Eternal Now is a concept of
time perception
In psychology and neuroscience, time perception or chronoception is the subjective experience, or sense, of time, which is measured by someone's own perception of the duration of the indefinite and unfolding of events. The perceived time interval b ...
suggested by some proponents of
New Age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
spirituality. Its characteristics vary from increased awareness of the present moment to a broader, more open and holistic perception of one's subjective past and potential variants of future. The concept is consonant with and constitutes an integration and development of a number of approaches to spiritual alertness and totality of perception advocated by various forms of Buddhist philosophy (in particular
Zen
Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
Buddhism) ,
Shamanic
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spiri ...
practices, and other philosophical and spiritual directions, both ancient and contemporary.
[Wouter J. Hanegraaff. New Age Religion and Western Culture:Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. SUNY Press 1998 580 pages][Daren Kemp. New Age:
A Guide : Alternative Spiritualities from Aquarian Conspiracy to Next Age. Edinburgh University Press 2004. 211 pages]
Precursors to the New Age usage
Prior to the advent of the New Age usage, the expression is used, perhaps in a more rigorous way, by Thomas R. Kelly in his book, "A Testament of Devotion" (see, for example, Ch. 4, "The Eternal Now and Social Concerns") and by Paul Tillich in his collection of sermons, entitled "The Eternal Now" (see sermon 11, "The Eternal Now").
Related terms
Related terms used in various spiritual traditions and meditative practices include: restful alertness, total awareness, perception of here and now, as well as others.
See also
*
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the cognitive skill, usually developed through exercises, of sustaining metacognitive awareness towards the contents of one's own mind and bodily sensations in the present moment. The term ''mindfulness'' derives from the Pali ...
*
Satipatthana
''Satipatthana'' (; ) is a central practice in the Buddha's teachings, meaning "the establishment of mindfulness" or "presence of mindfulness", or alternatively "foundations of mindfulness", aiding the development of a wholesome state of mind. I ...
References
New Age
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