THE PAST CANNOT
SURVIVE IN YOUR PRESENCE
YOU MENTIONED THAT THINKING OR TAKING ABOUT THE PAST UNNECESSARILY IS ONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH WE AVOIDE THE PRESENT. BUT APART FROM THE PAST THAT WE REMEMBER AND PERHAPS IDENTIFY WITH, ISN'T THERE ANOTHER LEVEL OF PAST WITHIN US THAT IS MUCH MORE DEEP-SEATED? I AM TALKING ABOUT THE UNCONSCIOUS PAST THAT CONDITIONS OUR LIVES, ESPECIALLY THROUGH EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES, PERHAPS EVEN PAST-LIFE, EXPERIENCES. AND THEN THERE IS OUR CULTURAL CONDITIONING, WHICH HAS TO DO WITH WHERE WE LIVE GEOGRAPHICALLY AND THE HISTORICAL TIME PERIOD IN WHICH WE LIVE. ALL THESE THINGS DETERMINE HOW WE SEE THE WORLD, HOW WE REACT, WHAT WE THINK, WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIPS HAVE, HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES. HOW COULD WE EVER BECOME CONSCIOUS OF ALL THAT OR GET RID OF IT? HOW LONG WOULD THAT TAKE? AND EVEN IF WE DID, WHAT WOULD THERE BE LEFT?
WHAT IS LEFT WHEN ILLUSION ENDS ?
THERE IS NO NEED TO INVESTIGATE THE UNCONSCIOUS PAST IN Y EXCEPT AS IT MANIFEST AT THIS MOMENT AS A THOUGHT, AN EMOTION DESIRE, A REACTION, OR AN EXTERNAL EVENT THAT HAPPENS TO YOU. WHATEVER YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNCONSCIOUS PAST IN YOU, THE CHALLENGE OF THE PRESENT WILL BRING IT OUT. IF YOU DELVE INTO THE PAST. IT BECOME A BOTTOMLESS PIT, THERE IS ALWAYS MORE, YOU MAY THINK IT YOU NEED MORE THAN TIME TO UNDERSTAND THE PAST OR BECOME FREE OF IT, OTHER WORDS. THAT THE FUTURE WILL EVENTUALY FREE YOU OF THE PAST. MORE TIRED CANNOT FREE YOU OF TIME. ACCESS THE POWER OF NOW. THAT IS THE KEY.
WHAT IS THE POWER OF NOW?
NONE OTHER THAN THE POWER OF YOUR PRESENCE, YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS ERATED FROM THOUGH FORMS.
SO DEAL WITH THE PAST ON THE LEVEL OF THE PRESENT. THE MORE ATTENTION YOU GIVE TO THE PAST, THE MORE YOU NERGIZE IT, AND THE MORE LIKE YOU ARE TO MAKE A "SELF" OUT OF IT. DON'T MISUNDERSTAND. ATTENTION ESSENTIAL, BUT NOT TO THE PAST AS PAST. GIVE ATTENTION TO THE PRESENT, ATTENTION TO YOUR BEHAVIOR, TO YOUR REACTIONS, MOODS, THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS, FEARS, AND DESIRES AS THEY OCCUR IN THE PRESENT. THERE'S THE PAST YOU. IF YOU CAN BE PRESENT ENOUGH TO WATCH ALL THOSE THINGS. NOT CRECALLY OR ANALYTICALLY BUT NONJUDGEMENTALLY, THEN YOU ARE DEALING WITH PAST AND DISSOLVING IT THROUGH THE POWER OF YOUR PRESENCE. YOU CANNOT FIND YOURSELF BY GOING INTO THE PAST. YOU FIND YOURSELF BY COMING IT THE PRESENT.
ISN'T IT HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND THE PAST AND SO UNDERSTAND WHY WE CERTAIN THINGS, REACT IN CERTAIN WAYS, OR WHY WE UNCONSCIOUSLY CREATION OUR PARTICULAR KIND OF DRAMA, PATTERNS IN RELATIONSHIPS, AND SO ON?
AS YOU BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS OF YOUR PRESENT REALITY. YOU MAY SUDDENTLY GET CERTAIN INSIGHTS AS TO WHY YOUR CONDITIONING FUNCTIONS IN THOSE PARTICULAR WAYS, FOR EXAMPLE, WHY YOUR RELATIONSHIPS FOLLOW CERTAIN PATTERNS , AND YOU MAY REMEMBER THINGS THAT HAPPNED IN THE PAST OR SEE THEM MORE CLEARLY. THAT IS FINE AND CAN BE HELPFUL, BUT IT IS NOT ESSENTIAL. WHAT IS ESSENTIAL IS YOUR CONSCIOUS PRESENCE. THAT DISSOVLES THE PAST. THAT IS THE TRANSFORMATIVE AGENT. SO DON'T SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THE PAST. BUT BE AS PRESENT AS YOU CAN. THE PAST CANNOT SURVIVE IN YOUR PRESENCE. IT AN ONLY SURVIVE IN YOUR ABSENCE.
THE JOY OF BEING
THE ALERT YOU THAT YOU HAVE ALLOWED YOURSELF TO BE TAKEN OVER BY PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME, YOU CAN USE A SIMPLE CRITERION. ASK YOURSELF, IS THERE JOY, EASE, AND LIGHTENESS IN WHAT I AM DOING? IF THERE ISN'T THEN TIME IS COVERING UP THE PRESENT MOMENT, AND LIFE IS PERCEIVED AS A BURDEN OR A STRUGGLE.
IF THERE IS NO JOY, EASE, OR LIGHTENESS IN WHAT YOU DOING, IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT YOU NEED TO CHANGE WHAT YOU ARE DOING. IT MAY BE SUFFICIENT TO CHANGE TO HOW. "HOW" IS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT THAN "WHAT". SEE IF YOU CAN GIVE MUCH MORE ATTENTION TO THE DOING THAN TO THE RESULT THAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE THROUGH IT. GIVE YOUR FULLEST ATTENTION TO WHATEVER THE MOMENT PRESENTS. THIS IMPLIES THAT YOU ALSO COMPLETELY ACCEPT WHAT IS, BECAUSE YOU CANNOT GIVE YOUR FULL ATTENTION TO SOMETHING AND AT THE SAME TIME RESIST IT.
AS SOON AS YOU HONOR THE PRESENT MOMENT, ALL UNHAPPINESS AND STRUGGLE DISSOVE. AND LIFE BEGINS TO FLOW WITH JOY AND EASE. WHEN YOU ACT OUT OF PRESENT-MOMENT AWARENESS, WHATEVER YOU DO BECOMES IMBUED WITH A SENSE OF QUALITY, CARE, AND LOVE - EVEN THE MOST SIMPLE ACTION.
