Page 129 - Hinduism

II.2 Concept of Time
Most of us are accustomed to living life according to linear beliefs and patterns of existence. We believe everything has a beginning, middle and an end. But Hinduism has little to do with the linear nature of history, the linear concept of time or the linear pattern of life. The passage of 'linear' time has brought us where we are today - at the dawn of a new century and a new millennium.
Cyclical Time
Hinduism views the concept of time in a much different manner, and there is a cosmic perspective to it. Hindus believe the process of creation moves in cycles and that each cycle has four great epochs of time, namely Satya Yugaa, Treta Yugaa, Dwapara Yugaa and Kali Yugaa. And because the process of creation is cyclical and never ending, it "begins to end and ends to begin".
Time is God
According to the Hindu theory of creation, time (Sanskrit 'kal') is a manifestation of God. Creation begins when God makes his energies active and ends when he withdraws all his energies into a state of inactivity. God is timeless, for time is relative and ceases to exist in the Absolute. The past, the present and the future coexist in him simultaneously.
129