When Do I Exist? ①

When Do I Exist?


Here are some common notions:


We were born at some point in the past.

We will die at some point in the future. 

We continue to exist between these two points.


Are these true?


...


Were we born in the past?
What is past?


There are two aspects of the past:

① Past as memory, e.g. things you recall as your experience 
     from the past.  (I ate steak yesterday, I met him two hours    
     ago, etc.)

② Past as knowledge, e.g. things you've heard or read about 
     what happened in the past.  (I was born on May 2nd,    
     WW2 ended in 1945, etc.)


...


Let's examine these two.

Past as memory - what is memory? 


Visually recall a scene from the past, and
try grasping it with your hand.  Can you grasp it?  

Where is it located?
In your head?  Can you know it in direct experience?


When I do this, I notice that I can't grasp it nor can I locate it anywhere.


When you wake up tomorrow morning, recall your dream.
(Do it another day if you don't remember it)
Try grasping it with your hand.  Can you grasp your dream?  
Where is it located?


Dreams can't be grasped nor can be located, and we 
know that they aren't real. 

Memories can neither be grasped or located, just as dreams can't be grasped nor located.

So, isn't it strange to say that memory is something real?
Aren't memories dreamlike, in that they can't be grasped nor located?


...


Past as knowledge - what is knowledge?

If I ask you the date you were born, what comes out?

For me, the thought "I was born on 〜 " pops out.
I "know" the date in the form of thought, but I can't directly experience being born.  I just got that knowledge from 
someone (or something).

So ...
have you ever been born?

When you taste an apple, you directly experience it.

When you think about eating an apple, or hear about its taste from someone, you don't directly experience it. You DON'T eat it.

Thoughts are not real, just like memories are not real.
Then, is past, as knowledge, real?


...


Past can't be other than thoughts or memories.

So ... is past real?

If past isn't real, can you say when you were born?

Or, weren't you born, in the first place?