The Future is Now

Buddhist nun Pema Chodron

Coincidentally (or maybe not so coincidentally), I received an email the morning after last week’s post on New Year resolutions with the above-mentioned quote by Buddhist nun Pema Chodron.  I was particularly pleased with how relevant the quote was to the message I am trying to convey regarding our ability to create ourselves moment by moment, experience by experience.

Every moment of our lives we are given a choice:  we have the choice to create ourselves by taking responsibility of our circumstances, and the choice of throwing in the towel and blame our circumstances for our misfortunes.  Most of us are caught up in the every-day rumble , the coming and the going, that we forget what it is like to be in the now.  The now, the only moment ever-present and ever-available to us, is thus replaced by wishful thinking about the future and regret about the past.  I should’ve, could’ve, would’ve… Our lives are dictated by the neurosis of our society lest we put a stop to it.

When you are in the now, there is no room for the past because it is now behind you, nor the present because it does not exist yet.  Take a deep breath, quiet your mind, and realize that there is eternity at your fingertips.

To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour — William Blake.

It is in the now that there is the possibility to realize that the past and the future are constructs devised by the mind to remain in control over its environment.  The thing is that half (maybe even 99.9%) of our thoughts are dictated by belief systems that we have acquired throughout our lives; these beliefs are in turn based on experiences that occurred to us during the development of our personality or ego.  These beliefs, pesky as they might seem in the present moment (i.e. 20 “years” after the belief was first rooted in your consciousness), once held an important role in preserving the continuity of a personality that does not yet understand the grander scheme of the world.  What do I mean?

Lately I have been working on developing my prosperity consciousness and opening myself up to increasing my income.  I’ve had a couple of dreams that allowed me to discover an underlying belief that I hold regarding money: people who are rich have money because they take advantage of others and steal from others.  This belief was of course further encouraged by my culture.  Having grown up in Mexico, where corruption in the government is a normal fact of every day life, and where drug lords wage wars against one another for the sake of money and power,  I subconsciously decided that being financially wealthy is “bad”.  Add to that my own parents’ lack consciousness, messages from society, etc. etc. and you have one nice, solid, belief that money is no bueno. It is only through careful monitoring of my own thoughts and the constant repetition of prosperity affirmations, that I am slowly but surely beginning to change this belief about money, to a focus on the fact that money is of a spiritual nature too, and as such, that money flows in increasing quantities to me.

Growing up, having no rational understanding of money, and taking for granted what I was being taught about the nature of money, I easily accepted said belief.  The belief got me through difficult times in helping me understand my environment.  However, at 26, I have realized this particular belief about money has outlived its usefulness when I found that I deserve financial prosperity and that it is available to me if I so decide.

So come on over to the now, the only “moment” you can ever truly see those beliefs for what they truly are–untruths about our true nature.  Because once you realize that these are just beliefs, untruths, a space opens up to the real truth: that you can create yourself in this very moment.  However, as the saying goes… with great power comes great responsibility, and it is only by taking responsibility to step out of our neurosis that we can access the now where endless possibilities await us.

Challenge for the week:  Practice stopping whatever it is your doing throughout the day, take a couple of deep breaths and surrender to the moment.  Are you in traffic or cursing at the driver in front of you (like is usually my experience)?  What would it feel like to shift your focus to the present moment?

Sat nam ~