Time Talks

Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change of quantities in material reality or in the conscious experience. Time is often referred to as a fourth dimension, along with three spatial dimensions.
Time has long been an important subject of study in religion, philosophy, and science, but defining it in a manner applicable to all fields without circularity has consistently eluded scholars. Nevertheless, diverse fields such as business, industry, sports, the sciences, and the performing arts all incorporate some notion of time into their respective measuring systems.
Time in physics is operationally defined as "what a clock reads".
The physical nature of time is addressed by general relativity with respect to events in spacetime. Examples of events are the collision of two particles, the explosion of a supernova, or the arrival of a rocket ship. Every event can be assigned four numbers representing its time and position (the event's coordinates). However, the numerical values are different for different observers. In general relativity, the question of what time it is now only has meaning relative to a particular observer. Distance and time are intimately related, and the time required for light to travel a specific distance is the same for all observers, as first publicly demonstrated by Michelson and Morley. General relativity does not address the nature of time for extremely small intervals where quantum mechanics holds. As of 2023, there is no generally accepted theory of quantum general relativity.
Time is one of the seven fundamental physical quantities in both the International System of Units (SI) and International System of Quantities. The SI base unit of time is the second, which is defined by measuring the electronic transition frequency of caesium atoms. Time is used to define other quantities, such as velocity, so defining time in terms of such quantities would result in circularity of definition. An operational definition of time, wherein one says that observing a certain number of repetitions of one or another standard cyclical event (such as the passage of a free-swinging pendulum) constitutes one standard unit such as the second, is highly useful in the conduct of both advanced experiments and everyday affairs of life. To describe observations of an event, a location (position in space) and time are typically noted.
The operational definition of time does not address what the fundamental nature of time is. It does not address why events can happen forward and backward in space, whereas events only happen in the forward progress of time. Investigations into the relationship between space and time led physicists to define the spacetime continuum. General relativity is the primary framework for understanding how spacetime works. Through advances in both theoretical and experimental investigations of spacetime, it has been shown that time can be distorted and dilated, particularly at the edges of black holes.
Temporal measurement has occupied scientists and technologists and was a prime motivation in navigation and astronomy. Periodic events and periodic motion have long served as standards for units of time. Examples include the apparent motion of the sun across the sky, the phases of the moon, and the swing of a pendulum. Time is also of significant social importance, having economic value ("time is money") as well as personal value, due to an awareness of the limited time in each day and in human life spans.
There are many systems for determining what time it is, including the Global Positioning System, other satellite systems, Coordinated Universal Time and mean solar time. In general, the numbers obtained from different time systems differ from one another.
Title | Speaker | |
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Lecture: Reed College, Portland, OregonTime, |
Mar 12 1971 Reed College Portland |
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Some QuestionsLotus Sutra, Time, Ego, Wisdom, Passions, Mindfulness, Buddha Nature, Culture,... |
Nov 11 1969 |
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Stand Up By The GroundSerial: SF-05209 Protection Master "Suzuki Roshi summer sesshin 1969 2nd night lecture Sesshin, Second Night Lecture Sesshin, Dogen, Time, Continuous, Freedom, Doubt |
Sep 1969 Tassajara |
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BodhidharmaSerial: SF-05081 ===== Awakening the Archive - Tape #22, by Shundo David Haye ===== In this second tape made by Dan Gourley at Tassajara in the summer of 1968,... Beginner’s Mind, First Principle, Time, First Principle, Bodhidharma, Describe, Faith... |
Jul 29 1968 Tassajara |
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Esalen Institute: First of two lecturesSerial: SF-05870 This is the first of two talks given at Esalen. Dogen, Time, Four Noble Truths, Lotus Sutra, New Year, Continuous, Emptiness, soto,... |
Jun 28 1968 Esalen |
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Genjo Koan no 4Serial: SF-05136 Track 1 17/8 - Suzuki lectures - beginning missed, one or two sentences; beginning: This is the last lecture of sesshin. We have talked of emptiness and form, but have not... Sesshin, Dogen, Genjokoan, Time, Faith, Emptiness, Continuous, Dragons |
Aug 24 1967 A Tassajara |
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Reflections on the Prajna Paramita SutraSerial: SF-05135A ===== Awakening the Archive - Tape #19, by Shundo David Haye ===== This is the talk that was chosen by the... Sesshin, Sengai, Time, Emptiness, Ego, Continuous, Evil, Nirvana, Concentration,... |
Aug 24 1967 Tassajara |
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CausalitySerial: SF-05093-J Suzuki lecture 6pm Weds Track 2, continued on Track 3 Sesshin, Time, Freedom, Happiness, Fox, Oneness, Enemies, Offering, Evil, Lay... |
Aug 17 1966 6:00pm Sokoji |
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The Middle WaySerial: 65-12-09 Thursday morning lecture Time, |
Dec 09 1965 Los Altos |
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Religious Problems Concerning Such As Psychology Or LSDSerial: SF-05112A Tape 1 Summer sesshin 1965, Monday 1st day of sesshin (?) July 26th 1965 Tape 1 Side 1: 1pm lecture Sesshin, Dogen, Time, Continuous, Precepts, Peace, Beginners, Balance, confusion,... |
Jul 26 1965 1:00pm Sokoji |