Time

Drawing 'Ouroboros' by Theodoros Pelecanos

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I got a letter from my future self. And after thinking a lot, I replied. And my reply goes like this.

[Letter sent on 18.07.2020 and received on 10.11.2051]

Hey Ashutosh,

Apologies for the late reply. I hope that this letter finds you in the best state of mind and health. I have realised that you are the Ariadne's thread that I am searching for. Like a beacon in the darkness, you are meant to guide me along the right path.

I don't know whether it's in our hand to change our future or is it preordained. But I would love to know my fate that I am heading towards. Eagerly waiting for your reply. Write back soon.

With love,

Ashutosh

18.07.2020

Here is the letter that I had received.

[Letter sent on 14.11.2051 and received on 02.07.2020]

Hey Ashutosh,

Fate is nothing but the summation of choices. The choices that we face in our lifetime. Sometimes in life you will realise that the decisions you make affect more than your own destiny.

But in the meanwhile you must also remember that a man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills. So now the question is if I tell you how things would end, where your journey would take you and I assure you that you are still going to make the same decisions, would you be interested in knowing your fate?. I do have less time. Please do reply soon.

Last but not the least, I am extremely sorry for the late reply. At this age its difficult even to lift a pen.

With love,

Ashutosh

14.11.2051

you tell e which of the above letters was composed first? ............ The answer is not what you think. If your answer is the letter written in 2051. Then it's wrong. It was just a mere reply to the one written in 2018. If your answer is the one written in 2018. Then also you are wrong. It was a reply to the letter written in 2051. Now, you are thinking how is it possible? But my dear the question here is not 'how?' it's 'when?'.

Assuming the above two letters to be the only communication between the said pair of entities can you tell me which of the above letters was composed first? ............ The answer is not what you think. If your answer is the letter written in 2051. Then it's wrong. It was just a mere reply to the one written in 2018. If your answer is the one written in 2018. Then also you are wrong. It was a reply to the letter written in 2051. Now, you are thinking how is it possible? But my dear the question here is not 'how?' it's 'when?'.

The problem in solving this Bootstrap Paradox lies in our thought process. What we trust is that 'time' to be linear. That it proceeds eternally and uniformly into infinity. But the truth is that the distinction between past, present and future is nothing but an illusion. Yesterday, today, tomorrow are not consecutive as you think. They are connected in a never-ending circle. It's not just the past that influences the future. The future also influences the past.

Now if it's an unending circle then many questions pop up. Where did it all begin? Where did things begin? In the past? In the future? Who can say where it began? Will we ever be capable of knowing the origin of all things? Or is there still an origin before that? And before that? And before that? Do beginning and end even exist? Or is it all connected in an endless loop, and are "beginning" and "end" just different words for one and the same moment. Somewhat like the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning.

We don't have answers to the above mentioned questions. If we read the works of Friedrich Nietzsche like 'The Gay Science' and 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' we get the concept of Eternal Recurrence (or Eternal Return) according to which the universe and all existence and energy has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form for an infinite number of times across infinite time or space. It relates to the philosophy of predeterminism in which people are predestined to continue repeating the same events over and over again.

The Mayans and Aztecs also took a cyclical view of time. The book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible states: "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." In ancient Greece, the concept of eternal return was connected with Empedocles, Zeno of Citium, and most notably in Stoicism.

The concept of cyclical patterns is also prominent in Indian religions, such as Jainism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism among others. The wheel of life represents an endless cycle of birth, life, and death from which one seeks liberation. In Tantric Buddhism, a wheel of time concept known as the Kalachakra expresses the idea of an endless cycle of existence and knowledge.

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Kalachakra Mandala - Tibetian Thangka Painting

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Finally, if we accept this concept of endless cycle of existence then new set of questions emerge. Do we humans as mortal beings have any role is this infinite loop in which we are caught up? Is everything preordained or can we influence or escape our fate that we are tied to?........Do think about it.

Until Next Time,

Ashutosh