Time allows things to change. Without time, the universe would be static. Time also allows one thing to cause another thing. In this sense, time can be thought of as a causal loop: When I put my foot on the gas, I cause my car to go faster; when I drop the wine glass, I cause it to break. For the Hindus, the concept of being outside of time means that one has left the causal loop.
The traditional Hindus believe in reincarnation, and in a rigid system of order, in which certain forms of life are more virtuous than others. When you die, your spirit is reborn in a new form, which varies according to your karmic level. By living a virtuous life, one can increase this level; if one does not live according to virtue, the level will go down. If I cheat, lie and steal, I may come back as a dog. But if I am virtuous, and seek the path of true wisdom, I may come back as a priest.
There is a causal relationship here. The virtue (or lack thereof) by which
one lives causes one to be reincarnated in a form that is either higher
in the order, or lower. At the final, highest step of the order; at the
highest possible karmic level, one is said to have achieved enlightenment.
Once you have become enlightened, you do not return to another incarnation
- you have stepped out of the causal loop into Nirvana, or what we may call
eternity.
For the Christians, timelessness is embodied in the concept of heaven. When the world ends, or when you die, you will join God in heaven. Heaven is a place where there is no death, no pain, no suffering. In God's world, there is no time.
The Zoroastrians believe the world was created out of timelessness, and to timelessness it shall return. There was a conflict between the God of Good, and the God of Evil. It is only within time that change can occur, so the world was created by the Gods, and time with it, to bring about this conflict. When the outcome is reached, and Good pervades over Evil, or Evil pervades over Good, the world will come to an end and the universe will once again lapse into timelessness.
There are a great many myths which concern timelessness. The story of Rip
Van Winkle is a very well known one: A young man falls asleep beneath a
bush, and when he wakes up he finds he has aged a great number of years,
and is now old.
TimeWorks was created by Jeremiah Lyman Moore