Here and Now!

It’s been since infancy, we have been listening to this doctrine, “live for today, not tomorrow”. Does this doctrine actually allows us to worry for anything that is going to happen before 12 Midnight, and does not allow to worry for anything that is going to happen after 12 Midnight? This micro time transition from post meridian to ante meridian has nothing to do with the biological mind, but might matters for rotation of sun and earth, causing day and night on earth. There is no logic in this or is there a deeper meaning in it? So, in this context, the term “tomorrow” might be referring to the very next moment of consideration. Even, In that case, how can it be possible to not to consider even the very next moment? Even uttering these words is not a momentary / spontaneous action, although it seems to be. Because, thought should first arise in the Brain, and then has to take at least microseconds of time to be manifested as words. This doctrine was not born today, but several centuries before. In fact, this is one of the oldest doctrines. Even during Kurukshetra war, (if at all it happened, or even though it is a parable) the peerless archer Arjuna feels despondent thinking of the future consequences that the war is going to cause. He was not just concerned about the future consequences, but in a way worried about the aftermath of the war. But then, Krishna consoles, and persuades him for the war. It is not the question now, whether Mahabharata was actually happened or not or whether it is just a parable, as it considered by Mahatma Gandhi to be a war in mind between good and bad. Rather, it is to be understood how one of the character, Krishna, who invokes the other character Arjuna to come out of worries, realize his true nature. Worry is always interlinked with inaction and a mere concern about the future always causes action.

This is what sakhyamuni Buddha has always emphasized, that the way of living life is not to lament for the past nor even to worry about the future but to live this very moment wisely. Of course, he is not insisting any one to be reckless. It is not wise to say that one should have sheer worry for the future, or either to be completely negligent or not being aware of the future consequences of the present actions. During, the initial days, before his enlightenment, he had confronted with a situation, where he observed a Musician, tuning the string of a musical instrument and if the strings were too tight, or too slack, the instrument could not produce music, but somewhere in-between the instrument could produce music. It is then Buddha realized, even the way of living life has to be tuned. Because just before this incidence, he had refrained himself from his observance of severe abstinence, eating rice (some say honey) given by a village girl and thus has lost his five disciples. It is not that people who have died for future of others are idiots. Because, indeed they were not worried, but were more considerate.

There is no necessity to be even bothered about everything. Confucius once asked by his disciple, “what will happen after death”? , Confucius replied, “having not understood life, why do you want to know about death. You can think of it, when you are lying in the grave, why to bother and waste time, now?”

After all, we haven’t really understood, yesterday, today and tomorrow nor have we understood past, present or future. In reality, there are only past and future. Present is subtle. If, this moment, this very second, you are living is present, then if this second is divided, the first half will become present and the second half will become future. And further if you divide, the first half second, further it goes. Nor even the microsecond can be called as present. Because zero can only be approximated to a least finite number but can never be equated exactly. It is like sitting at the origin of Cartesian co-ordinate system, and if you look right or forward it is future and if you look backward or left, it is the past. And what is the span of zero? It is hypothetical. That is why people call present as eternity. Any measurement from zero can be past or future, but no measurement will give you the present. It can only be a reference to decide past and present. So, in reality whatever we do saying that we are doing at present moment, is actually done for future. In the Cartesian co-ordinate system, the scale of time division line just moves from right to left as time passes. And now if the scale of division is changed, i.e., if the precision level is increased (imagine each division corresponds to micro and milli seconds) the line of time division will move slower and if the precision level is decreased (now, imagine each division corresponds to years or centuries), then the line of time division will move much faster. So, time exists because of distance. Because of speed of the motion. Some of the physicist even took a step further and declared that time doesn’t exist at all, only distance exists. There is no absolute time, because there is no absolute motion. Since all motions are relative all times are relative. Even if you stand at some corner of the universe, even then it is relative. Because even there, you need to look at other part of the universe for reference, to decide your time. This is what the genius of the century Albert Einstein postulated, that time and spaces are not separate entities, but are interlinked. They are interlinked in such a way, that there is always togetherness, when they exist. Just like electricity and magnetism, which are not two separate entities, although they seem like, but the manifestation of one another, to become electromagnetism. So, they are not Space and time but Spacetime. Hence, no matter whichever is created first in the mind, the other will exist automatically. And it is only this moment that is guaranteed. Because we you are already in it. Thus, when I say I’ll realize myself tomorrow, I have created a time gap, and hence an apparent distance, a distance that really never existed earlier, and same way when I say, I seek happiness, or truth or light, I have created a gap of distance and hence time as well. And this gap will never become zero, because wherever I go, I carry the same mind, hence the same distance and time maintained, until I become part of the eternity, until I become a witness for the very moment and until I realize and experience it right here and right now.