Temporal Projection for the Unmaking of Regret

The rhythm of the Sun and Moon reinforce our perception of time as a sequential phenomenon - cause preceding effect ad infinitum. When the Sun and Moon are both below the horizon, as they are during the night of a new moon, for example, this reinforcement is at its weakest, and careful contemplation can yield a somewhat flattened perception of time. At these times, as many of you have experienced, memory is more vivid and divination is easier. The present takes on the quality of the surface of a still, dark pool of water, and past becomes depth.

At these times, it is possible to project yourself into the past, correct misdeeds, unmake regret, by following this procedure:

1. Achieve a "past as depth" perception of time. In the true dark of the moonless night, meditate on the nature of time, until you can achieve this "flattened" perception of time. I find it useful actually imagine the surface of that dark pool of water as a kind of aid. I also find that sound-cancelling headphones help.
   
   
2. Recall a memory of yourself that you regret. Bring it as near to the surface of the pool as you can, and do your best to clarify it - which involves the mindful removal of embellishments and self-deception that can adhere to memory like barnacles and algae - especially on memories of our own regrettable actions. This exercise must be completed in good faith.
   
   
3. Construct the empathic bridge. Once you can hold the memory near to the surface and you have clarified it, your regret, if unchecked, has the potential to overwhelm and dissolve the spell, leaving you with nothing but a vivid recollection of a regrettable memory. In order to achieve projection, it is crucial that you are able to construct an empathic bridge to your past self. Put simply, the empathic bridge is the recognition that you and your past self are the same. Experience the memory from their (i.e. your) point of view. Recognize that the growth and the hindsight that are behind you now are ahead of them, then. Recognize the fear (it is almost always fear) that caused you to act the way you did, and finally, critically, forgive yourself.
   
   
4. Achieve projection.
   "Projection" is an imperfect word, as it implies travelling. In reality, upon the completion of steps 1-3, your "present" and "past" selves become functionally indistinguishable with regards to time. This is not the imposition of your will onto that of your past self, but instead the recognition that their will is your will. Nothing is overridden, nor are any separate things joined. Instead, a timeless unity is recognized. Recognizing this unity, you can shift your attention to the will, agency, and context of your past self, gaining (or, more accurately, "recognizing") the ability to reshape the past. This step happens spontaneously as a result of contemplation of a well-constructed empathic bridge.

Unfortunately, despite the successful achievement of projection, your past self will not suddenly gain that hindsight and growth that has inspired you to undertake this process in the first place. To lean on the imperfect but useful "travelling" metaphor, when you project into the past, you will only know and feel what you knew and felt then. This unfortunate reality entails two things: first, that as your past self, you will likely, if not inevitably, behave the same way you did before, and second, that you will only ever remember conducting the ritual heretofore outlined in those instances in which you fail to achieve projection.

Understandably, These two seemingly insurmountable obstacles are enough to keep some people from ever bothering with this process, but I believe that with some careful re-framing of expectations, this process can still be fruitful.

• Instead of imagining reaching back into your memory, consider that the real trick takes place in the time-forward direction: recognize that you might now be a projection of your future self, seeking to unmake regret. Though it is much more difficult from the vantage of the past, you may be able to glimpse the empathic bridge that joins you and any future instance of yourself.
  
  Now that you know of this ritual, you are able to ask yourself, as a daily practice of mindfulness, "Why have I been sent back?"
  
  This need not be a new source of anxiety. Your future self would not expect you to do anything you can't do (in fact they could not possibly expect such a thing, having successfully constructed the empathic bridge). Furthermore, if, from the past end of the bridge, you fail to recognize the projection and you bring about the same regret, you can always (and inevitably will) conduct the ritual again later.
  
  
• Don't worry about failing the ritual. Recognize that you will remember every time you fail to achieve projection but you will not remember any time you succeed. What's more, I find that that the exercise of constructing empathic bridges to be worthwhile, even when I do not achieve projection.

I try to ask myself often, "why have I been sent back?". Of course, it usually feels like casting a fishing line into an empty ocean, but today I felt the edges of an empathic bridge, hardly there at all. I felt the nearness of myself. I felt my compassion. I realized then that I hadn't been the best steward of my own brain lately, stuck inside my home office, more beer than water this weekend. In the moment, I couldn't manage much else than to open a window and pour myself a glass of water. Not much, but it's a start. Maybe enough that I won't have to come back again.