The Only Real Place Is Now!

This is an exploration of Now as an experience! It is emphasized by an investigation of the Past which cannot be experienced other than in memories and concepts; so is the Future. However, only Now can be experienced without a shadow of a doubt! This conviction cannot be given by any scientist or anyone else - this can only be discovered for oneself. The contemplation juxtaposes our tendency to "do" something about what has happened or will happen which are both conceptual - squandering the Now!

Transcript

Let's close our eyes, Observe the tendency to do something about everything that is happening, Whatever thoughts are arising, Whatever sounds are being heard. Our mind is in constant planning, Fixing, Negotiating, Commenting, Narrating, Predicting, Regretting, Scolding, Fault-finding mode. And most of these things are happening even when there's no one around. If we don't find any good candidate, Then the best candidate is us. And many times, Due to social obligations or social conditioning, We are polite to other people and then brutal with ourselves, Brutal in the sense of judging, Scolding, Becoming angry, Neglecting, Disciplining, As if we have a lens that we are focusing on our actions and every little mistake is amplified, Calling ourselves stupid. The reason for this hyperactive mode or one of the reasons for this hyperactive mode is our deep-rooted belief that I can do something about everything that has happened or that will happen. The only place we can actually do something is right here, Right now. But we are probably squandering this opportunity in trying to fix what has happened or manipulate what will happen, Missing altogether what is happening. The only way to avoid mistakes is to be fully present while we are acting or doing. And by fully, I mean we are completely here with our mind, Body, Attention, Energy, Everything, Not scattered in the past or the future. And if we are a little more surgical with our investigation, We might find some interesting information or insight about past and future. There is this movie that is playing on the screen of our mind about people, Situations, Things, Circumstances, Events that have happened in the past. And the channel keeps changing on the screen of our mind every time we find a trigger. So if you are at home and your spouse or your kid or your roommate, Just seeing them triggers a new channel on your mind. If you are in the office, Seeing a co-worker or your boss triggers another channel. Seeing a nasty email immediately changes the channel and what was being projected on the screen of your mind. Most of the times we are replaying events. And as the events are being replayed, We go through the same emotions as if we are experiencing them the first time. There's no screen of mind per se, But I hope my poetic description is making sense to you. Now the surgical part that comes in would be to investigate. Investigate this quote-unquote past that we are lost in or we engage in voluntarily. Is it actually a place we can physically visit? Is past a real place that can be visited? If I asked you, Is now a place that you visit, That you can go to or that you are in, Not conceptually, Not in terms of replay of events, But actually, Can you go to the now? And I'm sure the answer is an obvious yes. I can touch things now, I can see things, I can smell, I can hear. This is not a movie in my mind. This is what I'm experiencing right now. But if I asked you again, Can you go to the past? And the past is a vague word that encompasses all of time up until now. I don't need to qualify anything when I say, Can you go to the now? There's only one place to go. But can you go to the past is quite meaningless because where in the past? Anywhere. Can you go anywhere in the past? Actually go. Can you leave the now and go to the past? No scientist is going to answer this question. Only you can answer this question. Is it possible for you to go anywhere other than now, Either in the past or in the future? If the answer is no, Then we can ask ourselves, Why are we constantly thinking about the past or the future? Is there anything productive about it? Is there any value in being in the now, But being lost in the memories or imagination? And if there is no value, Then the only option that remains is to be fully present moment to moment, Past and future, Then become places we refer to for planning, For wisdom, For survival, For celebration, Not to be brutal to ourselves, But to find a way to improve by not making the mistakes of the past. In the now, Scolding, Judging, Name calling, Regretting, Being anxious, Those are the places that we, Those are the reasons we go for the past and future and end up feeling that way. But once we see it for what past and future is and what it is for, It could upgrade our lives to an aliveness never experienced before. An exploration like this is an exploration of wisdom, Not an exploration about doing something that would be repeating the problem that we started off with, Namely the tendency to do something about everything. Here we are seeing the tendency for what it is and once we have seen it, That itself is the action, Seeing it clearly is the doing, That's how instantaneous wisdom works. Another example of this instantaneous wisdom is listening to a joke until the punchline comes, We don't get the joke, We don't understand the joke, But the moment we understand the joke, The understanding of the joke and the laughter are instantaneous, The understanding of past and future juxtaposed with the present is the dissolving of this tendency, We did not do anything to develop this tendency and we won't have to do anything to dissolve it except seeing it clearly that past is not a place that we can visit no matter what the sci-fi movies show us and if it is a place to visit, Let's try going there, Let's leave the now and go to yesterday or let's leave the now and go to next week and if we can't, We should just stay here fully, Voluntarily. Thank you.