Whether it is spiritual teachers or motivational speakers, we are constantly being urged to live in the present moment, to tear our minds away from the past and the future into being in the now, if we want to be happy and have peace of mind. So significant is present moment thinking that Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual teacher and best-selling author, has devoted an entire book, ‘The Power of Now’, to this subject. In his New York Times bestselling book, Tolle says “The more you are able to honour and accept the Now, the more you are free of pain, of suffering and of the egoic mind.” He explains that “What you think of as the past is a memory trace…the future is imagined…past and present have no reality of their own.”
If you notice your own thinking, you will realise that your mind is constantly fluctuating between what happened last week or last month or even a few years ago, or then it moves into thinking of what is to come, whether it is next week or next month or five years from now, with “what if” thoughts. And invariably what this sort of thinking does to us is to make us anxious, fearful and worried, because it reminds us of something unpleasant from the past, or then brings forth an imaginary scenario from the future which is more often than not negative and pessimistic.
The question we need to ask ourselves is how does this past and future thinking serve us? Does it make us feel happy and peaceful? Is it based on fact and reality? Is it necessary to think in this way? If you are honest with yourselves, you will answer “No” to all these questions. If it doesn’t benefit us in any way, then why exactly do we do it? The reality is that past or future thinking is completely unnecessary and full of pain and suffering and we can quite easily live without it. This sort of thinking is coming from our egoic mind and has just become a bad habit.
The happiest and most peaceful way to live is to focus on what is happening around you at this very moment. Give your full attention to what you are reading or writing, look deeply at the trees and the flowers when you are walking outside, and if you are watching television, give your full attention to the show that is on. This is what being in the present moment is all about, being fully absorbed in your task, giving your full attention to what is happening here and now, rather than letting your mind slip into the past which is over, or fast forward into the future which hasn’t happened yet, so any thoughts related to it would simply be your imagination at work.
Meditation is an excellent tool to train the mind to focus on the present. By focusing on your breath or a mantra, you can bring your mind back to centre where you will find peace. Eckhart Tolle suggests that you focus on your inner body to bring your attention back from fearful thoughts of the past and the future. He says: “Become aware of your breathing, feel the air flowing in and out of your body, feel your inner energy field….the key is to be in a state of permanent connectedness with your inner body, to feel it at all times. This will rapidly deepen and transform your life.”