Issue #27

Abstract: The idea of time in traditional cultures differs from the modern, dominant in science. Tradition holds a cyclic time and of high quality, modern science, by contrast, is linear and quantitative. The Indo-Iranian tradition is characterized by the assertion of the original eternal and incomprehensible principle from which our world unfolds, existing in time, in which everything changes. In Zoroastrianism, the eternal incomprehensible and infinite Zervan Akarana is distinct from the «long» finite time of Zervan Karana. Similarly, in Hinduism, the Vishnu Purana speaks of the original incomprehensible Brahma, from which Time-Kala unfolds the entire manifested world of duality. Cycles of time are peculiar to the manifested world. The mathematization of time, its measurement, the creation of calendars, in addition to practical purposes, pursued primarily metaphysical goals. They symbolized the structure of the world. The intermediaries between the primordial principle, eternal infinite Time, and the human scale of time are cosmic cycles. By analogy with them, the logic of history is understood. The modern idea of world history is connected with the emergence in modern times of the idea of linear time. The logic of history is determined by the fact that history is always a story. The story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Traditional representations of the events narrated were symbolic and metaphysical.