Sometimes in silence a remembrance comes to us from the depth of our early childhood. In a similar way, a “memo” from Heaven may reach our heart. Or we may not remember it until we are gently reminded by someone who Was There, then suddenly the details spring to mind.
When I say “remembering Eternity”, I don’t mean in the same sense as a religious proverb that was popular in the Christian Church when I was young, “Consider the brevity of life, the certainty of death, and the length of eternity.” I am sure that is useful, if somewhat oppressive to the ordinary human, and some of us not so ordinary humans as well…
I mean something entirely different and much weirder, which probably will make NO SENSE whatsoever to ordinary humans. Well, my apologies in advance if you are one of them. I don’t see many of you here.
There is this tome of esoteric Knowledge, by a much more widely accepted author than Boris. Despite some measure of fame, the author of Meditations on the Tarot preferred to be known simply as “Unknown Friend”. This is not without reason: He had in his younger days written certain books which he could probably not in good conscience rescind, but which would interfere in a negative way with this book, written toward the end of his life and published after his passing. I recommend therefore to not delve into his identity.
I don’t read the book much, just open it now and then. This may well be my loss, but although the book seems to be far more mainstream than Gnosis by Mouravieff, it is still very esoteric. So, I nibble. You know I have a weakness for this stuff and could easily sail up, up and away from consensus reality, which I now at least regularly visit. (Along with the world of the Sims, obviously…)
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I turned a page and read about contemplation, the practice of which he calls “listening in silence”. I may have mentioned in passing that in my Lightwielder fiction (which is a bit of a metaphor or parable or simile or some such), the spiritual practice of the Servants of the Light is called “listening to the silence”. So he got my attention right there. This silence is an inner silence, of course, and I will explain if you ask how one can attain to it even if living by a high-traffic road or while taking the commute bus or train to work. Just ask if you don’t know.
There are those who hear God speak to them if they listen intently. But I have benefited the most from listening to God’s silence. In so far as I have benefited at all from anything in my life, this would be a big part of it, I believe.
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But the next part was also super interesting. Unknown Friend claimed that this listening in silence is a form of recall, of remembering. He says that just as we have horizontal memory of the past, so we can also have vertical memory from Above. If you remember me recently speaking of how Eternity is at a right angle to Time, and that we can imagine Time as horizontal and Eternity as vertical… (I forget whether I uploaded that or decided it was above my pray grade.) Anyway, this is the same thing.
He also cites Henri Bergson that “pure memory is a spiritual manifestation. With memory we are in very truth in the domain of the spirit.” Again this is equivalent to my claim that Time is the first spiritual or at least mental dimension, in the sense that we do not perceive time directly, but reconstruct it with our mental powers of memory and anticipation. Animals can remember, sometimes with great clarity over long spans of time (famously elephants have such a memory), but humans have a unique ability to mentally “travel in time” as I call it. Unknown Friend describes it from another angle, that the past travels forward into the present and is reflected as if in a mirror.
In the same way, we can make our brain a mirror to what is Above, to timeless truth as I would call it. (Above corresponds to Eternity, as the horizontal corresponds to Time.)
I m not good with pure contemplation, or perhaps I have not taken enough time for timelessness. But when I read esoteric Knowledge, this is how it works: It resonates in my heart in the same way as a memory. It seems strikingly familiar. It is as if I already knew it, even though I don’t, even when I know I have never heard it before, could not possibly have heard it before. It can be hard for me to know whether I have written about something here in the past or just heard about it for the first time, that is how familiar it sometimes is.
I’d love to write more about all this, but I would go out on tangents and end up so far above my pray grade that I could not upload it. Unfortunately this is not just a memory of the future, this is already my second attempt…
Hello! I just stumbled upon this page, and I’d like to learn more about remembering eternity. I’ve been there, once (probably a lot more but I can remember only once), it was when I had smoked something, and I left this place and went to eternity, it was a very weird, frightening, loving feeling, and somehow I felt like I remembered being there before. I saw this black orb, unchanging, and an energy going out from it/around it in the phi ratio, it felt like love, and I could see this in 360 degrees in every direction. I was this orb, with the energy, and this was everything. All that had ever existed or was going to exist. I just knew it. Time didn’t exist here either. It felt like I had been there for several decades. I vowed after that experience never to touch drugs again. However, I am on a spiritual journey, and that place felt right. I know there are ways to get there without drugs, I just haven’t found them. I know ‘going within’ is the way, however I don’t understand the way. How?! Can you help me with this? I just felt like somehow you were the person to ask, even though this (remembering eternity) is the only piece I’ve read from you. Thank you!
In love and light,
Love Engström
Greetings! It is true that drugs can sometimes throw a person out of the ordinary mindspace and into the possibilities that lie beyond. But it is notoriously hard to find back to a particular such spot, for the beyond is immense, more so than the ordinary world.
The technique I share is, as I said, “listening to the silence”. This is a common feature of meditation, contemplation, theoria etc. The silence runs through everything. There is a stillness between each breath, between each heartbeat, between each word of your thoughts. To listen for this is somewhat like when you are in a place with many people together with a close friend or loved one, whose voice you would recognize anytime, anywhere, even in a crowded room. Even if there are many sounds and many voices scattered around the room, you can hear the silence of your friend, because you would recognize their voice, so you always know when you are not hearing it.
In this, seekers who worship God or venerate a saint have an easier job than those who follow the eastern traditions of emptiness meditation, but only if they know how to use their benefit. For in the personal relationship to an invisible presence, we always have this friend with us whose silence we can listen to. Those who follow a guru can likewise benefit from such a personal relationship. But one must be very careful in selecting whom to follow, in that case.
There are many people on the Internet, and also elsewhere, who promise quick results. That would have been nice. But timelessness takes time. I beg you, steer clear of people who love money, for this love corrupts all who embrace it. It may be OK if someone has become famous for their teachings, but if they have become rich, or even try to become rich, there is great danger. The ideal teacher is one who is ready to die at any time. (As such, I am not even ideal myself. I rather like this life.)
There are various simple meditation techniques available, such as mantra, counting, or watching the breath. But the essence of all remembrance of eternity is, I believe, listening to the silence. If you understood the examples I gave of this, that is good. Remember, the silence is everywhere, it is just that other things are imposed on it. When we see a white wall with a letter painted on it, we see only the letter; but the great amount of whiteness passes us by. In the same way with the silence which is within and between all things, it passes us by. Eternity is beyond words, as you have already experienced. So we must pass into the stillness to remember it.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for your answer! Eternity is indeed beyond words, it can only be put into feelings, not words, alas I tried. Anyway “Even if there are many sounds and many voices scattered around the room, you can hear the silence of your friend, because you would recognize their voice, so you always know when you are not hearing it.” I truly liked this piece of your answer. I will try your methods, however I never was any good with patience, but patience makes perfect, no? Thank you so much again for your deep words of wisdom. Your light burns bright in the darkness.
Love and light.
Yes, it takes patience to get back there, but once you touch the endless peace, it is almost as hard to let go of it. And it gets easier over time, for the most part. That is why my friend uses to say “Timelessness takes time.” Of course, it is getting it into this hectic life in our world that takes time.