Perception and Concept of Time - Essay Example

The concept of time is unique to every culture. Discipline and schedules are maintained by the help of time. Time influence the individuals in the western society understand themselves but for the pre-modern East Asia cultures time is a function of the position in the cosmic system of Plant Earth, which is a part of the solar system. Time is perceived as linear in the western society and circular in the eastern society. Schedules are rigid and inflexible in the western culture but activity dictates the time in the eastern culture. Time binds human beings in the western society whereas man evolves with the passage of time in the East Asia cultures. The concept and marking of time gives an understanding of the culture. The western society values time in terms of money and they can handle only one task at a time. The East Asia culture believes time is invaluable. Time is subordinate to interpersonal relations and they can handle multiple tasks at a time. The western society would always narrate incidents referring to the calendar year while the eastern culture associates incidents to the planetary positions or the seasons of the year. The river tides were calculated by the lunar cycle in the pre-modern East Asia culture. Even the system of keeping track of age differs between two cultures. Living beyond the confines of the time leads to a deeper understanding of the self. It helps to understand that the cycle of birth and death is of the human body. The self, the inner self, the soul which creates the body is beyond the calculations of time. Time is a cultural value and failure to understand the concepts of time across different cultures can lead to breakdown in communications. Time speaks in plain and simple words and is subject to less distortion than spoken language.1 Time has been commodified in the western society and gadgets are available which help people to ‘save time; or make ‘better’ utilization of time. In the pre-modern Eastern society time measurement was correlated to the process of creation.2 The eastern society differed in the way they conceived of time, talked of time and discussed the passage of time. A deeper understanding of this new concept of time leads to a deeper understanding of the self. McLuhan’s comment that the clock has dragged the man out of the world of rhythms and recurrence holds true of the western society. Even in the US the idea of standard time met with resistance “because it violated the actual physical working of the natural order and denied the presence of a divinely ordained nature”.3 Gradually, the new definitions of time started penetrating into the consciousness of people. The eastern society on the other hand believed the Supreme goal of human life was to accomplish as an ideal person. The Chinese for instance were aware of a relationship between time, space and the living world but they never attempted to define these concepts in the abstract.4 The west believed that true power lies in the ability to control time and space while the East Asia always gave importance to the self and its fulfillment. Everyone has a common understanding and concept of time. Everyone follows a rigid discipline and carry on their life’s activities in a regimented, timely way. The way a human being thinks about time influences the way he understands himself. The way one thinks of time in unique to one’s culture and differs across nations. Birthdays and anniversaries based on the calendar year, are the markers of time in the western society whereas in the Indian society the cyclical nature of time is known as ‘anaadi’ or that which has no beginning5. When was time created or was it created at all? Time has the property of continuity while discontinuity of time is a human construct, says Anandalakshmy6. Sun and moon served as time markers in the pre-modern days when feasts and festivals, rites and rituals, and even agriculture was decided based on the new moon or the full moon. The concept of time in the East Asia was cyclical while it was linear in the west. In the cyclical concept every starting point will have to be the ending point but when time is linear and unidirectional, there has to be an absolute starting point. This is similar to comprehending the concept of globe. If one moved in one direction long enough, one would arrive at the opposite. Another way of going westwards is to go eastwards for a longer time. As one keeps tracking the thoughts backwards, one will arrive at the beginning or it the end? Is there an end? The concept of time can be either monochromic or polychromic depending on the culture.7 Western societies that value time as money, can handle just one task at a time and people’s needs are subordinate to the time. The pre-modern East Asia culture however, views time as subordinate to people’s needs. For instance, if a lecture is scheduled for sixty minutes in the west, it is expected to be over within that time frame give or take a few minutes, irrespective whether the subject has been covered the way it was planned. In the East, the lecture would be allowed to continue if it was felt to be in the interest of the people implying the west values time in terms of money while the pre-modern East Asia culture gave importance to people and their needs over time. The system of tracking age also varies across cultures. In the west, life begins from the moment of birth and hence when one full calendar year is completed, they are said to turn ‘one’.8 In the East Asia culture, the concept of age differs as they do not calculate how many anniversaries have elapsed since birth. They kept track of the number of years they had been alive. Hence, a person would turn ‘two’ on the first day of the next year in which he was born. Time is not calculated based on the months of the year. A person becomes a year older on the first day of the next year. The concept of birth and death exists in the western culture. Buddhism introduced the idea of reincarnation through the idea of samskara (karmas). One, who accumulates virtues during the course of a human life, can be reborn at a higher plane in the next birth and continue to evolve with every birth until he reaches a state of timeless perfection 9(Xiong). The wheel of reincarnation then stops. This comes through an inner quest for self-annihilation where there is no life or death. This implies that which has not been created, which is timeless, has no birth or death. Time is continuous; the soul is timeless. The west created hype about the new millennium, which was dotted by celebrations and escalated rates in every commercial sector but for the eastern society measurement of time was a function of the position in the cosmic system of planet Earth, which is a part of the solar system. The Chinese developed instruments and techniques to measure time. The sundial and the clepsydra or water clock were first developed in China. The Huainanzi, an important philosophical work written in the second century BC quotes "time is that which goes away and becomes the past; that which arrives and becomes the present."10 ‘The sun at its zenith is already going down’ implies that time is instantaneous and continuous. The notion of today, tomorrow and yesterday did not exist in the East Asia culture just as past, present and future do not. Even as we say that we are writing, that moment has turned from present to the past. Which really is the present moment? This again confirms that time is circular as per eastern perception and linear as per western perception. History is timeless because the past is not behind and the future not ahead11. Whatever exists is at this moment, in this moment. Whatever has happened to other people at another place at another time is happening to us. The past is not dead; in fact there is no past. Human beings by nature resist order and discipline. Nation remains unaffected by the passage of time. Events may have led to cause loss of consciousness of its original unity but at the end the fulfillment comes from the restoration of this unity. Thus, end is always found in the beginning proving history is timeless and cyclical like time. Old orders keep changing and human beings have to respond to the new situation. It may not always be pleasant but there has to be a response12. Every disturbing phase in human history has led to spiritual awakening and people could identify themselves with the past. If human beings could delve deep into history they could see themselves at the same time and place. In order to conceive what is happening, we have to travel beyond time, think beyond the confines of time. One has to travel deep within oneself to discover the cyclical nature of time, to discover we are what we were and we will be what we are. The concept of timelessness gives us the message to transcend beyond time. The concept of time varies across cultures and depends largely on the culture. People value human beings in the east over time while time is valued in terms of money in the west. A regimented and orderly life as the west leaves a person working like a machine or a robot with no time to reflect upon oneself. Time binds people of the west but people in the east evolve with the passage of time. A moment spent in timelessness can give a quantum leap into the self. Nature is the best time-keeper, believed the East Asian nations while clocks are meant to control and keep time in the west. True power lies in the ability to control time in the west but pre-modern East Asian culture believed that true power lies in allowing oneself to be free to travel beyond the confines of time. True power lies in discovering that time has no beginning and no end. True power lies in discovering that life is eternal. The human form may change but life continues. Allow the being to unfold naturally without restrictions of time and space; allow the self to discover the essence of human life. References: Anandalakshmy, S (2000), Mapping a timescape: understanding ourselves, 10 Nov 2006 Carroll, Jane. Timelessness and Time. 2000 10 Nov 2006 Dahl, Stephen. Communications and Culture Transformation, Chapter 1 (online). 10 Nov 2006 Krishnaswamy, M. H. The concept of Time in Indian Mythology, TempleNet. 1996. 10 Nov 2006 Segal, Ethan. Windows on Asia, 10 Nov 2006 Wolburg, J. M. Preserving the moment, commodifying time, and improving upon the past: Insights into the depiction of time in the American Advertising. Journal of Communication. 696-719 Xiong, Bingming. At peace with the past - contemplation on the passage of time. 1991 10 Nov 2006 Read More