On a retreat, Christopher offers an invitation to a participant to sit next to him at the front in the Dharma Hall to engage in a Dharma Inquiry. A single inquiry may last for a few minutes or up to an hour or more. These periods of inquiry contribute to insight and awakening for one and all in the Dharma Hall. Hundreds of these Dharma inquiries have been recorded over the years. …
From a Participant in our MTTC (Mindfulness Teacher Training Course).
Dear Christopher,
Thank you for your reflections on past, present and future.
I picked up the word ‘Now’ during your latest talk.
I was wondering if you were referring to Eckhard Tolle, who always speaks of the present in terms of this is the only realm that is.
The past is gone and can’t be changed, the future is not here yet and will never be. The only ‘time’ to change is the NOW referring to the present.
All that is, is what we are now taking in the past as something that has formed us in a way as a river that gave shape to the valley it runs through.
At the same time is the present giving us the opportunity to flourish freshly every day, making every day brand new. Taking this into account life’s wonderful.
Although it might sound naive but doesn’t that exclude planning the future?
Love,
PS: Tomorrow morning session I have to leave by 9.45 o’clock.
Dear …
Thanks for message. Ah I see you planned the future in terms of ending your time in the session at 9.45 am. Thank you for letting me know.
The language of the Now includes:
Buddhist texts have here and now in them – a translation bearing no relationship to the Sanskrit or the Pali. The original Pali is ditthe-dhamme – literally, the view of something, past, present or furure.
This language of the glorification of the here and now has been in use for centuries. It is unhelpful.
The Now means experiencing a variety of sensations through the five senses and mental activities. These sensations depend upon the causes and conditions arising in the near and far past.
Being in the now, being absorbed in the now, can generate a blind spot to the evolution of life, to becoming, to vision and outcome/consequences of past/present and future.
I regard being stuck in the Now as a cage, small and contracted. We can stand back and witness what goes in the present as well as be absorbed in the present in healthy ways.
Some believers have become Nowists claiming the past and future is in the present. Who can show the past and future in the present?
Some believers have become Nowists claiming the past and future is not in the present. Who can show in the present what is not related to the past and not related to the future.
Liberation remains unbound to past, present and future. Liberation does not depend on frequent to exposure to sensations through the senses of the Now.
The use of capital letters for the Now do not make the here and now substantial, nor cut ot off from past and future. The Now cannot stand with a unique, independent self-existence unrelated to past and future.
I cannot perceive a perpetually wonderful Now.
An awakened life requires no sensations for its confirmation. The now is an inseparable feature in the middle of the three fields of time – past, present and future.
I trust this is helpful.
Love
Christopher
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We need to explore our potential for transcendence. We are not bound to the finite.
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