Friday, June 12, 2009

The Present

We are beings of both material and spiritual make.
And although we are especially aware of our material existence, quite often we forget, or are not aware, of our spiritual being.

Our spirit, soul, mind, call it what you will, is a construct in time.
As our body is a structure in the three dimensional physical space.

We live our lives in the illusion of a concomitant existence, but the reality is that we manifest our existence only in the here and now.
You can not eat the meal of yesterday and you can not spend the money of tomorrow.
We can not be in two places or two times simultaneously :)

Yet so many of us are spending our spiritual existence in the past feeding our souls with leftovers of the past experiences until there is nothing left to nourish us.
Or even worse; live our life in the future, always window shopping but actually never getting to enjoy the real experience.
Always craving but never quenching the hunger.

So this is the gift the gods have given us and I would like to remind you about it:

12 comments:

Diego said...

What you say is very much in line with a concept the Portuguese call saudade, which can't really be translated but essentially, it means we can't kill the past and we cannot command the future.

Unknown said...

Boy, I really like this singer Cesaria Evora and she has this amazing song "saudade"
My Portuguese is really bad but now I get it :)- a little bit better ;)
Thank you!

Damien said...

I try to stay in the moment. I know I can do that. The future can be frightening, the pat can be depressing. The truth is, the present is all of it and I can handle it :)

TALON said...

To be fully present in the present is something I strive for...

Ted Bagley said...

Comparing a present with a gift comes to mind.

Grampa Ken said...

Lots of wise quotes on this important life topic. My favorites:

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

"No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, then enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated of it." - Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1878)

Flight said...

"You can not eat the meal of yesterday"
Pizza is great the next day (sometimes even better)

"and you can not spend the money of tomorrow."
The "nice" people at MasterCard beg to differ.

We can not be in two places or two times simultaneously"
I'm filling out invoices and commenting on your blog at the same time .

:-)

I get what you mean 'I'm just being a smart ass.

Chatty Crone said...

Loved that.

Brigit said...

I think the key is to live the present from a perspective of gratitude. The present can still hold a lot of turmoil if you can't do that.

Unknown said...

@ Damien – I know you and you are one of the most focused people I know.

@ Talon – A 50 % would do it for me :)

@ Molly – Thank you!

@ Ted – The present is the present ;)

@ Granpa – Very nice comment.
Right on the money!

@ Flight – LOL – I love smart asses because I love myself ;)

@ Catty – Thank you so much!

@ Brigit – The present can be nasty some time but you can do something about it.
There is not much you can do about the past and the only thing you can do about the future is in the present :)

elderyogini said...

Budda,

Thanks for sending me this lovely present which was the first I opened this morning. It will resonate for a long long time.

Would you mind a reprint on my blog?

Will try to find Cesaria Evora's "saudade" on Blip.fm or Pandora!

I loved everyone's comments too- thanks all for adding to the gift. The cold pizza is a great teaching image.

Unknown said...

@ Laughinyogini - Everybody is welcome to reprint my posts or link to my blog as long I get the credit for the work :)
I am absolutely lucky to have such wonderful and intelligent friends.
The comments are just getting better and better every day :)