Book Review: The
Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time
by Fred Alan Wolf
(Quest Books 2004)This is a neat and rather remarkable book with interesting implications. It proceeds from different overviews about time as seen from various spiritual traditions but mostly from the view of quantum physics and relativity. These reviews of how time is viewed lead up to Wolf’s theoretical basis for both time travel and ‘mind yoga’ which could have quite a few practical implications. I think the theoretical framework he lays out can be useful both in understanding consciousness and in manipulating it to our benefit. I can’t help but think he may be on to something here. Perhaps it’s the future me reminding me.
First considered is whether some memories may be memories of
the future. Certainly our memories of the past are selective and memories of the
same event differ among different people depending on what made an impression
upon them. Some of us forget things in our pasts that are too traumatic. So
basically the past can be rather subjective and perhaps more malleable than we
realize. Therapists who use ‘past-life recall’ on suggestible patients to deal
with past traumas have also employed similar techniques to remember the future
with some interesting results. The ‘mind yoga’ Wolf talks about later in the
book might best be preceded by an acknowledgement from several scientific and
psychological standpoints that time travel is quite possible at least in
theory.
Einstein’s relativity theory states that time is different
for a moving object compared to one that is still. Experiments with muons in
the late 40’s confirmed this. Of course, since the lifespan of a muon (created
above the earth by the influence of particles from the cosmos) is only from 1 to
6 microseconds (millions of a second) the actual amount of time travel is very
small but nonetheless detectible. Wolf notes that ideas of time and space have
been significantly altered by relativity (the science of the very large) and
quantum mechanics (the science of the very small).
In the context of Indian philosophy time is considered to be
an aspect of Samsara, the ‘wheel’ of conditioned cyclic existence. The concept
of Samsara supports the idea of circular time as we are continually reborn,
recycling through various forms of conditioned existence. Wolf notes that:
“Many ancient hymns tell us that time …. is the child of consciousness.” The
ancient Vedas say that it is possible to escape the space-time illusion by the
method of kala-vancana, or ‘time-cheating.’
This could also be called time travel and it apparently has to do with the
relationship between memory and mental projections.
Attaining a state of Timeless Awareness is a feature of
enlightened beings in the Buddhist tradition. The Vedas and Upanishads
postulate an infinite unchanging reality that lies beyond and yet within the
illusion of ceaseless change. These are the two realities – ultimate and
relative. In the Bhagavad Gita the warrior Arjuna consults his charioteer Krishna on the battlefield about to begin and he receives
instructions and mystical revelations on the nature of reality. Krishna equates the timeless, spaceless, infinite,
changeless reality with the human soul and notes that it can be realized
through the practice of yoga, specifically the three yogas – karma yoga (the
yoga of action and work), bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion to the divine), and
jnana yoga (the yoga of mind, or intellect). Like Buddha, Krishna
teaches detachment as the means to arrive at truth and realization, specifically,
not to be attached to the outcomes of one’s choices. Later in the book Wolf
describes a mind yoga based on alternating periods of attachment and
detachment, of ‘in focus’ and ‘out of focus.’ He describes our experience of
these cycles as influencing the way we experience time. In the Gita Krishna
gives Arjuna all this instruction and revelation of his Universal Form in a
mere instant – quite as if it was an aberration of time where a few seconds
were long expanded. Krishna reveals himself as
Time itself, the creator and destroyer of all conditioned things. He reveals
that in order to transcend illusion one must cease to covet oneself as a single
entity, or one must give up attachment and fixation on the ego-self. In the
revelation of his Universal Form, as Wolf points out, Krishna
reveals himself as all possibilities, which may accord with parallel universe
theories. Wolf sees it as Krishna giving us
the ability to focus and defocus possibility, as a means to eventually discover
the futility of continuing to be enchanted by the illusion that we can control
our destiny.
Wolf notes that the ego is tied closely to space and time
and that it is built up by sensory experience that is often a result of
timing/synchronization of neuron firing as well as spatial patterns of neuron
firing. He goes through Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra system where he suggests that
there is inner (pure awareness) mind and outer illusory (ego) mind. The Ego
mind is composed of mind, intelligence, and ego in cahoots. If one learns to
subdue the ego-mind then the inner mind can be revealed. Wolf also goes through
more details about how the illusory mind manifests according to Patanjali. He
notes that Patanjali actually mentions time travel as a yogic power possible to
attain.
Wolf explains the differences in perception of time as
‘objective time’ and ‘subjective time’. He also recounts a very interesting
story from the Vishnu Purana where the sage Narada asks Vishnu why people get
deluded into living in profane time when they could live in sacred time. Vishnu
first sends Narada for a cup of water. He get visits a neighbor woman who is
beautiful, forgets his celibacy vows, woos her, had children with her, and
finally a flood kills the children and the woman. Meanwhile Vishnu is still waiting
for his cup of water. The mind seems to be tethered to time and subsequently
able to detect various vibrations and rhythms and become enchanted by them. Our
modern lives favor linear objective time but we still experience the
variability of rhythmically repeating inner circular time. Linear time is more
measurable. Subjective time is affected by one’s level of mindfulness or
awareness. The “Dreamtime” of Australian tribes refers to a time before humans
and human linear time, a time of archetypes and universal forms. It is the
creation time of the universe where all times can overlap. It is where the
ancestors and the creators can be met and engaged. It is mythic time where
tribal history and tribal law can be accessed. Here is suggestion of the cohabitation
of past, present, and future so that there is a similarity to the parallel
universes theories of modern physics. The remembering of songs, stories,
legends, dances, and sacred places keeps the connection to this dreamtime.
Wolf gives an overview of Einstein’s ‘time dilation effect’
and the ‘principle of least action’ concept in physics which says that things tend
to become as efficient as possible. We learn that: “paradoxically, in
spacetime, a curved line takes less time {to traverse} than a straight line.” I
guess this has something to do with space being curved and the universe
appearing spherical. Relativity taught us that time and space are inseparable
and so we speak of ‘spacetime’. These ideas heralded a new era of ‘mystical
physics’. The paradoxical relationship can be difficult to grasp as space seems
“out there” and time seems “in here”.
Wolf touches on the differences in time of moving, relative to
stationary, the subsequent notion of “proper time” and the idea of the
“geodesic” as the shortest time trajectory in curved space. These are all
elementary physics ideas nowadays.
Time and space, even spacetime, may be seen as metaphorical
and as concepts limited by language. The paradoxes of infinity and eternity
suggest this. Wolf also notes that mystical traditions suggest that space and
time are also inseparable from ego, our habitual sense of self. When space and
time are not perceived the sense of self is not perceived. An example is the
state of deep sleep, or dreamless sleep. During dreaming we do experience
space, time, and a sense of self, but upon waking these are all revealed as
illusory. But is our consensual waking reality also a type of dreaming, as
sages suggest?
Another way to phrase it is that our space, time, and ego-based
reality is really a mental construct.
A short section on Masters of Time and Space recounts yogic
reality masters and their deeds such as the famed Sri Ramana Maharshi. Like
Patanjali and Buddha they practice meditation, suspending ‘bodily awareness’
which is perhaps a precursor to dissolving the ego grasp.
The perception of time is also psychological. The so-called
“color phi-effect” shows that flickers of light in different spots can appear
to us as a single moving image. This apparent motion is actually the basis of
film. This illusion actually requires either a precognition or a time traveling
on our part. It suggests that we can actually project an experience back in
time – by mere split seconds – but back in time nonetheless. Libet’s theory of
“subjective antedating” or subjective referral in time is discussed. This is a
theory about how consciousness itself functions – perhaps from the substratum
of unconsciousness (of our current evolutionary abilities). These ideas are
paradoxical – but only if we are committed to a linear idea of time. The
so-called illusion of linear time is the same thing as the notion that time
goes forward, or in one direction only. The concept of linear time was reified
by both the Newtonian clockwork universe and its laws of thermodynamics but
also by one of its children – the Industrial Revolution.
The next chapters are about the Physics of ‘Ordinary’ Time
Travel as conceived in modern physics, their paradoxes, and the technological
requirements. After this come the section about the Physics of Extraordinary
Time Travel which incorporates mystical wisdom and ‘mind yoga’ into the mix.
Wolf discusses the relation of gravity to spacetime in
Einstein’s equations, how gravity distorts spacetime. Since it is mass that
creates a gravitational field one could also say that mass distorts spacetime.
The universe is composed of ‘crinkled” spacetime. He demonstrates the
conclusion that mass is gravitational force is the distortion of space. There
is no cause-effect relationship and the three concepts are inseparable and
interchangeable. By this logic mass can also be seen as the distortion of time
since time is not inseparable from space. The distortion of time is apparently
more difficult to illustrate than the distortion of space so he goes through
the models used by current physics theories. One well-known distortion or
‘fold’ of spacetime is the black hole. Theoretically an object traveling
through a black hole at a speed faster than the speed of light (not yet
demonstrable) would experience the black hole as a worm hole –perhaps to
another dimension or parallel universe, or possibly to another wormhole in this
universe. These speculations led to science fiction concepts of traversable
wormholes. This idea is to use wormholes to cross vast amounts of space through
a tube in subspace. After this the idea was altered to include wormhole time
machines. This has to do with synching the mouths of various wormholes in
certain ways.
Time travel introduces some rather obvious paradoxes that have
yet to be fully dealt with. Although it has been assumed that the laws of
physics forbid time travel, they may actually require it. There is the –
Creativity Paradox – this is a chicken and egg thing where one creates a time
machine and sends instructions for its creation to the past – and its true
origin gets lost in some sort of circular reasoning. Next is the – Grandfather
Paradox – referring to a scenario where one kills one’s grandfather so that one
will not be born in the future. Wolf notes that such a scenario does not defy
the laws of physics or science since those laws are at least theoretically
‘time reversal invariant’, meaning the direction of the flow of time is
irrelevant to them. However, it does defy the cause and effect laws of logic. He
says that it is logic rather than science that says history cannot be altered.
The foundations of classical physics also rest on other assumed logical
principles such as the ‘autonomy principle’ which states that experiments are
autonomous – that what we do in one part of the universe will not affect the
rest of it. Most magical, mystical, and shamanic beliefs would not concur with
this, opting instead that interconnectivity is present in each part of the
universe with every other part. This even seems intuitively true to many of us.
Together, the Creativity Paradox, the Grandfather Paradox, and the Autonomy
Principle make up what is known as the ‘Chronology Tenet” which says basically
the time does not move backwards. This is not provable even in classical physics
but is more of a common-sense notion. This view suggests that time travel to
the future is possible but time travel to the past is not. Time travel to the
past creates more paradoxes since it is in violation of our laws of causality
rather than in violation of the laws of physics. Relativity theory predicts the
existence of ‘closed timelike lines’ which are trajectories in space that move
forward in space then backward arriving at the same place at the same time they
leave that place. This idea also predicts time travel to the past. When these
‘closed timelike lines’ are opened they can (theoretically) “thread their way
into parallel worlds.”
It turns out that the idea of parallel universes can solve
many problems in physics and is in some form accepted by most quantum
physicists. The Australian Dreamtime idea would be a parallel universe notion.
Wolf gives an analogy of Hoop Time and Line Time where the hoop rolls along the
line so hoop time is always accessible from the line time.
The laws of causality typically predict a single outcome to
an experiment but quantum mechanics suggests that the observed outcome is only
one among an infinite number of possible outcomes. Every possibility is
weighted by a probability factor so that the most probable outcome tends to be
the one that is observed. Wolf thinks that the root of the inherent stability
of atoms (of matter) is that multiple appearances of these objects in multiple
universes reinforce one another. Wolf resolves the Grandfather Paradox and the
Creativity Paradox by making a time machine that opens the closed timelike
lines and the different histories exist side-by-side in parallel universes. He
provides detailed examples with graphics of how this may be so and shows that
with the parallel universes idea, no laws of physics are violated.
Next he shows how ‘ordinary’ time travel could be possible
under current theoretical quantum physics. He mentions a device theorized by
physicists Arahnov and Vaidman that would shift time within a very dense hollow
sphere. This is based on the ideas of David Deutsch about quantum computing.
Quantum computers are based on ‘qubits’ rather than the ‘bits’ of classical
computers in their binary code. This allows for more possibilities as qubits
are number possibilities rather than numbers. Qubits and quantum computers and
indeed quantum physic is based on possibilities and probabilities – usually
predicted outcomes to experiments. A structural idea in this madness is that of
a ‘possibility wave.’ These
possibility waves can move both ways in time and an infinite variety and amount
of them occur at every event. When two or more of them superimpose (or
resonate) they can strengthen or weaken the probabilities of events from
occurring. This idea is also stated as – The Quantum Physical Observer Effect –
a certain outcome occurs because it was observed. This seems somehow related to
the Uncertainty Principle. Wolf goes through the famed double slit experiment
and its derivatives to explain the ‘wave-particle duality.’ Quantum physics
math says that possibility waves can be squared to create probabilities (this
has something to do with superimposition as well). In fact quantum physics is
deeply related to probability as is time and mind, as he points out later. Once
again he shows that both the wave-particle duality paradox and the Observer
Effect can be resolved (or re-stated) in terms of the Parallel Universes
Theory. Bohr described observation as possibly “the collapse of a wave to a
single point.” In that statement one might see better the pairing of
possibility and probability with non-focus and focus. Deutsche showed the
principles of a quantum computer are consistent with building a time machine.
In considering ‘extraordinary’ time travel Wolf notes that
even in Aharonov and Vaidman’s sphere of many radii (the hollow sphere
mentioned above), the principle of time travel is based on the shifting of the
possibility wave of the time traveler. He says that time and possibility are
intimately related and suggests that it is awareness that most influences
changes from possibility to probability. In defining terms he notes that a
probability can become less certain or more certain. Knowledge is defined as
“the outcome of acts of awareness.” We experience knowledge as memory. Knowledge
can be gained or lost. Awareness can change knowledge (since knowledge is
experienced as memory then awareness could also change memories). In quantum
physics knowledge is changed by choice. The knowledge gained by choosing A
includes the knowledge lost by not choosing B. – so these choices occur in
complementary pairs. This idea is known as the Complementarity Principle.
Apparently physicists do argue about whether a possibility-wave is real but
they agree that it has an effect that really can be observed. Though they may
be imaginal, when they are squared they create real probability-curves. According
to quantum physics unobserved objects or events have an infinite variety of
outcomes and manifestations. Questions about adding possibility-waves, adding
probability-curves, and whether one adds then squares or squares then adds,
yield answers related to conscious awareness:
“We add probability-curves when we become conscious of “out
there,” so it should logically follow that we would add possibility-waves when
we remain conscious of “in here” rather than “out there. ….. When we deal with the world as we
imagine it to be , we add and then square. But when we deal with the world
outside of our minds, we square then add.”
In other words, quantum physics suggest that mind and matter
are connected via these possibility-waves come probability curves. Wolf
suggests that the function of the mind is to square possibility-waves to derive
probability-curves. Possibility-waves, real or imaginal, are postulated to be
able to go backward in time. Quantum math suggests the existence of the effects
of another possibility-wave called a ‘complex-conjugate wave’ that must be
multiplied by a possibility-wave to compute the probability of an event. Thus
the math suggests that this wave would have to travel in a reverse spatial
direction and reverse time direction. The complex-conjugate wave modulates the
possibility wave which simply means that the waves are multiplied together much
like radio waves picked up and modulated by receivers. Physicist Cramer calls
the original wave an “offer wave” and the conjugate an “echo wave” and the
multiplication a “transaction.” The idea is similar to transmitter and
receiver. The transmitter wave goes toward the future and the receiver wave
goes toward the past. When the laws of reality are satisfied – the
possibility-waves are changed into probability-curves. So in the
analogy-scenario of sender and receiver Wolf suggest that according to the
Parallel Universes theory that the future “listens” for messages from the past.
Under this notion past and present would have to exist simultaneously. It would
be the same with the future – it must also exist simultaneously with the
present. Of course, as spiritual traditions note it is only in the present that
we can experience past or future. This suggests that memories are not stored
like files but become somehow recallable by setting up conditions of clashing
possibility-waves moving in opposite time (and space) directions. Perhaps some
psychic experiences are messages from the future that are somehow received.
Learning and skill acquisition often involve making
conscious behaviors habitual and appear unconscious. After we learn the task we
can do it automatically.
Habits can be changed by working with them in our immediate
awareness – which is the practice of Wolf’s ‘mind yoga’ and of yoga in general.
Much like the quantum computer time traveler in the sphere of many radii the
mind yogi shifts possibility-waves in order to make new probability-curves.
Wolf postulates that possibility-waves exist beyond space and time in a ‘level
of reality; he calls ‘sub-spacetime.’ Some call this the imaginal realm,
quantum physicists may call it an ‘infinitely dimensional space’, and mystics
and mages have many names for it. Some call in the Mind of God. I think this
accords with what Ervin Laszlo calls the Akashic Field. Physicists Amit Goswami
and Roger Penrose may refer to it as Potentia or Idealistic Reality after
Plato. In any case, quantum physicists use it to show how the mind constructs
reality as we see it by changing possibility and probability. Practices like
yoga and meditation may allow us to consciously and mindfully affect our
habitual behaviors.
“You can think of a point of view in any given moment as a focal point – a site where a
possibility-wave from the past or the future meets and mixes with a
possibility-wave from the present moment, thus squaring and producing a
probability-curve.”
Wolf defines times of conscious focus as more objective
perception of “out there” and times of fuzzy out-of-focus as subjective
(directed “in here”) or directed “out there” but more openly without expected
outcomes.
“Focused and unfocused sites occur in a sequential pattern.
Our conscious experience consists of a sequence of these focal points, sites of
more specific focus separated by sites of unfocused possibilities.”
The above quote, Wolf speculates, explains how we perceive
time. He suggests that our sense of time and our sense of consciousness are
possibly the same thing. This depiction of focus points and blurs in a linear
sequence leads Wolf to develop his idea of the ‘quantum law of normal time order’. The blurs in the
sequence represent the unconscious realm of possibility-waves where there are
no fixed positions. Another way to say it is that the object does not exist at
all until it becomes focused, or the outcome of the experiment is not known
until it is observed. Wolf says that in the scenario any focal point would be
preceded by a larger blur (of infinite possibility) and followed by a smaller
blur that has more certainty than the previous blur. In other words,
possibilities are reduced and certainty is increased (in general) after a focal
point – perhaps giving us the illusion of time. These sequences of three (a
focal point preceded and followed by unfocused possibility blurs) he calls
‘triplets” and notes that his law is the law of ‘normal’ time order. If the
blurs are the same size it may represent a balanced situation such as the
acquisition of a habit (where a more or less similar amount of certainty
precede and follow and event). If the blur that follows is larger than the preceding
blur then it would indicate some sort of unlearning or loss of knowledge.
Squaring makes focused sites while unsquaring would make unfocused sites. His
mind yoga consists of controlling these triplets. As he states it our normal
way of controlling these triplets involves comparing one triplet to another and
the way we have ‘chosen’ to do this involves a sequence from less focus to more
focus that gives us what we perceive as normal time and a consistent rule of
order we call causality. “Causality gives us sense of control over life.” He suggests that what we remember as the past
represents events over which we have had some control and the remembering
itself is a form of control. Temporal order and causality are associated with
this control.
Wolf notes that many yogic and meditation techniques rely on
a balancing act of focusing and de-focusing (letting go). He calls this the
“basic binary activity of conscious life.” Wolf also makes the suggestion that
consciousness may reverse the law of entropy – and that thermodynamics and
science in general have thus far omitted the actions of mind in energy
calculations.
Wolf’s mind yoga theoretically has the potential to let go
of (unwelcomed) memories and focus in on possibilities. He suggests that this focus
and defocusing that we do actually creates time. In this scenario – in terms of
subjective time - when we let go of old habits we travel backward in time and
we travel forward in time during habitual behaviors.
The key to time travel according to Wolf is the surrendering
of the ego. He suggests that the Mind of God is somehow trapped in ego fixation
and is released when the ego is ungrasped. He sees the ego as a boundary
between “out there” and “in here” that was built up through the survival
mechanisms of our evolutionary path. Some of these boundaries/protection
schemes from the past are no longer needed yet persist. When the relation
between body and mind is altered we may break through and get glimpses of
eternity or infinity, the timeless and spaceless nature of the universe
predicted by string theory. He also notes that the blurring is associated with
release of the ego while the focus is a function of the ego. I think this is an
important observation and makes note of the subtle power of the ego in
maintaining control. The ego is rather a necessary function in day to day life
and to let go totally may bring madness unless one has somehow integrated
things in the spiritual sense. Holding onto fixed ideas is a form of control
and reifies the function of ego. Letting go of fixed ideas is a form of
releasing the ego. The ego anchors us in time and space and is not something
bad but strong ego-fixation can be very problematic.
As in Heisenbergs’s Uncertainty Principle when we focus on
one thing we defocus on all else. He suggests energy and timing as
complementary in that same sense as when you know the details of one you lose
the details of the other. He says that unfocusing the mind gives us access to
parallel universes and possible alternative pasts. This is different than
changing the interpretation of a past (as in cognitive therapy). Of course, no
one knows what the consequences of truly altering the past would be. His main point is that despite fixed and
agreed on memories the past is theoretically alterable.
Applications may include guided meditation style time travel
sessions as some shamans perform. Forgiveness and reconciliation may be
achieved by re-membering the past in a slightly more favorable way for that
process to work.
“We can all learn to reverse time, certainly for short
intervals, by letting go of past fixations that tend to make us automatically
predict the future. These “cause/effect” relations project the normal flow of
time we tend to objectify and hold as the only way that time can go.”
Finally there is a good overview/review chapter that is
helpful for summarizing key points. Highly speculative is this book but also a
landmark way of integrating physics and spirituality that may some day yield
some very awesome practical implications. When will this happen? Maybe
yesterday.
