To be more precise, time exists only in the present. The past can be the future and the future can be the past, depending on relativity. Anybody who has perfected meditation can see the present state clearly and thoroughly, which is the secret of our universe.
If you can build a spaceship that can travel at the speed of light, time will stop. It is impossible to build a physical spaceship to challenge the speed of time, but the Buddha's spirit, which exists in an abstract form, can travel faster than the speed of light. In a second, his mind travels to the edge of the universe, allowing him to see all realms in different dimensions. The Buddha pointed out that there are 31 realms of existence - comprising the realms of the lower beings, human beings and angels.
The Buddha travelled to the Tavatimsa realm of heaven to preach to his mother. He compressed time so that the dimensions of the earth's time and the Tavatimsa's time were the same before setting off on the journey. He delivered a sermon to his mother and other devas before returning to earth. During the Buddha's absence the time that lapsed on earth was about three months, though he spent only a few hours in the Tavatimsa dimension. When he returned to earth, he walked slowly and revealed the realms of heavens for all beings to witness. His movements captured the imaginations of Thai artists, who built Phra Leela images, or the Walking Buddha. If you visit the Marble Temple or Wat Benjamaborphit, you can see a Phra Leela masterpiece built during the Sukhothai period.
Yet in all these realms, beings still go through the cycle of birth and rebirth, subject to the three characteristics of existence - anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering) and anatta (nothingness). To break from this cycle of suffering, we have to purify the spirit from all desire and illusion. Then we will achieve the state of blissfulness - not coming into being, not dying, not subject to time.
In Buddhist terms, our spirit, which exists in abstract and in energy-like form, has no beginning and no end, just like the universe, which comes into being, holds on to its status before passing away, only to repeat the cycle again and again. Only human beings can transcend this cycle of rebirth and death, by a process of enlightenment.
THE TIME AND SPACE FOR ALL LIVING BEINGS
The term "all living beings" includes not only human beings but also encompasses beings in the other five realms of existence: celestial beings, asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, and beings in the hell realm. What is the time and space for all living beings within the six realms of existence?
We will first talk about time.
A. Ksana
In Buddhism, a "ksana" is the smallest unit of time. Within the context of how we measure time today, it is approximately one seventy-fifth of a second. It is very brief. In Buddhism, how do we gauge such a short duration of time?
A reflection is a moment of thought; one human reflection takes up ninety ksanas.
Within one ksana, there are nine hundred instances of arising and ceasing.
There are 32,820,000 ksanas in one day.
From the descriptions above, we can glean that the arising and ceasing within a ksana occurs very rapidly. During any particular moment, we see flowers as red and leaves as green. In reality, they are constantly changing from ksana to ksana, and after a while, they will wilt. Within each ksana, they are perpetually growing and wilting. Take the example of a table: we see it standing firmly. However, if we were to look at it under an electron microscope, we would see that the internal fiber structure of the wood is changing, expanding and contracting as it decays from ksana to ksana. In a few years, this table will no longer be any good. In this world, how can there be any flowers and grass that will never wilt? How can there be any tables that will not be subjected to destruction? Because all phenomena and existences are arising from ksana to ksana, all phenomena and existence are therefore ceasing from ksana to ksana. There is a saying, "When a young man snaps his fingers, sixty-three ksanas have gone by." Time goes by very fast. Youth can disappear in a flash. A ksana is indeed an extremely brief and short span of time.
B. Asamkhya Kalpa
In Buddhism, a very long period of time is called an "asamkhya kalpa." It is a very, very long period of time; the duration of an "asamkhya kalpa" is so long that any attempts to describe it in words would be difficult. At this time, let me talk about two lesser units of time within an "asamkhya kalpa" so that you can have some general references.
"Mustard seed kalpa": Imagine if we were to take a huge container measuring ten kilometers on each side and fill it with mustard seeds. Then, every one hundred years, we were to remove one seed. The time it would take to empty the container of all the mustard seeds is one "mustard seed kalpa." Exactly how long a "mustard seed kalpa" is would probably have to be determined with the help of several computers.
"Boulder kalpa": Imagine if we were to take a huge boulder measuring ten kilometers on each side and sand the boulder with a piece of sandpaper every one hundred years. The time it would take to sand down the boulder to dust is "one boulder kalpa." This period of time is much longer than that of a "mustard seed kalpa."
Within the Buddhist time scale, both the "mustard seed kalpa" and the "boulder kalpa" are only considered to be minor kalpas. In contrast, the duration of a major kalpa like the "asamkhya kalpa" is so immeasurable and infinite that it is beyond words.
C. Life Span of Living Beings
Lives of living beings never remain still. Like bubbles on the surface of water, they arise as suddenly as they disappear, each with a different life span. Human beings typically can live to about a hundred; some insects are born at dawn and are dead by dusk. To such an insect, one day is the equivalent of one hundred years in human terms. Tortoises, the longest living creatures on earth, can live up to two hundred and fifty years. Viruses probably perish in less than three hours. Although there is a huge difference between three hours and two hundred fifty years, nevertheless, each existence spans a lifetime. Elephants and dolphins can live to be ninety. Cows, horses, monkeys, and dogs generally last fifteen to twenty years. Rats may live for three to four years. Although flies and mosquitoes can only live for a period of about seven days, this is still a lifetime. The life span of a living beinghether it is a day, a few hours, a century, or two hundred and fifty yearsay seem lengthy by worldly standards.
However, in the unlimited extent of time and space, these lengths of time are still quite brief. Why? According to Buddhist scriptures, there are beings with much longer life span than human beings. The realm above humans is the celestial realm consisting of many heavens. The heaven closest to us is called the "Caturmaharaja Heaven." Beings in "Caturmaharaja Heaven" can live to five hundred celestial years, or 25,000 human years. Above that is the "Trayastrimsat Heaven." Beings in "Trayastrimsat Heaven" can live to 50,000 human years. Beings in "Yama Heaven" have life span of around 400,000 human years. Beings in "Tusita Heaven" live for about 1,600,000 human years. Beings in the yet higher "Nirmanarati Heaven" can live for as long as 6,400,000 human years. Beyond the heavens in the realm of desire are the heavens of the realm of forms. The length of the life span there is beyond our comprehension. Within the heaven of forms is the "ParanirmitaVasavartin Heaven." Beings there can live to be what is the equivalent of 25,600,000 human years. Such long life span really stretches our imagination. Beyond the heavens in the realm of forms are the heavens in the realm of formlessness. Beings in this realm can live to 80,000 major kalpas. The duration of such a life span is incomprehensible. Regardless of how long these beings live, they are nonetheless still trapped in the cycle of rebirth. They still cannot transcend the boundary of time and space.
Conversely, below the human existence, the hungry ghosts of the Avici Hell suffer tremendously. Their ever-expansive bodies and their ever-conscious minds experience relentless torments. Furthermore, time in the Avici Hell stretches out endlessly. The sufferings from the incessant punishments are beyond description. The scriptures give this descriptive example of "a hungry ghost awaiting for spittle." There was a hungry ghost in hell who had been starving for a very long time. As he had not eaten anything for a long time, his hunger was unbearable. Every day, he painfully yearned for anything to eat. Eventually, he spotted a person who was about to spit. He eagerly waited for this person to spit so that he could consume the spittle. He waited and waited. During his wait, he saw a city crumbled and rebuilt seven times. Countless time passed before he finally got the spittle. In hell, where there is no day or night, time stretches out frighteningly long.
Let us now talk about space. In Buddhism, the largest unit of space is called a "Buddhaksetra" or Buddha Land, and the smallest unit of space is called a "suksma" or dust grain. Despite their differences in names, both terms ultimately describe the three thousand chiliocosms (major universe), which is endless, immeasurable, unlimited and unbounded.
How big is the universe? Modern astronomy says that the planet earth on which we live is only a part of the solar system. Earth is only 1/1,300,000th the size of the sun. In other words, the sun is 1,300,000 times the size of earth. In the expansive space, the Milky Way galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars, and a universe probably has hundreds of million of galaxies like the Milky Way. Just try to imagine the vast immenseness of the universe!
On the other end of the scale, modern physics analyzes matter into ever smaller particles called atoms, protons, electrons or neutrons. A suksma is even smaller than a neutron. For example, a piece of ox hair is very small. If we examine the tip of the ox hair under a high-powered microscope, we would discover that it is made up of many smaller elements. Similarly, a suksma is tens of thousands times smaller than anything we commonly know. Our little finger may look clean and spotless, yet it actually harbors millions of dust particles and microorganisms. Each eye of a housefly consists of four thousand lenses. Such spatial dimension is so minute that it is undetectable by the naked human eyes.
With the help of modern laboratory equipment, technology has provided us with a broad and detailed understanding of the time and space in which we live. When we learn of these modern interpretations based on scientific research, we realize that the universe is indeed extremely vast and deep. However, the dimensions offered by these interpretations are nonetheless small and shallow when we consider time and space from the Buddhist perspective. Why? In Buddhism, time and space are immense without an outer limit and yet miniscule without an inner limit. Time and space are immeasurable and boundless. Today we are here talking; by tomorrow this speech can be televised to all of Taiwan. The following day, it can be translated and distributed to the world in printed form. In the future, it can be published as a book to build Dharma connections with tens of millions of people everywhere in the world. The Buddhist Dharma is forever beyond the limits of time and space.
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