Is Time Really on our Side?

I have been reading The Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard for a while and have been quite honestly shocked by one of it's conjectures: what if time isn't really on our side? What if the observation that spiritual consciousness is  evolving all the time is just a mirage like everything else? It occurred to me the other day when I heard my friend discussing the conditions many people in Nigeria had to live in, that millions and perhaps even billions of people were living in conditions that had little room for spiritual development since they are fighting for life and economic and political freedom. Who says that in percentage of the human population, any more developed that 1000, 10 000 or 100 000 years ago? Sad, or is, if the assumption is correct that there is always only you with a video screen of maya projected around you. 

Waiting for Godot

The early Christians were convinced the Second Coming of the Christ was imminent, so they didn't even bother writing down the gospels of the Christ for future generations. It was only when all the people who actually had contact with Jesus started dying off when the realized that they better start writing.

I was reminded of this story when I reflected on taking the Course in Miracles workbook, which takes more than a year and the fear crept up in me that yet another year would go by without enlightening 'striking'. Well, that is what thoughts do, they pop up. The Disappearance of the Universe had a nice position on this: when you are on the right spiritual track you will be so happy that you do not think that much about enlightenment. No point waiting for Godot. He will come when the time is ripe.

Self-Improvement

J. Krishnamurti used to compare self-improvement to the renovation of a prison cell. Yes, objectively everything looks better after you are done, but you are still in the same prison. I was reminded of this statement when I was reading 'The Disappearance of the Universe' by Gary Renard who is visited by some of Jesus' disciples who claim the same thing: we are all living in a world of maya and all we should aspire to do is to break free once and for all. 

Well, I obviously haven't broken free so there is little I have to add to the discussion. What I would say though is that I seem to have experienced what a spiritual path is. It is a force that compels you to move in a certain direction and there is little you can do about it. Every misstep away from the path is followed by discomfort and it is immediately clear to you what you have been hurting yourself in the process. Every continued misstep brings bigger and bigger emotional discomfort while layer on layer of understanding is added why you are pulled away from your equilibrium in the first place. At one point you just get to tired to even bother doing something else than the Tao calls for.