The Illusion of Time: Are We Living in the Past, Present, or Neither?
- Dr Fi PhD
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
“The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”— Albert Einstein
Time rules everything we do. It governs our schedules, defines our memories, and gives shape to our futures. We think of it as a steady river flowing from the past to the present and into the future. But what if that flow is a mirage — a comforting fiction rather than a fundamental truth?
In this exploration, we’ll journey through physics, philosophy, mysticism, and neuroscience to ask: Is time real, or is it merely a construct — a framework of perception imposed by our consciousness upon the cosmos?
The Clockwork Illusion
Most of us live by the clock. We measure life in minutes, hours, years. We celebrate birthdays, meet deadlines, watch the sun rise and set. Time feels linear, directional, and inescapable.
But cracks in this common-sense view begin to appear when we examine time closely — particularly through the lenses of physics and metaphysics.
Time According to Physics: A Static Universe?
In Newton’s universe, time was absolute — a universal ticking clock independent of everything else. But Einstein overturned this in the early 20th century with his theory of relativity, showing that time is relative to speed and gravity. The faster you move, the slower your time flows relative to someone stationary.
From this came the block universe model — the idea that time is like space: all points (past, present, and future) exist simultaneously. In this model, the “now” is not moving — we are simply conscious at different coordinates in spacetime.
Physicist Julian Barbour goes further, arguing that time doesn’t exist at all. According to him, the universe is made up of a series of timeless “Nows” — snapshots of reality existing all at once, like pages in a book.
“Change merely creates an illusion of time, with each Now being a complete universe unto itself.”— Julian Barbour, The End of Time (1999)
Philosophical Riddles: What Is Time?
St. Augustine, writing in the 4th century, famously remarked:
“What then is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.”
Philosophers still puzzle over whether only the present is real (presentism), or if the past and future are equally real (eternalism). Some even argue that time is not an external reality at all, but an inner condition of the human mind.
Immanuel Kant suggested that time (and space) are not properties of the world but of how we experience the world. According to Kant, time is a necessary lens through which we perceive reality — not something that exists “out there.”
Metaphysical and Mystical Views
Long before Einstein or Kant, mystical traditions were already proposing radical ideas about time.
In Hindu philosophy, time is part of maya — the veil of illusion that conceals ultimate reality. The past and future are said to exist only in the mind; only the eternal present is real.
Buddhism, especially in the Abhidharma traditions, teaches that everything is impermanent and momentary. Time is not a flow but a series of discrete, vanishing events — like sparks from a fire. This view is echoed in the notion of ksanikavada, or momentariness.
Many Indigenous cultures hold cyclical or spiral conceptions of time. The Mayan calendar, for example, describes ages and cycles rather than straight lines. In some Aboriginal Australian traditions, the Dreamtime is a timeless realm where past, present, and future co-exist.
Time and the Brain: A Construction of Consciousness
Modern neuroscience adds yet another twist. What we perceive as time may be little more than a trick of the brain.
Research shows that the brain doesn’t receive the world in real-time. Instead, it stitches together input from multiple senses with a small delay (roughly 80 milliseconds) to create what psychologists call the specious present — a “now” that isn’t instantaneous but smeared across time.
Moreover, our sense of past and future relies on memory and imagination — both functions of the same brain system. According to cognitive neuroscientist Dean Buonomano, time is a product of neural activity, not an objective entity.
“The brain is a time machine... not just to perceive time, but to navigate it — remembering the past and anticipating the future.”— Dean Buonomano, Your Brain Is a Time Machine (2017)
Altered States and the Eternal Now
When people experience deep meditation, near-death experiences, psychedelic journeys, or peak mystical states, they often describe the dissolution of time.
In such states, the individual seems to exit the linear flow and enter a realm where everything happens at once — or where “now” stretches infinitely. This aligns with what some mystics call the eternal now, a state where time is irrelevant and only being remains.
Could it be that these altered states reveal something real — a glimpse behind the veil — or are they simply chemical illusions? The metaphysical perspective often leans toward the former
So... If Time Is an Illusion, What Changes?
If time is not fundamental — if it’s a construct or illusion — then what happens to our ideas of:
Causality: Do causes always precede effects, or could they be simultaneous?
Free will: If the future already exists, is our sense of choice an illusion?
Mortality: Is death an end, or simply a shift in awareness across the "block"?
Perhaps most importantly, this perspective invites us to live more presently. If the past is gone and the future is an idea, only now is real. This insight lies at the heart of countless spiritual traditions and modern mindfulness practices alike.
Conclusion: A Mirror, a Map, or a Veil?
Time may not be what it appears. It could be a mirror, reflecting our changing consciousness. A map, helping us navigate a complex world. Or a veil, obscuring a deeper timeless reality.
Whether we see it as illusion, metaphor, or emergent phenomenon, questioning time can reframe how we experience our lives. It opens us to mystery — and to the possibility that the most important moment is always... now.
Dr Fi
References
Barbour, Julian. The End of Time. Oxford University Press, 1999.
Buonomano, Dean. Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time. W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.
Rovelli, Carlo. The Order of Time. Riverhead Books, 2018.
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Translated by Norman Kemp Smith, Macmillan, 1929.
Augustine of Hippo. Confessions, Book XI.
Tarthang Tulku. Time, Space, and Knowledge: A New Vision of Reality. Dharma Publishing, 1977.
Einstein, Albert. Letter to the family of Michele Besso, March 1955.