There is nothing but now -- no past, no future

"Live in the now."

That is an utterly meaningless statement. It's akin to saying, "Exist in existence." Well, yeah. As if we had a choice. There's no place to exist but in existence. 

Where else are I supposed to exist? Non-existence? That'd be impossible.

Equally impossible is for anything, naturally including we humans, to exist anywhere but in the present -- now. So save your money on books that claim to teach you how to live in the now.

You're already expert at this. There's no place to be except now.

But what about thoughts of the past and future? Those are taking place now. Do you really believe that you can time travel into the past or future? I hope not. There is no evidence that this is possible. 

So if you consider that you can exist in the past or future, you're deluded. 

Ah, but what about the Theory of Relativity? People or clocks traveling at different speeds experience time differently. And light doesn't experience time at all.

(Leaving aside the fact that almost certainly, light lacks the ability to experience anything.)

Doesn't matter. Someone traveling at a speed that approaches 186,000 miles per second, light-speed, still would be having that experience now, not in the past or future. 

Yes, conscious beings in the space-time continuum can disagree about the order in which things happen. Past can be future, or the future can be past, depending on one's perspective according to the Theory of Relativity.

Still, my argument is that these perspectives are still occurring now, in the present moment experience of each observer.

Given my affection for mindfulness practices, I do consider that generally speaking it is good for us to be attending to what is physically present now, as opposed to thoughts of the past or future that are occurring now.

It's all now. We have no choice about that. But we can choose whether to be present to the world outside of us now, or present to the world within us now. 

True, in one sense everything is within us, since conscious awareness resides in the brain, and the brain is inside our head.

What I'm talking about is what the focus of our consciousness is -- the present moment of the physical reality that surrounds us, or the present moment of our thoughts, emotions, and such.

So enjoy the fact that you already possess the power of now, the title of an Eckhart Tolle book. And you didn't have to pay any money to Amazon, or another bookstore, to enjoy this power.

Comments

[Sonia]

ਅਸ੍ਮੇ

praeesse (Latin) prae + esse

“The Latin word sum is perhaps among the best known of all the Latin verbs and it is among the hardest to learn. Sum is the present indicative tense of the verb esse, meaning "to be." As with many other living and dead languages, esse is one of the oldest verb forms in Latin, one of the most frequently used of the verbs, and one of the most irregular verbs in Latin and related languages. It is also often contracted in casual use (such as in English I'm, that's, they're, he's), so that the verb is almost invisible to the listener.” —Thoughtco.com

People talk about now as if it is a point in time. It’s really gotten mixed up over the centuries. Now in the metaphysical sense means to be outside of time. Like the Bible says God is I am. That is I am God. You, me, we are all “I am”. We’re all God. It’s outside of the time space continuum. It’s what Eastern Philosophers teach about meditation. The present moment tics away in this unreality. But in reality there is only I am. Something so still we only catch glimpses of it.

If one is speaking of now in a metaphysical sense it has nothing to do with anything in time. It’s become a confusing way of describing the experience of just being.

[Sonia]

The verse, “Be still and know that I am God” is an extremely simple way of summing up the “now”. It covers meditation, self realization and God realization all in one little sentence.

[um]

“If you continue to focus on becoming perfect you are only reinforcing to yourself that you are imperfect.”

“If you continue to focus on NOW you are only reinforcing to yourself that you are NOT.”

Echart Tolle and his colleagues are like the people that, being terminal ill, gave up all hope for a cure from idiopathic healers and taking full responsibility for their own wellbeing found finally a cure.
The history of that search etc can be found in many a book as there are many books to be found that tell the same tale, not the same cure.
In these books they all tell the readers ...do what I did and you will be cured.
What really cured them was not the the final solution in terms of diet { grapes only for example] or exercises etc but their determination to become healed.

It is understandable and even laudable that they wanted to share their findings with other people but as we are not all the same, it will be not of great help for most to walk in the their shoes.

Mystics do in fact the same they "come up with a technique" so that one can have the same experience as they had. ....and .... that might work for some but not for most. Again it is understandable that they do want to share what they consider as good foor them to be good for others ...that would be correct if all were the same. We look the same, but we are not ... just unique variations of the same.

[s*]

Life seems a sort of dream..
When we realise that everything ´feels´constant different..
even in the same place,we have different undergoings,feelings thoughts..,so to say..
we see that we are ´time travelers..in a sort of dream.´
Indeed´ I am´'..
No matter what..
I think and feel etc..
So I live.
Now..but not a frozen´ Now´

[Dungeness]

@ So enjoy the fact that you already possess the power of now, the title
@ of an Eckhart Tolle book.

I think Tolle would agree. He's talking about the thoughts
and events which are most currently happening within
consciousness. At least those on the surface that we're
experiencing in the present moment. For all practical
purposes that's our "now" and it becomes the focus of
mindfulness.

The mystic notion of "now" is an eternal moment which is
outside of time. That's where we really dwell... in a timeless
present. Even more astonishingly, the "now" we think we're
living in is in the past.

Just think about it. Even the smallest mini-thought occurring
in a nano-second, as if that were possible, is in the rear view
mirror as soon as we experience it. It's slipped into the past.
We're experiencing a script already written. Living in an
eternal timeless state, we conflate what's happened in the
immediate past with 'happening now".

Why does there seem to be a future we step into as time flows
by? Because there's a tiny, subtle preparatory thought to make
the illusion perfect: we hope, fear, or anticipate its arrival. If
we didn't preface it in that manner, it'd just seem like we were
recalling a memory of something that had already occurred.
And, it has.

[Vinny]

Live in now, don't think about future is as foolish as saying I read history without thinking about history. Question should be how long should I think about future in a day/ 24 hours.

[s*]

Maybe awareness is a better word for ´Now´
Just be..´aware´
Awake..

:0)
as far as possible..
A bit of dreamy..is nice too..;0) very...

[Spence Tepper]

"now" is over rated.
So much so that it's oppresive.
Sure "Now" wants you to think it's all there is. What a nightmare that would be.

Sometimes "The Past" does that, and so we run from it to the safety of the "Now" like a child hiding behind his mother's skirt.

But when the "Now" becomes a monster there's always "the Past" or "the Future" waiting with open arms.

Ah "the Future" all gleaming hopes and sunny days. Good crops, better friends and God waiting to embrace us. Can't dismiss "the Future" has some lovely perks.

We make all three. They are manufactured.

The past, present and future are all part of one single moment.

But when you unpack it, take it apart, dismantle time, you get those three.

They are only distinct in concept.

[Sonia]

“The past, the present and the future walk into a bar. It was tense.”

—D. Singh

[Dungeness]

@ The past, the present and the future walk into a bar. It was tense.”

Love it!

Then:

Future [fingering his sidearm]: "I'm calling you two losers out."

Present: "Chill, dude. We've got plenty of time until the next scene."

Past: No worries, "Present". I've heard this loudmouth many a time.
In the end, he always winds up bullet-ridden on the street. Just
walk away, I'm begging you. Get the hell outta this saloon,
outta Dodge too. This is a bad movie!

[Sonia]

@Dungeness

That reminds me of the scene in a video where some guy is narrating a western novel and says out loud what each character is thinking about the other characters. It would be a lot funnier if I could find the video.

Anyway...

Past, present, future and the panic monster. This is really funny. https://youtu.be/arj7oStGLkU

(I’m pro-procrastination but completely useless without deadlines.)

[Sonia]

Found it!

The Gunfighter
https://youtu.be/cWs4WA--eKU

[Dungeness]

@ Found it!

Wow! Amazing!

The winner: "The Voice"
Runner up: Ballet of Death
Honorable mention: Instant Gratification Monkey on front porch

[Sonia]

@Dungeness,
Fun. We should have a virtual awards ceremony. Oh wait, we just did. That's the problem with COVID we're getting more and more isolated.

Anyway...

A priest, a minister and a rabbit walk into a blood bank. The rabbit says I think I'm a type O.

hahaha I know, so silly. I'm volunteering to help with a blood drive the night before Halloween. I'll use that joke on the old people. ;) We have these blood splattered Game of Thrones themed t-shirts to wear. You gotta get people's attention somehow.

Ahhh, attention--the very essence of now.