eternalism

The theory that every moment in time exists at once and the “passage” of time is just a quirk of how we humans experience it.

“You see this goblet?” asks Achaan Chaa, the Thai meditation master. “For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on the shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand that the glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.” (version by Mark Epstein, Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective)