Thanks Emily for this wonderful article. In fact, it strikes a chord quickly, at least for us easterners.

Going through it, a question came to my mind.

I think this whole conflict of past and future playing in our present binds us to either create something or compels us to search for the meaning of our existence. Ultimately, this excels our understanding and consciousness of the world, which I think is the foundation of every science.

You also wrote - “The ego is manifested from your consciousness so that you can experience life as you know it.”

If I ignore my ego or consider this world an illusion, how come I experience life or expand my understanding of this world.

I would also like to compare it with stories chosen for films to be made. They say that if there is no conflict in the story, it would be a plain vanilla story; no one will watch. Will our stories (life) not be uninteresting, meaningless for others, self-centered, animal-like (I believe they don’t have their past or future, at least in their minds)?