LightEnergy
The film Slumdog Millionaire uses an untraditional story-line that weaves between three characters through three different stages of their lives. Each of these characters represents a moment in time: past, present and future. Films usually show the development of a character over the course of the story although the main character, Jamal, exists throughout the film in the same state of being; in the present. The two supporting characters are the ones that develop, Latika is constantly trying to keep up with events that have already taken place and Salim aggressively pursues the future in order to make it rich. Illustrated in the image, the past exists as a ribbon that orbits around the present, varying in relative distance. The straight lines (becoming blue when the line begins to interact with the present) speed into the future, in the attempt to control the present by constantly running ahead. The present can only be recognized because of these two forces that are illuminated by the present: the source of LightEnergy.
Time as a series of events
Time as perceived by the Moment
The time line measures changes and events relative to an established standard of time to help us understand change between the past, present and future. The time line is powerful, being able to represent everything between the singular and the infinite. In the moment, time is always the same, existence is timeless. The physical state may change in appearance although the moment remains inside, largely unaffected. Inside the moment, time disappears into a state of consciousness that is completely connected to the present. These feelings exist eternally present although awareness through a connection with physical reality is not automatically achieved. Once awareness is achieved, time and space fade away becoming secondary as the experience of being in that moment synthesizes the senses into a single feeling of being perfectly connected to the present. For the moment, the time line is but a single point. 16