living in the present
There are wonderful lessons about living in the
present and worth our attention. And yet, if you don't
plant the seeds to grow in the spring, you will go hungry
as well as those you love. Living in the present should
come later (or a little along the way) when you are covered
for food, clothing, shelter, and medical care for yourself
and those whom you love to care for.
I once sat in a room with a Swami and a few followers
when that question was raised by an attendee. How
can I travel if I don't plan ahead? The Swami was saying,
well, sometimes you have to do it. My comment was,
if you want to live only in the present, you will have to find
someone else to dothe planning for you,
which is what that particular
Swami did for his travels.
So, it looks like, if you are a spiritual tutor, you offer
your presense for a price. Have I got that right?
I have found, in the face of great emotional pain, living
totally and gratefully in the present set me free of 'the
pain'. But it did not make working easier, and in fact,
it made anything but menial labor almost impossible.
So be aware of the prophet or teacher who tells you to
live in the present. I once heard a opening address by
a spiritual teacher at the Calif. Assoc. of Marriage
and Family Counselors. He said, " if you ask a person
to live in the present, you are asking them to be willing
to die"
present and worth our attention. And yet, if you don't
plant the seeds to grow in the spring, you will go hungry
as well as those you love. Living in the present should
come later (or a little along the way) when you are covered
for food, clothing, shelter, and medical care for yourself
and those whom you love to care for.
I once sat in a room with a Swami and a few followers
when that question was raised by an attendee. How
can I travel if I don't plan ahead? The Swami was saying,
well, sometimes you have to do it. My comment was,
if you want to live only in the present, you will have to find
someone else to dothe planning for you,
which is what that particular
Swami did for his travels.
So, it looks like, if you are a spiritual tutor, you offer
your presense for a price. Have I got that right?
I have found, in the face of great emotional pain, living
totally and gratefully in the present set me free of 'the
pain'. But it did not make working easier, and in fact,
it made anything but menial labor almost impossible.
So be aware of the prophet or teacher who tells you to
live in the present. I once heard a opening address by
a spiritual teacher at the Calif. Assoc. of Marriage
and Family Counselors. He said, " if you ask a person
to live in the present, you are asking them to be willing
to die"
posted by corewell at 1:20 PM
2 Comments:
I am a spiritual traveler and one of the things fellow travellers tell me is that I need to learn to live in the present in order to gain true happiness. I have always been confused about that because I know that I need to plan for the future. It's easier to give-up the past, but I feel that the future is something I can't ignore. I would like, after all, to always have a roof over my head and food in my belly.
In this moment, the wheel is turning. I think there's a difference between planning now and leaving tomorrow in God's hands, and planning because one is attached to tomorrow as though we already live there. The latter is unhealthy attachment.
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