Hua Hu Ching - Verse 21

Verse Twenty-One

Each moment is fragile and fleeting. The moment of the past cannot be kept, however beautiful. The moment of the present cannot be held, however enjoyable. The moment of the future cannot be caught, however desirable. But the mind is desperate to fix the river in place: Possessed by ideas of the past, preoccupied with images of the future, it overlooks the plain truth of the moment. The one who can dissolve her mind will suddenly discover the Tao at her feet, and clarity at hand.

~ Translated by Brian Walker ~

One common prescription for a better life -- one I see on a lot of so-called self-help blogs and sites -- is this idea that we should "live in the moment." It sounds good, doesn't it? Concentrate on the here and now; don't wallow in the past or stress about the future.

The only problem is that it's an impossibility for an ego-driven mind! If you think about, we're never aware of the present; we're always a step behind. Our lives are lived in the past and nowhere else.

For example, as soon as I think of the next word to type, I type it after the fact. I type what I thought of in the immediate past, not the present. What I'm typing right now is what I thought to type a split second ago. And it doesn't matter how fast I type these words, I will never catch up to the present.

When we see an object or person that we're familiar with, it may take only a nanosecond for us to recognize what is before us, but that recognition comes after we first saw it (in the past). If, all of a sudden, a fire breaks out in the location you are right now as you read this, it will take you some time (hopefully, not MUCH time) to understand you may be in danger. Every movement you make to escape the fire is based on information of a few moments ago.

You see, when self-consciousness is involved, we need time to process what we see, hear, smell, taste, feel and think. Even when it seems like we are reacting to or thinking about what is going on right now, we're really reacting to or thinking about what happened just then.

From my vantage point, there is no permanent escape from this catch-22, except, maybe, in death. While we can certainly be in and of the moment during meditation, we can't meditate 24/7.

So, we simply need to accept the fact that we live in the past. We can certainly work to mitigate our situation by not clinging to the distant past or longing for the distant future, but this will rarely help us to claim the present moment.

This post is part of a "miniseries". For an introduction, go here.