Being in the NOW is dangerous?

[ThunderBolt]

Hello everyone,

Is it not dangerous to completely forget about the past and to only live in the NOW? suppose you have an appoinment next day, wouldn't completely forgetting about the past would end up in missing it?

 

[Ablaze]

Present moment awareness has nothing to do with suppressing thoughts about the past. No form of Buddhist meditation endorses this view. Rather, one trains the mind to be attentive to the immediate experience, noticing thoughts of the past without being swept away by them.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Hello everyone,

Is it not dangerous to completely forget about the past and to only live in the NOW? suppose you have an appoinment next day, wouldn't completely forgetting about the past would end up in missing it?

It certainly would. Thats why I have the alarm set...right. ....about. .....now!

 

[DeepShadow]

Used properly, mindfulness does not result in this, but there is a danger. The Dark Side of Mindfulness Meditation | Mindful Construct

I try to do mindfulness meditation several times a day, and I've found it very helpful. But if I were trying for it all the time, I agree there might be a danger of escapism.

 

[zenzero]

Friend ThunderBolt,

Being in the NOW is dangerous?

Personal understanding of ZEN is that when the mind is transcended only then one is in the present HERE-NOW and in such a condition there is no more past or future its all in the PRESENT.
It is the mind's nature to THINK and during that thinking the connection of the individual with the universe is lost meaning the individual is no more 'present' , his body may be present and he may be miles away in the heavens speaking with St. Peters likewise when one is in ZEN the individual is PRESENT in totality. He is saidto be HERE-NOW.

The matter is that practitioners of ZEN are practising to be HERE-NOW by ZEN or 'dhyana' and tries to keep expanding that moments of HERE-NOW till one reaches the point where practises are no more required and one is totally at all times in that HERE-NOW which is total enlightenment state.

Love & rgds

 

[Jeff Strehlow]

Hello everyone,

Is it not dangerous to completely forget about the past and to only live in the NOW? suppose you have an appoinment next day, wouldn't completely forgetting about the past would end up in missing it?

Living in the present is a practice that helps one see the impermanent and empty nature of all things in the world. It's not dangerous because even though you live in the present you still remember the past and you still remember what you need to do in the future. You still live life as others: keeping appointments and taking your heart medication.

 

[John Doe]

Hello everyone,

Is it not dangerous to completely forget about the past and to only live in the NOW? suppose you have an appoinment next day, wouldn't completely forgetting about the past would end up in missing it?

The present may include 'thinking about the past' or any other kind of thinking, or no thought.

It is not that thinking and being-here-now are mutually exclusive.

The difference is - if when thinking about the past, or the future, you dissociate - lose awareness of your immediate situation - then you are in ignore-ance.

Resting in no-thought is a kind of oceanic bliss, and has special names of various kinds. This simple absence of thought is idealised and hyped extremely - even to the extent of some 'pundits' considering thought itself a problem.

Be present in your experience, whether thoughtless or thinking, whether in action or stillness. That is zen.

Of course zen masters consider yesterday and tomorrow. They are not brain-dead. What makes them a master is that they are never distracted/dissociated.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Actually, being in the now isn't actually a choice. There is that overwhelming compulsion to extend that, which cannot be extended nor, for that matter, shortened by any means. Try jumping out of "now" anytime. Can't be done. ;0)

 

[zenzero]

Friend Nowhere Man,

Actually, being in the now isn't actually a choice. There is that overwhelming compulsion to extend that, which cannot be extended nor, for that matter, shortened by any means. Try jumping out of "now" anytime. Can't be done. ;0)

True that Being in the 'NOW' is not a choice; however the monkey mind jumps it all the time. As soon as a thought crosses the mind the NOW is broken and the past/future comes into play.

Efforts are all to keep a watch on those thoughts that takes away that NOW when thoughts loose the game one becomes enlightened till then one remains on the path which in any case evolution is taking care.

Love & rgds

 

[Banjankri]

Hello everyone,

Is it not dangerous to completely forget about the past and to only live in the NOW? suppose you have an appoinment next day, wouldn't completely forgetting about the past would end up in missing it?

If you know that you have an appointment next day, will you have it on your mind for the whole time? No. It will arise spontaneously on it's own, in the present moment, "Ah...I have an appointment tomorrow/today!"

 

[stillsong]

For people like me that have a sometimes off mental reminder, I use the calendar to keep my appointments or a list in my pocket.
Living in the now is only a threat to someone who wants the world to reinforce their own self image. Being in the now requires letting go of preconceptions and hearing the buzz of the computer as just the buzz of the computer.
But it also entails not chasing the stream of thoughts that arise. Ajnd feeling our breath. It is a haven from a world that at times seems very confused.

 

[von bek]

Mindfulness is a wonderful antidote to anxiety. Being forced to face your fears allows you to watch them dissolve and find no being for the fears to accrue to.

 

[stillsong]

Mindfulness is a wonderful antidote to anxiety. Being forced to face your fears allows you to watch them dissolve and find no being for the fears to accrue to.

Von Bek, a gentle agreement to that. Finding the quiet in a movement or the song in silence are ways to experience the extraordinary.

 

[DreadFish]

Mindfulness is a wonderful antidote to anxiety. Being forced to face your fears allows you to watch them dissolve and find no being for the fears to accrue to.

Definitely agree with this. When feeling anxious about something, suddenly realizing that there's not a person who is being subjected to what happens, there's a great release and things just go on like watching the weather. When things aren't happening to anyone, it's much easier to accept them.

 

[von bek]

Definitely agree with this. When feeling anxious about something, suddenly realizing that there's not a person who is being subjected to what happens, there's a great release and things just go on like watching the weather. When things aren't happening to anyone, it's much easier to accept them.

My cat has been really ill the past few months. It has been incredibly stressful for me as I love her deeply and have had her in my life for the past 10 years. Mindfully observing the rise and fall of grief and the physical perceptions conditioned by that same grief has served as a refuge to help me get through this tough time.

 

[von bek]

Mindfully observing the rise and fall of grief and the physical perceptions...

Of course, the perceptions themselves are mental. What I mean are the perceptions arising from the contact of the internal and the external sense-bases.

 

[stillsong]

Pets can be part of our lives in the same way people are. von bek, admire your use of mindfulness as a refuge. That is what I think the phrase, "I will take refuge in the Buddha means." The Buddha would not have us deify him, but rather point the way to the awakening.
At what stage is your cat now? My heartfelt best wishes.

 

[Secret Chief]

Hello everyone,

Is it not dangerous to completely forget about the past and to only live in the NOW? suppose you have an appoinment next day, wouldn't completely forgetting about the past would end up in missing it?

Hi,

Buddhism does not suggest this. The wiping of the past can occur, unfortunately. That is dementia.