- Jun 1, 2004
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The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. – The Buddha
When the mind is stilled through the practice of meditation, we are lifted out of time into the eternal present. The body, of course, is still subject to the passage of time. But in a sense, the flickering of the mind is our internal clock. When the mind does not flicker, what is there to measure change? Time simply comes to a stop for us – or, more accurately, we live completely in the present moment. Past and future, after all, exist only in the mind. When the mind stops, there is no past or future. We cannot be resentful, we cannot be guilt-ridden, we cannot build future hopes and desires and fears on past experiences; no energy flows to past or future at all.
Past and future are both contained in every present moment. Whatever we are today is the result of what we have thought, spoken, and done in all the present moments before now – just as what we shall be tomorrow is the result of what we think, say, and do today. The responsibility for both present and future is in our own hands. If we live right today, then tomorrow has to be right.
When the mind is stilled through the practice of meditation, we are lifted out of time into the eternal present. The body, of course, is still subject to the passage of time. But in a sense, the flickering of the mind is our internal clock. When the mind does not flicker, what is there to measure change? Time simply comes to a stop for us – or, more accurately, we live completely in the present moment. Past and future, after all, exist only in the mind. When the mind stops, there is no past or future. We cannot be resentful, we cannot be guilt-ridden, we cannot build future hopes and desires and fears on past experiences; no energy flows to past or future at all.
Past and future are both contained in every present moment. Whatever we are today is the result of what we have thought, spoken, and done in all the present moments before now – just as what we shall be tomorrow is the result of what we think, say, and do today. The responsibility for both present and future is in our own hands. If we live right today, then tomorrow has to be right.
