The Fourth Time

Series: Difficult conditions in Dzogchen

The Fourth Time

I was, I am, I will be… We remember those conjugation lessons from school… As children, we discover time in a linear way. As we grow up, we understand that everything has a beginning, middle, and end. And then, throughout our entire existence, we conjugate our lives : I did, I do, and I will do; I had, I have, and I will have; I loved, I love, and I will love…

The past, present, and future are the three times through which we perceive our entire reality. These three distinct times seem very tangible in our experience… But do they really exist?

The past is what is no longer. It is also everything we look back on, our memories and the associated thoughts and emotions, whether they be joy, sadness, or regret. The past no longer exists, and yet it still exists for us.

The future is what is not yet. It is also everything we anticipate, our projections and the associated thoughts and emotions, such as hope, fear, or anxiety. The future does not yet exist, and yet it already exists for us.

 “This fourth time is a time without projection, when the concept of the three times collapses during states of meditative absorption. It is the natural aspect of time, which is always present, unconditioned.” 

The present is what we are experiencing. Although we could say that it exists, it actually slips through our fingers, as it disappears with each passing moment. And since it disappears with each passing moment, the present is both past and future. Also, depending on our memories of the past and our projections of the future -and the emotions and thoughts associated with them- the present becomes happiness or suffering.

The past, present, and future do not exist on their own, since they are defined by our projections and are therefore illusory. These three times, which we learn to conjugate from childhood, are in reality concepts, determined by the way we think about them, name them, and experience them.

If, since our birth, reality has been, for us, divided into these three times, the tradition of the Great Perfection speaks about a fourth time. This fourth time is a time without projection, when the concept of the three times collapses during states of meditative absorption. It is the natural aspect of time, which is always present, unconditioned. It is the state of contemplation.

Is this also a concept? Yes, according to Dzogchen. For the three times and the fourth time are not different in nature. Only the sphere in which they are experienced changes their perception: the karmic sphere, that of the becoming projection, and the three times unfold; the primordial sphere, and the three times absorb themselves into the natural aspect of time -all times at once, and beyond time.

Past, present, future, fourth time, all four at once, neither one nor the other… When the concept of time disappears, so does the concept of existence… and infinity unfolds, beyond all imagination.