I have a tendency in my humanness to narrow my view of existence to one direction at a time. I spend a little time contemplating what, from our perspective, is the micro. I understand that we mostly consist of empty space within our constituent atoms… what we perceive as the solidity of matter is an illusion. We are both empty space and energy.
Other times I consider what, from our perspective, is the macro: ourselves as part of what comprises the universe. This perspective is much less studied from a scientific angle but can be readily seen through repeating patterns in nature. It can be found in interconnectedness that is not always readily apparent but perceivable through close observation. There is space between each of us and every other thing we see as “an object” in our universe. Would a being as greater in size to us as we are to the atom perceive us (you, me, trees, planets, moons) in the same way as we perceive the collection of atoms that comprise the person next to you: as a unit?
Today, in reading The Mysticism of Music, Sound, and Word by Hazrat Inayat Khan, it occurred to me to consider both the macro and micro in compared to self at the same time. The idea came to me in reading this paragraph:
“It is owing to our limitation that we cannot see the whole being of God, but all that we love in color, line, form or personality belongs to the real beauty, the Beloved of all.” Of course, that would have to include each of us as well. Being in the midst of something bigger, we can’t see the forest for the trees. But in viewing the micro, we can’t see the trees for the forest.
At any given time, when we look only at the micro or only at the macro, it leads to a feeling of being at one extreme looking toward the other. And yet, when we switch from considering the micro to the macro or vice versa, we perceive ourselves to be at the other extreme. In viewing the micro we are the result of constituent parts (atoms, etc.). In viewing the macro we are the constituent parts. In considering both at the same time, we realize that we are somewhere closer to the middle. And I find that in considering our perception being somewhere closer to the middle, it is easier to conceive of everything that exists being part of a unit, just as the micro within ourselves comprises what we are as a whole. In short, we are in the continuum. And, to add more complexity, that continuum is always in motion, carrying us all along for the ride. Simultaneously, all form changes over time. Hazrat Inayat Khan also stated:
“What do we see as the principal expression of life in the beauty visible before us? It is movement. In line, in color, in the changes of the seasons, in the rising and falling of the waves, in the wind, in the storm, in all the beauty of nature there is constant movement. It is movement which has caused day and night, and the changing of the seasons; and this movement has given us the comprehension of what we call time.”
In other words, time is simply a measurement of change. As we try to cling to the life we have known, we are dragged through the gears of the clock. But in moving in flow with time and change, we come to face the letting go of what was and eventually the metamorphosis that we misinterpret as death. When we cease interpreting our view of the micro as occurring from stasis and begin knowing that our perspective comes as well from a moving point of view within the grand dance, we can let go of the belief that stasis even exists and simply enjoy the ride.