Eternity in a moment (death)

Just something I was thinking about and thought I'd share...

I'm sure we've all had those dreams that felt like they lasted a lot longer than the amount of time we were asleep. It seems as if our perception of time is drastically different in the dream world. Similar accounts have been related to the use of hallucinogens, OBEs, and near-death experiences.

I wonder then, is there a limit to how fast our perception of time can speed up?

If in the moment of death we can speed up our perception of time infinitely faster, then theoretically we can live eternally in that moment. And who's to say that if we could live a few million years in an instant, couldn't we also find a way back? Not that I would want to come back to this rock! Still, the possibilities boggle.

Good post.

This reminds me of a Joseph Campbell quote:

"Eternity isn't some later time. Eternity isn't a long time. Eternity has nothing to do with time. Eternity is that dimension of here and now which thinking and time cuts out. This is it. And if you don't get it here, you won't get it anywhere. And the experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life. "

Time is a construct of the mind. I believe that our thought process and our perception of time gets in the way of a lot of things. When in an altered state, time in the traditional sense begins to lose its' meaning. I believe that there is no other state that is more altered than the transition from life to death and it leads me to believe that eternity, as defined above by Mr. Campbell, becomes a reality. What that means exactly is anyone's guess.

This topic is actually discussed in one of the vignettes in the film Waking Life. If you haven't already, you should definitely check this movie out.