Question
You just answered a question about the instant, which
corresponds exactly to a problem in fundamental physics that
two physicist friends and I are thinking about. You have put your finger
on something very important. In your answer, you treat time, and
to be even more precise, space-time, as discontinuous. You
have in fact put forward the idea of a discrete universe. And contrary to the
prevailing paradigm in physics, which treats it as continuous, we entirely
share your viewpoint.
Einstein always treated time, and therefore space-time, as continuous,
which is why he used mathematical tools (differential
topology) designed to work with continuous values.
That is why people still speak of a space-time continuum rather than a
discontinuum.
What we are trying to demonstrate scientifically is
precisely, as you just said, that time is discontinuous and can
therefore be assigned the notion of quanta (of time, or chronons), little
grains of time whose spacing varies according to certain principles… This
introduces the concept of temporal density. Although we run up against
the opinion of most physicists, who remain loyal to certain dogmas, our
intuition (the same intuition that led me to zazen) keeps
drawing our attention to this point: the discontinuity of time.
We may also already have the beginnings of answers about what lies
between each point…
Do your experience of zazen as an experienced master and your intuition
suggest that this line of research could be fruitful, despite
fundamentally opposing the paradigm of contemporary
physics?
Respectfully,
P.S. I am sending a copy to Master Vincent Keisen Tokuten Vuillemin, who leads
the dojo where I practice, to inform him of my wish to discuss this
question with him too.
Patrick
Answer from Master Kosen
This theory has existed for a long time and was demonstrated by a Frenchman: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AIPC..839..236G
Kosen