I Am Not in Time; Time Is Within Me

(A Philosophical Overview of Time, Thought, and Liberation)

Introduction — Understanding Time at the Level of Existence

What is time? This question seems simple, yet it is profoundly deep. Thinkers across the world have attempted to define it, but most definitions turn out to be circular. For example — one hour is sixty minutes, one minute is sixty seconds — but what is a second? Ultimately, the definition keeps repeating itself. This shows that time cannot be understood through external measures alone, but must be grasped at the level of experience and existence.

Chapter 1 — From Non-duality to Duality: The Birth of I and P

            ORIGIN (Non-dual / Primal Point)
                     │
                     │ Division
                     ▼
          ┌─────────────────────┐
          │                     │
      I (Ego)               P (Nature)
   Subjective Axis       Objective Axis
   Incompleteness / Desire   Rules / Process

When existence splits from unity in the Big Bang into two, the stream of experience begins. This division produces — the ego-oriented (I) and the nature-oriented (P).

Time begins where duality begins. Where there is duality, there is distance. Where there is distance, there is desire. Where there is desire, there is incompleteness. The ego’s identity is itself incompleteness. Feeling incomplete, the ego connects with nature — in search of wholeness.

Chapter 2 — Time: Continuous Change

        I0  ───── interaction ─────►  P0
         │                             │
         ▼                             ▼
        I1  ◄──── change ────────►   P1
         │                             │
         ▼                             ▼
        I2  ◄──── change ────────►   P2

Every interaction transforms both sides. When you encounter an object, it is not just the object that changes; you also change. For example, when a mobile phone enters your life, your habits change; and by using it your way, you also change its role.

Duality never ends in interactions — and the continuous stream of these outcomes is what we call time. Incompleteness, dissatisfaction, and continuous change — this is time.

Chapter 3 — Consciousness, Choice, and Determination

            EVENT
              │
      ┌───────┴────────┐
      │                │
      ▼                ▼
   P Change         I Change
  (Rule-based)     (Intent-based)

To be alive is to constantly act in the world. But these actions can never give full satisfaction. Hence, the stream of time keeps flowing.

What then is the value of the living being? Consciousness — that is, choice. Choice matters because the next situation, the next arrangement, might lead you closer to satisfaction.

What marks the “right” relationship? When a relationship is an exchange of knowledge, both ego and nature change. For example — after eating, are you the same as before? Is the food the same as before? Both change through interaction; this change is law.

But what kind of relationship occurs is determined by your choice, not by the object. If you want more food, it does not refuse; if you say no, it does not feel insulted.

When this relationship is aligned with self-knowledge, satisfaction becomes possible. Then the relationship is no longer merely duality, but a medium of understanding.

Chapter 4 — The Illusion of Distance

All confusion starts when a gap arises between ego and nature. This distance is the root of illusion. As long as separation exists, struggle, attraction, and duality persist.

What does reducing the distance mean? The ego calls itself conscious, nature unconscious. Distance diminishes when these separate definitions break down and both appear as a single process. We say — “I am a living being, and that is the world.” Attraction and struggle exist only while they seem separate.

Ashtavakra says — there is no real difference between nature and me. I call myself conscious, but the same processes run within me as in nature. The rules governing nature govern me too. Just as a river does not defy gravity, humans are bound by biological, mental, and situational laws.

A stream has no independent choice; it flows according to circumstances. When we see that our decisions are shaped by body, chemistry, conditioning, and circumstances, the illusion of complete free choice breaks.

Like a pole painted — did the pole choose the color? No. Likewise, humans are shaped by multiple influences. The day a human sees that the gap between self and object is not as deep as believed, the ego-nature distance diminishes, and so does the illusion of time.

We may consider ourselves conditioned, yet inside exists the thirst for liberation. Gradually, it becomes clear that this thirst is not only “mine,” but pervades every cell, process, and all existence. Liberation, if it exists, is therefore universal, not merely personal.

In short, duality creates distance, and distance is illusion and maya. The force creating this distance is called ignorance. One who does not know oneself cannot be satisfied. Mistaking another for “I” makes any remedy shared — because identity itself is confused.

Chapter 5 — Time and Action

Action / Experience
   ↓
(P) Object changes
(I) Observer changes

Those seeking liberation repeatedly say they want freedom from time. In reality, every action in life changes both you and the experienced object. This continuous change is what we call time.

At the core of time is action. If nothing changes, time does not exist. When you observe something, the experience changes. Physics shows that at a subtle level, an object cannot remain unchanged merely by being observed. The observer effect illustrates this principle.

Even minimal interaction changes both object and observer. For example, watching a car’s wheel alters both the car and you.

Both experience and experiencer change, but by different rules. Nature changes according to laws; ego changes according to intent.

Thus, after any event, multiple reactions are possible:

• “It is someone else’s fault that the object was there.”
• “Who am I that I cannot keep others’ things properly?”

Both perspectives change you differently. Ultimately, life may give vast knowledge, but how much you change is determined by intent.

Chapter 6 — Krishnamurti’s Statement

P0 → P1 → P2 → P3
(Rule-based, chronological time)

I0 → I1 → I2 → I3
(Intent-based, psychological time)

On the chronological level, “tomorrow” exists,
but on the psychological level, there is no “tomorrow.”
When psychological tomorrow ends,
a deep revolution occurs within.
— Jiddu Krishnamurti

P0 → P1 → P2 — the sequential flow of nature; here “tomorrow” exists chronologically.

When ego (I3) returns to the Origin, psychological “tomorrow” ceases. Only the witness and non-duality remain.

This is the essence.

This is the essence of all spirituality, the conclusion of Vedanta, and the heart of all scriptures.

But understanding alone is insufficient — vigilant practice is needed. Forgetting this essence is betrayal of the inner self. Falling from non-duality into duality is the fundamental lapse.

All your spiritual words, formulas, or experiences should be mapped onto this model for clarity and integration.

Chapter 7 — Present, Liberation, and the Mystery of Non-duality

        I0  ───── interaction ─────►  P0
 Past    │                             │
         ▼                             ▼
        I1  ◄──── change ────────►   P1
Future   │                             │
         ▼                             ▼
        I2  ◄──── change ────────►   P2

Being in the present ≠ being in a moment
Being in the present = being in non-dual reality

The present refers only to the primal point — the point of awareness, Brahman, zero. On top of this, the stream of time flows, containing past and future.

This understanding must transcend the mind. We think we are in time; what is behind is past, what is ahead is unknown. In reality, in the stream of time, there is no “present.” Present is that which is independent of time.

OPTION 1: Stop P axis → Impossible
OPTION 2: Stop I axis → Possible

Duality = I + P
Time exists

I-axis stops
↓
Witnessing
↓
Present
↓
Non-duality

Present is experienced when nature flows and ego stops. Nature flows continuously; when you stop and observe, that is present.

Being in the present means:

• Being outside the I-axis (ego).
• Not merely “being in the moment.”
• Being beyond false distinctions, in non-dual reality.

Ego must become still. When ego is still, it dissolves into zero. If ego exists, there is either past memory or future imagination. Truth would not relate to past or future.

Our relationships also arise from past and future. Past gives identity; future binds us in expectation. Listening to the past, nature should immediately appear in the mind. Clarity of intent is being in the present.

There is no real present. What we see has a time lag — like starlight reaching us years later. We say “I am,” but see a recording of ourselves. Ego has no present; it views past or imagines future. Even the moment we observe passes. Hence the world is said to be illusory.

Time is thought.
Krishnamurti: “Where thought goes, there is time.” Perception always has a time lag. Thought is not only thinking; it is mental activity, whether conscious or subtle.

The present is possible only for one seated at the primal point, independent of nature, desires, or expectations.

Chapter 8 — Beauty, Love, and Truth

Ego Present → Judgement → Ugly/Beautiful
Ego Absent  → Pure Seeing → Beauty

Where ego is absent, there is beauty. Nature plays according to its rules.

Ugliness exists only in the seer. The observer defines good and bad. Social attraction is called love; in spirituality, devotion to truth is love, and seeing it as beauty. Truth is not grasped; where egolessness exists, truth exists.

Truth is found where ego is absent. The invisible (Alakh Purush) is realized where ego is absent.

“The body of the Alakh Purush, the saint alone bears.
Whoever seeks the unseen, finds it among the saints.” — Kabir

Seek beauty and sanctity where eyes cannot see. Blind reliance on vision keeps you trapped in nature’s play. Beauty, love, devotion — use these words carefully; they point only to the highest.

Chapter 9 — “Time is thought and thought is time” — Jiddu Krishnamurti

Nature (P) + Ego (I)
        │ interaction
        ▼
      Thought
        │
        ▼
       Time

“Time is thought and thought is time” — Jiddu Krishnamurti

Krishnamurti challenges the observer directly. He asks: Is what you call truth a product of thought? If yes, it cannot be truth.

He points out that religious people mistake concepts or images for truth. Thought arises from the interaction of I (ego) and P (nature); it is also action. Thought and action differ only in subtlety.

Without a subject (nature), thought cannot exist. Both observer and observed must exist.

Chapter 10 — Why Analysis Weakens Analytical Ability (Krishnamurti)

This happens when analysis stubbornly refuses change. Analysis becomes like the shadow of the analyst.

Imagine — you tie a horse with a veil. You are the ego, the horse is intellect, the veil is your belief. You try to make the horse run, but with the condition that it cannot pass the veil. What does the horse do? It moves aimlessly. Intellect cannot progress while ego holds on to beliefs.

Chapter 11 — “How to transcend words? I am trapped in them.”

Words → Remove Illusions
Silence → Reveals Reality

Words are not for transcending time; they clear false words. Like a broom sweeps dirt, words clear illusions. The purpose is not mere memorization; spiritual words cleanse accumulated assumptions and foolishness, leaving nothing behind.

Conclusion — Time is Within Me

          PURE AWARENESS (Non-dual Origin)
                       │
                       ▼
               Perceptual Division
                       │
        ┌──────────────┴──────────────┐
        ▼                             ▼
   I-Stream                      P-Stream
 (Memory / Ego)               (Nature / Rules)
        │                             │
        └────── Interaction ─────────┘
                       │
               Psychological Time
                       │
                Conflict / Suffering
                       │
               Direct Observation
                       │
                Ego Quietens
                       │
                  Non-Dual Living

Conventional definitions of time are often circular. Experience shows time is the stream of change and relationships. The interplay of ego and nature drives life — the psychological experience of this flow is time.

When the mind considers itself separate, conflict and distance increase. When it sees itself as part of the process, psychological pressure reduces.

The present is not a moment — it is clarity where experience occurs without a center. In this clarity, beauty, love, and truth naturally manifest.

Ego says — I am in time.

Truth is — time is in ego.

When ego is still, time disappears. What remains is the present, the primal point, non-duality.

Key Mapping:

• Time = Thought
• Thought = Exchange between Ego & Nature
• Ego = Psychological time
• Present = Non-dual witness consciousness
• Beauty = Absence of ego
• Truth = Absence of thinker
• Ego = Sense of incompleteness
• Incompleteness = Birth of desire
• Desire = Experience of distance
• Psychological distance = Experience of time
• Relationship = Mutual change
• Experience of change = Psychological time
• Action (psychological) = Ego’s motion
• Determination = Inner direction
• Experience = Memory accumulation
• Memory = Material of thought
• Future = Projection of memory
• Past = Storehouse of memory
• Ego-bound present = Interpreted experience
• Witnessed present = Non-dual experience
• Witness consciousness = Choice-free awareness
• Silence = Relaxation of thought
• Egoless = Psychological timelessness
• Non-dual = End of psychological distance
• Truth (non-dual) = Rhythm of the thinker
• Beauty (spiritual) = Egoless vision
• Love = Devotion to truth
• Liberation = Stillness of ego’s stream
• Nature = Rule-based flow
• Life = Ego-nature interaction
• Interdependence = Mutual arising
• Complexity = Experience of distance from origin
• Simplicity = Proximity to primal point
• Zero = Thought-free presence
• Primal point = Pre-psychological division
• “I am not time, I am time” = Ego is the center of psychological time