Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Living in the "present"

Well Karma, you last comment got me thinking. Here is what I've so far. This started as a reply comment, but the length of it made me put it out as a separate post of its own.

I did NOT mean equate being happy now with being happy in the past (or having a memory of it). It is just that sometimes our present is influenced by our past... we relive those moments. I , personally, recollect mostly bad memories and nothing really "normal", let alone amusing or fun. So, when all I see in my past is just pain, it is easy to maximize any pain and minimize any joy I'm feeling now. I have an automatic thought that simply says, "It has got to go wrong".

From a Buddhist perspective, it is about accepting the present for what it is, I agree. But accepting/learning involves knowledge of the past and the future; and perhaps even an intuitive understanding of impermanence and sunyata. These come from past experiences. So, how can one live only in the present? Philosophically speaking, what is "now" -- the present moment -- but a continuously changing nexus between the past and the future!

In other words, you cannot live in the present, without a past and a future; the present is but a shadow of the past and a glimpse of the future. Otherwise you would be living only moment to moment and not moment by moment. The distinction being that in the former, you are blind to the moments between, whereas in the latter you are aware through all passing moments.

Let me use a Buddhist analogy here. Let us think of time as a flowing river. We are observing it at some point during its course between its birth (mouth of the river) and its death (at the sea). The river is right in front of us, as much as it is at its mouth and at the sea, simultaneously. So, though the river is right here, right now, it is also there (at its mouth) and also there (at the sea). Similarly, though the present is right here, it is also not discrete. It is a result of all those tiny turns in the past and as a extension, it is also in all those tiny turns in the future. Lets keep predeterminism vs free choice to another discussion :-)

Finally, I'm still left with a rather philosophical conundrum, what does living in the present involve? Perhaps it is about accepting it for what it is, instead of "trying to live in the present". What do you think?

3 comments:

Karma said...

The fact that you started this post "well, Karma" makes me feel like your blog is a discussion between the two of us :)

I've been struggling with these same sorts of questions. I think that part of the issue is coming to terms with the past, present, and future and to be able to accept it all as it is. Going along with this, I think is being okay with the present, with what happened in the past, what might happen in the future - to be able to face it all without fear. I can't quite do this yet, but that's what I'm struggling to do.

Appa said...

lol... the post was meant to be a reply to your previous comment!
I think, to get to that state of being accepting, we start at this one: becoming aware of where we are not entirely accepting of the situations as they are. Thats the key I feel. It is easier said than done ofcourse!

Karma said...

We can want to change things, but still be okay/accepting of the present moment.