I think most people’s conception of past is that it somehow is moving backwards from the present. Alan Watts, however, introduced the metaphor of a ship and its wake – asserting that the past trailed off from the moment, but not quite as it may appear. The wake of a ship travels outwards and forwards, even while appearing to travel backwards. Perhaps this optical illusion is true of the past too – it is not a linear notion. When we remember ‘the past’, we do so through the lens of our own minds – in this moment – and subject to our own memories that have piled upon whatever the event ‘was’. This is pretty heady stuff, but makes sense if you really study your experience of ‘remembering a past event’. Thus, perhaps my theory is that the boat of awareness cuts through the ocean of universal consciousness, creating ripples and waves that trail outwards and forwards. That is what creates the choppy-ness of our memories – the turbulent waters caused by the ship’s wake….”
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