Deep Time and the Seven Generations

The fault of modern man is not in his lack of awareness of time, but that he never steps out of it. Linear time has dominated the past centuries: school bells that dictate our lives for the first 14 years, the calendar in the usual 9-5 for another 40 years, or the magical number of 65, when retirement starts. On top of that come liters of coffee, robots that run 24/7, and a mind that never ceases to chatter within the skull. We’re as restless as the engine of the economy that propels us forward. The obsession with the clock has many useful merits. But without awareness of deep time, we lose sight of what matters.

Deep time

In ancient Greek thought, time ran opposite to ours. The past stood in front of you, clear and visible, because it had already been lived. The future, however, came from behind and is an unpredictable, unseen force. Ancestors were ahead, not behind you. Death wasn’t awaiting you, but came from behind as well, same with marriage, retirement, and holidays—things we look ‘forward’ to. A human life was a thread spun by the fates, measured, and then cut. Fate determined the hour of your birth and death, and the conclusion from this fact was clear. Not to look forward to what fortune might bring, but rather to live well within the time that’s been allotted to you.

This is not how we no perceive the feel of time. We are going somewhere, in front, and always in search. Faster, faster, faster, that is the premise that lies at the heart of so much of what we value and are as a culture. Busyness rules the planet, and strangely, many feel they are running out of time. So why slow down? Our responsibilities never cease their demands. The root cause lies in the imbalance of Matter and Spirit. Over-identification with linear time, rather than the cyclical nature of things, causes us to quite literally run out of time. But there is another way, one where we stop doing for just a moment, and begin to listen.

The problem of busyness is not solved by to-do lists, calendars, and AI, but rather by pausing and allowing a different awareness to take root. Anyone familiar with music knows that the pause determines the rhythm. Everything in the universe exists in rhythm: the four seasons, the movement of the planetary bodies, and our very own breath. In deep time, we become aware of being and the rhythm that lies at the heart of who we are. It is then that we can understand the relation between all things and our place within the one song (uni-verse).

The clock is there to control, while deep time is something you surrender to. Both linear time and cyclical time need to operate together, so we can create a sustainable rhythm that doesn’t burn us out. Slowing down is usually what we all need more of. Few understand this, and even fewer practice it. We incessantly plan for the future, without taking time to listen. The ironic consequence is that we have become increasingly short-sighted.

Short-sighted

Modern society is constantly occupied with pressing problems, rather than long-term solutions. The economy that has taken over the entire planet is causing severe disruption, ecological collapse, and numbness within the human race. Short-term comfort seems to be our number one priority. Fast food, air conditioning, automatic stair wheels, at-home delivery, mobile games, AI-agents, the list is endless. As Krznaric remarked: “At this moment in history the dominant force is clear: we live in an age of pathological short-termism. Politicians can barely see beyond the next election or the latest opinion poll or tweet. Businesses are slaves to the next quarterly report and the constant demand to ratchet up shareholder value.”[^1]

Without deep time, the understanding of the cyclical nature of the universe ceases to exist. You need to make time to think 20, 100, or even 2000 years ahead. Imagine the difference long-term thinking would make in education, economy, technology, and politics. Our whole system would be flipped upside down, because everything is based on short-term gains with often (hidden) long-term losses. Collective changes are hard to predict, let alone ignite as an individual. But we should always aim for the highest, regardless of the circumstances in the age we find ourselves in. But why is it that we are so short-sighted?

Homo sapiens seems to have lost its place in the web of life. No other species is so destructive to its environment. Our desire for comfort is like a wildfire that is engulfing the entire planet. This addiction to comfort is a band-aid for a deeper underlying pain—the fear of death. And one is only afraid to die if you do not realize who you are—a strand in the web of existence. It is clear that we have lost our ability to relate to the universe and understand our place within it. Because we don’t know who we are, we try to seek it in the material world. But comfort can only numb the ache we carry. Deep time offers a real cure, but nothing is harder for the modern monkey than stillness.

Slowing down

Our ancestors knew how to enter into this state of deep time. Being was as important for them as doing is for us. Through ceremonies and rituals, native people altered their awareness of time and let the visions that arose in those states guide their everyday life. Entering deep time is, therefore, a skill that can be learned and practiced. And although many paths lead to it, the commonality between them all is to slow down. This change of awareness is not forced, but surrendered to. There are countless ways to practice, but three common ones are connecting to nature, participating in ceremony, and ritualizing the everyday.

Nature

To slow down through nature is always done through connecting to one or more of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. By spending time outside, preferably away from people and cities, we can connect to the world of our ancestors. Homo sapiens is a relatively young species, and almost everything in nature is older than us. It’s good to learn from ancestors, which include animals, plants, and elements. Nature is slow, but steady, and will help us get in touch with our being. And from stillness answers reveal themselves. We need to return to nature again, and again, now more than ever.

Ceremony

In native traditions, life is often regarded as a ceremony. Smaller ceremonies remind us of this fact. They can also mark important transitions and changes in time. These can be as big as initiations into adulthood, honoring the birth of a child, and marriage. But smaller ceremonies exist as well. Even modern ceremonies exist, such as graduation, birthdays, and political elections. Yet the latter do not fulfill our spiritual needs. Ceremonies are meant to slow us down and make us aware of the sacred. They are almost always done in groups and can be found everywhere on the planet. Sometimes one has to search, as many of the native ceremonies have been banned and forgotten. Ceremonies are such an inherent part of human nature that their importance cannot be overstated.

Ritual

Training yourself to return to the present moment is a great way to enter deep time. Rituals help us slow down and make time for being. These are often smaller, such as a morning practice, family dinners, and drinking tea. But anything can be made into a ritual by doing it mindfully, e.g., cooking a meal rather than ordering it, sharing your dreams in the morning instead of watching the news, or sitting on a park bench, watching the world go by. Doing anything slower than usual with attention to all sensations is a good practice. Rituals need repetition. It’s preferable to have a few consistent ones than many done sporadically. They remind us to be present in everyday life.

Seven Generations

The universe, the earth, and nature are both cyclical processes with linear qualities. Compared to the vast stretch of time that has preceded us and will come after, a human life is incredibly short. Deep time allows for understanding between yourself and the cosmos. And in that light, we can become aware of what matters: to live, and the things that are essential to that purpose. Deep time shows what is redundant and needs to be released. It is an important component for a fulfilling life. To make time means to invite the mystery: the breath of life.

Although life is short, our influence is great because we are the thread that relates both to the past and the future. The native people had a common agreement: we stand in relation with the previous seven and future seven-generations. This way of thinking is still alive today. “Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, part of the Iroquois Confederacy: We are looking ahead, as is one of the first mandates given us as chiefs, to make sure every decision that we make relates to the welfare and well-being of the seventh generation to come, and that is the basis by which we make decisions in council. We consider: will this be to the benefit of the seventh generation?”[^2]

The understanding of the importance of future welfare does not come from linear thinking, but rather a consistent awareness of deep time. It is in those states that we realize the past seven generations have tremendously impacted us in all areas of life. Our body, relationships, thoughts, emotions, matter, and spirit have been impacted by our ancestors. They live in us, are in front of us, and act through us. The choices we make in the present will impact the future for seven generations. Deep time gives us the ability to act as a mediator between the past seven and future seven generations.

Whether we like it or not, this is our responsibility: to heal the past and care for the future. Everything is passed on. This is a central insight of deep time. After a ceremony or time in nature, the value of life is a common insight of many. Deep time allows for long-term thinking, which the native people practiced as the seven-generation principle. Life is an incredible gift, and we hold this torch very briefly before we’re forced to pass it on. But the length is of unimportance—depth is. Deep time gives us a pause from which a good rhythm can emerge, so we can again find our place in the universe.