Does Time Exist?

What Is Time?

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Answering the question that has been asked here in the title, it is presumed that we know something about Time. We do have at least  something, a hint that could take us to reach the goal, in the understanding, what is Time.

It is very important to see, how do we know and form the mental image of Time, because Time is not a physical object or fact that we could grasp through senses (as the sensory perception), and at the same time, Time is also not any mental one, such as thought, memory, feelings or emotions. Still we can conveniently catagorize Time in terms of past and future. Though we can imagine and think of, or make a visual image of past and future, and with the help of memory, recall too incidences that we associate with such a notion of our past and our expected future. This is also interesting to see that all such a past and future have always and inevitably a reference to 'me'. A person who has a past and (thinks) has a future. Saying 'a past' and 'a future' again not exactly correct. Past and Future, - if not adjectives, are uncountable /  abstract nouns. (But the English Grammar points out to them as adjective). In fact, the article 'a' itself serves as an adjective, and so again the past and the future may be treated as noun. Whatever, it is itself doubtful if the thing that we call the past or the future, does really exist or not. 

What about the so-called 'present'?

Do we really know this 'present' as any other object, as a fact that is grasped and is known through the senses?

Though we are very sure without suspicion or doubt that this 'present' is an ever-abiding truth, we are simply just unable to look at it as an object. The insight and the instinct, too point out this naturally and spontaneously to us. So, there is no controversy what-so-ever, what exactly this present is to us. Still, when, as soon as, we associate this 'present' with a nearest past or a nearest future, we take it to be an 'event' in Time. Then and there, we get fumbled.

We should not and need not try to define this 'present', which is reality ever-abiding only, - and never a passing moment like the bygone past or the imagined future.

This 'present' is verily the consciousness of the being, and being is verily this conscious 'present'.

This 'being' is truly the consciousness, and this 'consciousness' is truly the 'being' only. 

As soon as this being or the consciousness is turned into being someone and being a self, who is conscious of being, everything goes topsy-turvy. Then we tend to categorize and define Time in terms of past and future and then we tend to believe that time exists and has existence as such. This hypothetical and imagined Time, even though well-defined, is but will-o'-the-wisp only.

This is how Time is such a nightmare for the physicist and the philosopher.

What to speak of the layman?

We will never know if Time really exists or not!!

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न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः।।

न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम्।।१२।।

(श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, अध्याय २)

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