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 dispelling the concept of time
(excerpts from siddhartha by herman hess)

siddhartha speaking to his old friend: “…everything that is thought and expressed in words is one-sided, only half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity… the world itself, being in and around us, is never one sided. Never is a man or deed wholly one or the other, never is a man wholly saint or sinner… this only seems so because we suffer the illusion that time is something real. Time is not real,… And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion

The world is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a long path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment; every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men… all dying people eternal life… it is possible to dispel time… to see simultaneously all the past, present and future, and then everything is good - death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly. Everything is necessary, everything needs only my agreement, my assent, my loving understanding; then all is well with me and nothing can harm me. I (siddhartha) learned through my body and soul that it was necessary for me to sin, that i needed lust, that I had to strive for property and experience nausea and the depths of despair in order to learn not to resist them (things), in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary world, some imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave i as it is, to love it and be glad too belong to it

… everything has long been everything and always is everything. but i (siddhartha) will say no more about it. words do not express thoughts very well. they always become a little different immediately they are expressed a little distorted, a little foolish. and yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another… … one can love things but one cannot love words… therefore teachings are of no use to me; they have no hardness, no softness, nor colors, no corners, no smell, no taste - they have nothing but words…perhaps that is what prevents us from finding peace, perhaps there are too many words… Nirvana is not a thing: there is only the word nirvana… …if things are illusion then i am illusion and so they are of the same nature as myself, it is that which makes them so lovable and venerable. that is why i can love them. … and love is the most important thing in the world. … i think it is only important to love the world, no to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect