Eternity
Eternity is usually thought to mean everlastingness. However, in the course of philosophical discussion the idea has been further refined, and two different concepts were developed--that of "atemporality", which is beyond time, and that of "sempiternity", which denotes infinity in time.[1]
The English word "eternal" derives from the Latin term aevum, "an age or era". This does not seem to convey neither the idea of atemporality nor sempiternity, but a specific cycle of time. This is how the word "eternal" is usually applied in Theosophical literature, which, according to H. P. Blavatsky, is the way Eastern approach:
Eternity with the Orientals has quite another signification than it has with us. It stands generally for the 100 years or "age" of Brahma, the duration of a Kalpa or a period of 4,320,000,000 years.[2]
In the Theosophical view time is always limited and begins with the manifestation<><>, which denies the idea of sempiternity. As to that of "atemporality" is referred to as "duration" in The Secret Doctrine
Notes
Further reading
- Eternity at Theosopedia