temporal illusion, but it signals the necessity of a broader unveiling—one in which time itself is revealed not as a force of erasure but as a mode of appearing within the eternal structure of Being.

The Path Beyond Temporal Illusion

For those conditioned by the habitual perception of time, the immediate recognition of eternal necessity may seem inaccessible. Yet, the unfolding of thought itself moves inevitably toward this recognition. The longing for permanence, the desire to hold onto what seems to slip away, and the suffering caused by loss all point to a deeper truth: Being does not vanish.

However, the transition from the illusion of time to the recognition of eternity is not a sudden leap but a gradual appearing. The frameworks that once mediated this recognition—myths, religious narratives, and philosophical insights—have played a necessary role in guiding human thought beyond the prison of contingency. Even as they seem to fade, their necessity remains, and their truth is destined to be seen anew within a clearer understanding of the eternal structure of reality.

The suffering tied to time and loss does not indicate the failure of human experience but its necessary movement toward the unveiling of what has always been true. Fear, anxiety, and regret belong to this unfolding recognition, leading not to an escape from temporality but to the realization that all that is—has always been and can never be lost. The illusion of time gives way to the appearing of Being, in which the contradiction of transience is already resolved.