living in present

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." 

-- Buddha

One of the true sources of happiness and health, as the Buddha discovered more than 2500 years ago, is the ability to be in the present moment. In truth, reality only exists right now—it's as close and accessible as our breath—and this awareness heals suffering caused  by past regrets or future fears. Research shows the many physical benefits of learning to be in the moment—from lower blood pressure to reduced levels of stress and anxiety but many of  us tend  to  live in  past or  in  future  but  we  need  to  realise  that  Real  life  is  found only  in  Present moment.

 Two zen monks were travelling. They came to a ford of a stream that was running high, and the current was strong and frightening looking. An attractive young lady was standing at the ford, looking nervous. She clearly was afraid to cross, but had an important reason to go. Without a word, the older of the two monks lifted her in his arms and waded across the stream, and placed her safely on the far bank. The younger monk looked shocked at this action, but kept his silence for quite some number of miles as they continued their journey. Finally, he blurted out "You know that it is against the rules of our order to have any contact with women. How could you do that?". The older monk replied "I put her down when I reached the other side of the river. You, on the other hand, have been carrying her this whole way."

We  are  like  this  monk ! Event  has  already occurred, gone but  he  is  carrying that  in  mind where  as  the  other  monk  has  already  left  it  and  his  mind  is  clear and  living  in Present Life can  be  found only  in the  present moment. The past is  gone, the  future is  yet here, and if  we do  not go  back  to our self  in  the  present moment. We  cannot  be in  touch with  life

There are many people who are keen to give you their opinion or their advice on why it is difficult to live in the present. Some will say it is because we live in abstraction, we live in the world of symbols. Some might say it is because we have awareness of the passage of time, or the illusion of time, it produces anxiety because we can look at the past and predict the future. I think all of these answers are partially true,but I  feel the biggest reason we don’t live in the present is because we don’t shut up, that is, we constantly talk to ourselves, Either  we  are  in dead past  or  in unborn future.

We  are  always worrying about past mistakes, rehashing what you should have done,holding grudges revisiting occasions of sadness or anger or going  into Future  with anxiety, anticipating problems that they may not be able to overcome. Losing sleep, feeling on edge, and stress-related maladies can be the results when  we  are oscilatting between past and  future  One way to get out of this  oscilatting  pendilum of  fast  and  future is to heightening your awareness of the present.

 Things are happening all around you every minute of the day. Why not focus on what is going on now, enjoying the simple fact of being alive and immediate, rather than casting your thoughts forward or backward to events you cannot change? where nothing  can  be  done  

      I  read  some  where How   Japanese traditional  Tea  party  is conducted where  a person      drinks  Tea  slowly and  steadily  and  throughout  the  process he  is aware of every  single  second  and  minute  which helps  him  to  be  in  Present .We can  try  this. Next  time try  drinking   TEA or  COFFEE “slowly and reverently, as if it one  and  only  act  and  this  is  called  as mindfulness or Being Aware  of  present

Practicing mindfulness means we practice our awareness in all our actions,  not  only while  drinking  Tea you  can  also practice while Washing dishes or tying our shoes, wearing cloths where our mind should be focused on whatever we are doing,  not thinking about the bills that we have to pay, or the phone call we need to make when we get to the office,  simply living in the moment.Normally as you  are aware when we are busy with some work, all our attention and focus will be on that work without thinking about  past or  future  This is one part of being  aware of present

. If you follow these simple tips you can start living in the present, and start experiencing reality as it is.

1. Don’t try to quiet your mind

The hardest thing to do when living in the moment is, or trying to simply witness life, is to not have the urge to try to quiet your mind. When we try to quiet the mind, we just disturb it all the more. Instead, simply witness your thoughts as if they are pure sound. Don’t try to judge your thoughts, there are no good thoughts or bad thoughts. Simply witness them as if they were noise.

2. You are not your thoughts

often we identify ourselves with our thoughts, we actually believe we are the dialogue inside our mind. However, we are much more than just our thoughts, we are the force that moves through our mind, spirit and body. Knowing this helps us overcome our fear of quietness and silence, we can have peace knowing that when our minds are quiet, we are not losing touch with ourselves.

3. Breathe, you’re alive

For a moment I’d like you to stop reading and simply pay attention to your breath. I’ll wait….As you focus your attention on your breath, you’ll notice that your breath is neither voluntary or involuntary. It is something that you do, but at the same time something that “does you”. When you focus your attention on your breath, you come back into relationship with reality, because like breath, reality is both something you do and something that “does you”. It is co-creative. Practice conscious breathing to bring your mind back to the present.

4. Dream about the future, but work hard today. Dream big. Set goals and plans for the future. But working hard today is always the first step towards realizing your dreams tomorrow. Don’t allow dreaming about tomorrow to replace living in today

 5 Forgive past hurts. If you are harboring resentment towards another human being because of past hurts, choose to forgive and move on. The harm was their fault. But allowing it to impact your mood today is yours

6 Think beyond old solutions to problems. Our world is changing so fast that most of yesterday’s solutions are no longer the right answers today. Don’t get locked into a “but that’s how we’ve always done it” mentality. Yesterday’s solutions are not today’s solutions and they are certainly not tomorrow’s solutions

Never think of the yesterdays. And I never think of the tomorrows. That leaves me just a small moment, the present moment — unburdened, uncluttered, clean, free.

 -0sho-

"