Timeless time
Individually and collectively we spend so much time thinking about the future and “planning” it, yet, at least collectively, we seem to be doing worse and worse at really preparing for it. Especially in what preparing for a better one is concerned…
In fact it seems that we live a moment where there is almost the same amount of pull towards reconstructing a more technologized version from our historical past as it is towards moving into new horizons of human development. This can be construed as a major paradox and there doesn’t appear to be a clear path away from it. We either are fascinated with the past or with the future, even if we attempt to keep reasonable balance in seeing both the good and bad parts of the past as well as the dual potential for either wonderful things or large scale disasters in the future. This unidirectionality of our leaning creates significant tension, psychological at individual level, relational and intellectual at family and small group level and major societal division and conflict at the largest scale.
And where is the present in all of this ? Far too often it just passes us by, we seem to never be able to fully synchronise with, control or enjoy it. When we do, the mark it leaves is almost always one that we remember forever as a high point in our life. Reliably living in the present is the path that all great people have prescribed in order to both deal with our past most appropriately as well as build the best path for the future. This is easily understood form the standpoint of our subtle system and its organization. For our awareness to be stationed in the present we need to exist through the central channel. When we do not, our attention will get stuck on one side. When it is caught in the past we either reminisce about the good things that happened - often in contrast with the perception of present or our guesses about the future - or we decry or rehash happenings that still hold sway on our emotions in a negative way. Neither of those angles can serve us to construct and enjoy our present and even less so our future.
Alternatively, and more and more so in today’s world,, we fixate all of the time on the future. At the purely positive end, it becomes a never ending action plan. Even when we take a break or a holiday, it is something we ”do” because that’s the plan, that is what is required to keep doing and achieving. There is always a goal that is ahead and needs to be achieved and everything subsumes to that. In the long run this may indeed result in significant work accolades, position in society, etc. But existing with no significant place for spontaneity and emotion is something that we can never really enjoy and even less share. A host of health, relational and psychological troubles result due to that. On the other hand, when we think very much about the future but in a fearful way, we can get no further either as we also lose self-confidence as well as the zest of life. We may get ourselves busy preparing for different “what if this” and “what if that” possibilities, but how can we have a sense of control and enjoyment in this way ?
The ideal position is where we see the past and are able to learn from it without being bound by it, when we are able to enjoy the good moments and forgive and forget the others. We become able to understand that the future naturally derives from the present and that being fully engaged in the present in the path of good conduct is the best guarantee of a desirable future. With the light of our Self we simply see the path forward and in this way planning can dissolve into a calm and peaceful knowledge of what is to be done. Our goals gently shift from achieving some detailed mental projection of the future to enjoying the path forward. Self Realization makes obvious the continuous reality of the present and through practice of meditation we can raise above the thoughts that trick us with the illusion of time.