This Present Moment

“Be here now.” It’s the mantra of many a guru. 1960s Harvard psychologist turned acid freak, turned disciple of Indian guru, turned guru himself Richard Alpert (aka Ram Dass) even wrote a book and named it that. I’ve read it.

I’ve never actually read anything that would tend to explain how exactly one is supposed to go about being here now. First one would need to inquire into what exactly the word “now” means in this context.

What exactly is “now?” Might we say that “now” is the dividing point between past and future? That sounds plausible to me.

So now we must inquire further into what past and future are. Most people think of their past as their actual history. The actual history of who they are.

Is this a correct view? Is it a correct view for me to believe that my “past” is the history of who I am?

There’s a lot of history there, and most of it not remembered. So is it possible that, instead of being the actual history of who I am, the past is instead a story I’ve cobbled together from bits and pieces of remembered events and people? Am I not simply making up my past by telling myself a story and then believing it?

And what is the future? It’s the space where all of my hopes and dreams and plans reside. It’s that space in which I hope to live a long and happy life and watch my children grow. Or make a billion dollars. Or become an actor. Or merely survive. It’s that space “out there” where some or all of these dreams and aspirations may or may not come true.

So it’s really also just a story being spun up in the mind.

So now I’ve established that the past isn’t the actual history of who I am. It’s just a story I’m making up from this point now looking backwards. I am believing that story and claiming it as “my past.”

Future is a story which contains hopes, dreams, aspirations, fears, etc.

So let us say that “now” is the middle point between two stories: the story of my past and the story of my future.

<—-Story of my past—♻️—Story of my future—->

If there are many regrets, failures, shoulda-woulda-coulda stuff; or if there are many “look how great I am because I did x, y, and z” that’s a huge complicated story.

If there are a great many hopes, dreams, aspirations, anticipated outcomes, etc., that’s a huge complicated story.

Most people’s pasts are huge complicated stories.

Most people’s futures are huge complicated stories.

What happens when one begins, on a spiritual path, to un-complicate the stories of past and future, is that the present moment goes from having been infinitesimally small and never noticed (although it’s always there) to the beginning of an expansion. (Einstein told us that time is relative.) So cutting loose from stories of past and future gives “be here now” a little room to grow.

In many ways, deep spiritual work of the seeker on the path of inquiry and self-reflection (Jnana Yoga) is the work of dismantling past and future.

Cutting off completely the story of one’s past is to lose completely one’s identity.

Cutting off completely the story of one’s future is the abandoning of the desire to exist (let alone all the other stuff).

“Free from all old stories I’ve been told, I walk through the valley of my own shadow.“

-Yaima, Gajumaru, https://youtu.be/qTse2hkPxYU?si=Y1MiirrHi9y_5nuJ

When this happens, the present moment expands infinitely. And I find myself right here, right now—exactly where I’ve always been.

Peace