How Does One Live in the 'Here and Now'? Is it Conceptual or a Practical Philosophy Question?
The importance of living in the 'here and now' is one emphasised by many authors. One author, Ken Keyes, in, 'Handbook of Higher Consciousness: The Science of Happiness', states,
'If you are not enjoying every here and now moment in life, it is because your addictions (otherwise known as desires, attachments, demands, expectations, emotional programming, models of how life should treat you) are making you dwell in the dead past or the imagined future. They are keeping you from being here and now. All there is in life is the eternal now moment- and the experience of the moment is created by the programming in your head'.
I am writing this thread because I struggle with the 'here and now', especially fearing the future. On the other hand, I know that I need to think about the future, rather than simply pleasure in the moment. I see it as a difficult juggling act. What do you think and how do you manage ruminating on the past or fears about the future? What exactly is the 'now', as it is a slice of time between past and future?
'If you are not enjoying every here and now moment in life, it is because your addictions (otherwise known as desires, attachments, demands, expectations, emotional programming, models of how life should treat you) are making you dwell in the dead past or the imagined future. They are keeping you from being here and now. All there is in life is the eternal now moment- and the experience of the moment is created by the programming in your head'.
I am writing this thread because I struggle with the 'here and now', especially fearing the future. On the other hand, I know that I need to think about the future, rather than simply pleasure in the moment. I see it as a difficult juggling act. What do you think and how do you manage ruminating on the past or fears about the future? What exactly is the 'now', as it is a slice of time between past and future?
Comments (53)
But I do see it as a difficult aspect of life experience, although I am aware that it may be dismissed by those who come from the academic pursuit of philosophy. In that respect, I am not sure if the linguistic concept of the 'now is to be regarded or disregarded. Nevertheless, meaning and idea are conceptualized both in time present and past, as well in the momentary aspects of thinking. So, what is the significance of the 'now' in philosophy, especially as a thinker looks back on the history of philosophy, and the future? I am not sure to what extent it is a practical experience, a psychological issue or conceptual issue in understanding. I see it as an area for contemplation but what do you think?
It could be seen that way, but if analytical aspects of philosophy are viewed above experience, including the sensory, philosophy could be seen as obscure and irrelevant to life.
I don't know you, but I know of many others like you. For most people this "fear of the future" is ultimately the fear of death. Which is natural. Understandable. The hallmark of an intelligent mind well aware of one's self and place in the universe. Or is it? Try skydiving. Or even a trip to the coaster. It might open your eyes.
For many, "the here and now" is simply living an unexamined life guided by impulse and animalistic primal desire. The lowest levels of, not just human, but any living beings, experience or perception. It's important to have a balance. If you have children one day, for example. They are inexperienced and not able to understand quite literally anything but "the here and now." This in some ways makes some people's belief that the "here and now" is "all there is" a trap that they are trapped in and, whether intentionally or unintentional, only exist to trap others in. People who never grow up. People who never realize there's more to reality than what they're able to currently experience. Not unlike a person in a wheelchair, except their handicap is, not just mental, but spiritual even, Almost? Eh, just my take on the matter. Good luck in whatever it is you do.
Being trapped within the dead past and imagined future are of a piece with being stuck within the punctual now. The problems you list dont come from privileging the past or future over the immediate present, but from splitting these three dimensions of time off from each other. We can never experience a pure in-itself present. That would make all experience vanish. Imagine trying to enjoy a piece of music without thr ability to retain the prior note in mind while listening to the presently appearing note. The meaning of the music as music would disappear. Imagine reading these sentences without anticipating into the next letter and word. What we call the now gets its sense and meaning by retaining the just past and anticipating into the future. These three dimensions all belong to the same now. It is when we treat our past, future or present in a refied and isolating way rather than as belonging to a continuous creative flow that we run the risk of reducing our experience to meaninglessness.
I wouldn't say obscure or irrelevant, but one should do also other things in life than analytic philosophy, in order to be healthy and enjoy life.
Quoting Joshs
:100:
Joshs is right in saying that were we to literally abandon all expectation and memory, we would in effect be unconscious, as consciousness is inextricably intertwined with memory and expectation. But I don't think those spiritual admonitions should be interpreted that way. I think they're referring to a state of rapture in which all sense of time drops away, and we see 'eternity in an hour' as William Blake put it. As to 'attaining' such a state of being - I think it's a practical impossibility to consciously engineer such a state, although it can be sought in a variety of ways. I think, maybe, mountaineers and climbers experience such states through total absorption in the moment (and coming to think of it, this is the meaning of flow states, described by the late psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (trying to pronounce that name might produce a flow state.)) Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now is specfically about it.
I spent an evening with Richard Alpert, aka Ram Dass, at St. Catherine's College quite a few years ago @Wayfarer. It was lovely. Listening to something wonderful by Schubert, or biking in Wisconsin in perfect fall weather; or reading a really great book about how the continent of North America was put together have all been splendid. When one is doing something very enjoyable and worthwhile, one wants to "pay attention" or be present in that experience.
As far as the past goes, William Faulkner was right: "The past is never dead. It's not even past". (I haven't read the book where he wrote that. That's OK. It's still true.) That said, perseverating over past events doesn't help the present or the future. "Don't worry about the future" has always struck me as bad advice. True, the troubles of today are sufficient unto themselves, per Jesus, but there is no point in making tomorrow worse by what we are doing in the present moment--per Bitter Crank. So do worry about tomorrow at least a little, please.
NOW is always a juggling act with the past and future. How big is it? The "now" of my brain is a few minutes long, maybe. The "now" of geology lasts for centuries. The "now" of history is slow and spacious, until it suddenly switches to dizzying speeds. The "now" of a pop song on a 45 rpm record used to be about 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
Jack, I spent many years in the unpleasant present you seem to be occupying. Like you are doing, one endures; one questions why; one wishes life would be better. And periodically life does get better, at least for a time. Unfortunately, and it really is unfortunate, life just isn't organized around our being happy.
To my view, there is no qualitative emotional difference between the past, future and the present. That is fears of the future could in another's hands, be joyful anticipation. Basically the past is (incompletely) known, the future is unknown (but can be predicted with some accuracy) and the present is experienced in Real Time.
A healthy strategy would be to acknowledge that the past can't be changed, but it can be examined for clues and cues from which to understand current and predict future events. Knowing the future is a Superpower of considerable value and anyone possessing even an imperfect version of it, would likely be on the road to current success and would probably view the future positively.
But what it means can be changed - by what you do next.
It is hard to know how much is about splitting the past and future, or how much is holding on to the consequences of what has happened and likely occurrences in the future. It may be possible to switch this off, but awareness of the past casts a shadow, especially on mood. For example, if I had a bad day it may effect me for some future days. If I had some disagreement with someone it will have to be faced. If I have spent too much money one day I am likely to run short later.
Some consequences which have to be faced are trivial and some serious. If one commits a crime it may have effects which cannot be forgotten for one's entire life.
As for thoughts and worries about the future, some may be futile anxieties and others may be real obstacles to be faced. Distinguishing between them is not always easy. If I think back 10 years some of the things which I feared happening did and some didn't. It involves uncertainty and trying to plan ahead. But so much worry about imagined events can spoil quality of life in the present if the fears are of an intrusive nature. Slicing them out, like the memories of the past is difficult because the slicing of past and future is not as simple as the hour, day and month, as these roll together.
I haven't read the book the book by Ram Dass but maybe the album 'Be Here Now', by Oasis was named after it (the album was released on a critical day, as it was the day Lady Diana died in a car crash).
As for blotting out memories of the past, one way this occurs is as a side-effect of ECT, but such memory loss is not always appreciated by individuals. This is some kind of induced unconsciousness.
Blake's idea of seeing 'eternity in an hour' is important because it is about focusing on the moment, especially in states of rapture. At times I felt able to achieve this, but only temporarily, falling back into rumination on memories and anxieties of what may happen. Similarly, one interpretation of Christ's idea of 'eternal life' involves attunment with a sense of eternity, rather than the idea of eternal life being about living forever. This interpretation would involve focus upon living life as best as one can rather than constant excessive worry.
In some ways, the idea of living in the moment is a best-selling idea because many would like to do so but cannot.
Part of the problem is that the present isn't always great. Even when content, that may have been achieved by a some underlying memories. The difficulty can be shuffling the pleasant from the unpleasant effectively. Also, thoughts of the future involve dreams and ambitions, so a certain amount of thought about the future is often what gives a glimpse of future light.
Yes, I am writing this thread because I am not completely happy on a day to day basis and get anxious about what will happen next. I often wake up with anxieties and it is often that I have been awake in the night worrying too. On the other hand, when there is a bad situation, I often joke and say, 'Let's wait and see what next', with some underlying awareness of everything being transient.
Also, awareness of the past is meant to be a basis for understanding and thinking about the present and choices. The problem is that learning from mistakes doesn't always occur. This is on a personal level and wider scale. In particular, I have always seen the study of history as important about striving to do things differently but humanity doesn't always learn from lessons of the past.
Quoting Jack Cummins
When one talks about experiencing the past or the future , one emphasizes a certain style of approach , a certain mood or attitude. I am pre-occupied rather than just being occupied with my future. I am dwelling on rather than flowing though the past. I suggest what characterizes these experiences as negative dwelling on and pre-occupation isnt their temporal position as past or future but the way we move through recollection or anticipation. Since I hold to the view that recollection is a constructive activity, I dont give it lesser status in relation to the supposed freshness of the now. Recollection is essential to imagination and thus creative thought. As far as anticipating into the future , this also depends in part both on recollection and experience of the present. If we stare into a night sky and let our mind drift off into vast futures , it can give us a sense of profundity peace view of breadth of perspective. It can make the problems of the now fade into insignificance.
How can it do this if it is not keeping us within the now?
Because the now is the flow of nows, and this flow is always characterized by a style, an attitude, a mood. It doesnt matter whether this mood is generated from a reflection on a long ago event , an event far off in the future or one occurring right this moment. What matters is how we are understanding the flow of events to unfold one out of the previous. Are they harmoniously intercorrelated one with the next so as to make some kind of referential sense to us, or are they a puzzle to us , a chaos of unpredictability and alienation? This is what determines ether our experience of the now is enjoyable or miserable and isolating.
There are times when we feel stuck in our thinking and our feeling, for instance when we are depressed, and typically this stuckneas is inescapable regardless of whether we dwell in memories , focus on the present or imagine into the future. What is often needed to snap us out of this depression is to create a fresh meaningful way forward. Being in the moment isnt enough. Its HOW we are being in the moment. This can be accomplished from out of any of the three temporal modes , but will ultimately involve all three. I rethink my past in relation to a changed present(sometimes just rethinking the past will change ones present) , which anticipates freshly into the future.
Or one could say keeping ones present from becoming a stale, stuck recycling of habits of thought involves dipping into the future in order to reinvent ones past.
Fear in the future comes from the bad experience in the past. Bad experience comes from bad people. Forgiving is forgetting. If you manage to forgive the past, then you can live in the present and open your arms to what the future brings to you.
Imagination is an important factor in navigating the processes of flow. One suggestion which I have come across by a few authors is that of living one's day as if it was one's last. I find this fairly helpful, although I don't really do everything exactly as if was my last, but as an imaginary frame. For example, I am able to do that to some extent today by trying to enjoy it as much as possible. That is because I know that I am not going to be able to pursue the issues which I am worried about as it is weekend and the people I need to speak with are not working. I am focusing on the moment by sensory appreciation, especially listening to music. Such moments prepare mindset for coping with whatever happens. There is also a sense of being able to transmute the darkness, or negatively into a transformative way of creativity.
With recollection, I have found generally that thinking of how previous break situations often turned out. There was painful experience to cope with but some kind of way through. I also find that a certain amount of gratefulness for the positives in any situation as important in some faith that a way forward can be found when I am becoming preoccupied with fear about the future.
I am not sure that it as simple as, 'Bad experience comes from bad people'. There is some way in which the way we experience unpleasant behaviour from others is a factor. The first time I went out and got drunk was because someone had really upset me in a conversation. However, I know that in many instances that it is not just others who lead me into difficulties.
I am my own worst enemy sometimes, with an internal saboteur that leads to inner and outer chaos. So, forgiving myself is important too. This can be harder than forgiving others, although forgiveness of oneself and others are interconnected. I often get angry with myself and this doesn't help in the processing of the past and the flow of life into future mental states and action. It involves embracing a spirit of compassion, which begins with self-compassion.
[quote=Spinoza]Sub specie aeternitatis[/quote]
[quote=Albert Einstein]People like us who believe in physics know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.[/quote]
I.e. Suppose we exist in a Growing Block Universe...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growing_block_universe
"Imagine a film reel. As you watch the movie, you can only experience each frame of the movie as it happens. However, if you go to the projector and pop out the reel, you can see that each frame exists all at once on the reel. The 'past, present, and future' of the movie exists all at once and the way that we watch the movie is the illusion."
But I prefer Freddy Zarathustra's anti-anxiety remedy ...
[quote=The Gay Science, s341]This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence - even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust![/quote]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return
In other words, Jack, fully accepting your past wishing to relive both your good and bad experiences can be your future; hope for that more than anything else.
:death: :flower:
The block universe may be true. It does also seem that we relive so much of the past and it does take a lot of processing to reach some acceptance. That's why some people go for therapy. I do find a certain amount of journaling useful. At first, I found that my entries were extremely negative but now I try to incorporate thoughts about the future as well as the past. Being aware of the ups and downs is important. The Hindus invented the game of snakes and ladders based on this.
It is surely only an act* of imagination to suppose one is ever any-when-or-where else.
*act as in 'performance'.
Here and now is where/when we dream of a future as a replay of the past - only better, with hindsight.
*Every performance is live; even the replay of a recording is live, only it is unresponsive to the audience
Yeah, that's well said. :up:
Quoting Wayfarer
:lol:
Exactly, very few get beyond the emotional component elicited by reviewing their past in order to access the learning points from those past events in order to develop the ability through pattern recognition, to predict (with a certain, imperfect degree of accuracy) how individuals and groups will respond to future situations. Thereby creating opportunities to position oneself to benefit from those events. Ultimately, creating a situation whereby the future attains the status of providing opportunities to exploit in order to further one's goals. A positive outlook.
I understand what you are trying to say. Life could be very difficult when we are facing challenges. The challenges are due to others or ourselves. I had a very difficult period in my life, too, and I fought the best I could. I still feel evil thoughts and intentions even now, which I am sure are not due to me, and I can handle them easily now. So, I think, everything for you is a matter of time. Once you reach a level where you are sure that you can control everything on a personal level, then you can manage your life better.
This "Science of Happiness" seems like a petty book written by an ignorant author who cannot understand that they simply hate who they are... Like Paul Ree.
1st: All production within the body is product of our desire.
2nd: Happiness is achieved as a byproduct from overcoming that which prevents us from achieving our desires.
3rd: Killing off ones desires causes a low strength of will, as the drives at the summit of ones rank ordering of drives have that many less desires to overcome. Thus they're not very strong desires.
4th: There is no right or wrong action in the gateway of this moment even if it be looking back or looking forward. Not doing either or would be a folly, and only Fortune's fool would benefit from such a life style.
5th: We can always step back and not make it a chronic habit to stagnate and languish in the past or be anxious over our future. And although aiming at a goal is often ineffective, as @Outlander points out in a recent shoutbox comment. One can still aim at the future by DOING in the here and now. Find something you enjoy doing, throw yourself into it, and build a habit into the muscle memory. Whether or not you're recognized in life, posthumously, or never at all, well, so be it. But there's no harm in aspiring to be something you're not currently. Transfigure suffering through sublation into a higher affirmation of life, where the very negation becomes the motor of creation.
Each person has a world beneath, so-called the subconscious mind. I would say that most of our emotions are rooted in the subconscious mind, since the conscious mind, although in charge of controlling things, is very simple.
Philosophy often looks at the problem of consciousness, but the idea of the subconscious may get overlooked. It involves layers of memories and conditioned programmes. The subconscious may manifest itself in so many ways, dreams or unexpected conscious experiences. The intricate relationship between subjective experiences, memory and time may be an essential aspect of juggling the here and now with wider, expansive understanding of life and how 'reality' becomes manifest in lived experiences.
Correct.
I do agree about the importance of taking care of another in the here and now. If anything, I see this being more problematic as people live in the virtual online simulated realities, cut off from the raw and ready experiences of others' suffering in the 'here and 'now' of face to face interaction.
Perhaps the state of civilization in the present era is not 'here' at all, and is completely oblivious to the 'now'. This is a question for a good judge. Is the state of civilization presently lost? It doesn't seem to be going anywhere apart from what is accepted as an unavoidable extinction, without, and this is the accepted cure, populating another planet.
Yes, live in the 'here and now', but that's a tough life if what I suggest is correct, and that the state of civilization currently is lost. You have a major abstraction and enmity that works against such a lifestyle. I don't agree civilization was meant to be this way. I don't believe we don't have a choice.
My moral argument is that the abstraction of 'here and now' is bad, and potentially evil. I am saying pack up the cars. I am saying stop the rushed farming practices. I am saying we need to fix the system if we are to at all live in the 'here and now.' This is not a question of what system, this is the matter for a good judge--- one who can judge whether humans are living goodly or badly, or evily, given the objective is to survive and to enjoy.
Living in the 'here and now' at present seems a lot like getting a job, working til your 70, buying food, drink and booze and going on holiday. It's not much of a life. The enjoyment of 'here and now' is surely much lesser than what it could be. As opposed to a pure 'here and now', which seems far more bright, where we build things to aid us in survival and enjoyment, far better than where those cars are going or where the job centers are taking us.
You may have a point of how the idea of the 'here and now' may be translated in.practical terms, such as 'get a job'. It can become a philosophy of supporting the status quo, and trying to fit into established repertoires of mundane routines.
I am certainly not trying to reinforce ideas of fitting into the established rebertoires. It may be, alternatively, that the 'here and now'involves aspects of rebellion.
The 'stillness' of the 'here and now' may be about pure reflective moments of consciousness. Going beyond that is another question and where the 'here and now' leads to on a moral basis, other than the ongoing conflicts of juggling differing agendas of importance in values.
Yeah, both descriptors are reasonable. But regardless of which one we choose (or even a third one), basically you get out of life what you put in. Thus in my experience, it's totally worth the effort to maximize one's chance of thriving in the future, which after all is where we're all going to be for the rest of our lives.
Verbal diarrhoea?
It has taken me several years to control the evils that I have encountered. My depression, which was unbearable for several years, is under control. Evil thoughts are less frequent and they are not as dense and persistent as past. I am doing well with my subconscious mind right now. As a result, I am more creative compared to the past. So, yes, we can manage the hard situation. I am, however, not sure how to divert evils to something useful for me and others. Do you know how to do that?
What is the 'tyrant' within, or the internal saboteur? Is it metaphysical and hoe does it come into play in the dynamics of the moment, as in conjunction with the larger the scale picture of what constitutes 'time' and the idea of 'the eternal', or unchanging?
Humans have a wide range of instincts. Left unchecked many of these more aggressive instincts could destroy you like the scorpion that stings itselfrecklessness, violence, generalized hostility, pride, domination etc. Though to be certain so too can many of the "selfless" instincts, by giving too much of you away such that you have nothing.
Let's put that aside for a moment, because I want to bring up a point... men like Hobbes, Rousseau, and Locke, have it all wrong. There is no individual before society. Society crestes the individuals. There is no such thing as self-contained individual who come together to form society. Humans always have been social animals.
Organized society/the state doesn't start out with the conception or aim to supress the individual because there simply aren't any individuals. A state produces herd mentality from the get go, humans who can live together, coordinate, and share values and practices. We are not born with fully original drives, but rather we learn them socially. When the bonds of society come into conflict with each other, they begin to disintegrate, this is when individuals become possible through inheriting contradictory impulses, judgements, and experiences that were once coherent in the larger social body. This could be due to various reasons, like witnessing something from another culture/society/nation that seems profound to you, books from other cultures, though also there could be an inclination born of strength, something like skepticism that keeps you from fully integrated within society... these days there is so much "bleeding" through the boundaries with technology this is why some nations attempt to put up a national filter on certain technologies that requires a VPN to bypass. This is why many Americans want that border wall so badly for example to stop the "corruption" that occurs from this culture "bleed through."
Since no culture is really pure-bred anymore we begin to see more and more individuals appearimg on the stage with a variety of values that come from all over the world. But this process of differentiation is a painful process, it creates a certain style of suffering within the individual through the internalized conflict. One either attempts to integrate back into societ and quiet the war within, or one takes to the task of reorganizing and reassimilating to their new individual drives. One who loves freedom, is a warrior. Freedom is the will to be responsible for our "idios." To be ready and willing to sacrifice ones self for one's "idios." Even at the expense of happiness.
What I mean by the tyrant within are those inexorable and terrible instincts of an individual which challenges the authority of the state/society through their own great discipline. The tyrant, although terrible, like the uncouth barbarian, reigns in their most destructive instincts.
As to the "eternal" consider this passage from Julian Jaynes book on the origin of consciousness, which details this Tyrant within across different ages:
Speaking from my own experience with this tyramt within, the most effed up part about it all is that the free man, in the here and now, is always a few steps shy of being possessed by this tyrant within. One wars against the tyrant within from allowing it to take completely control, but utilizes him to control and organize the chaos within. In this way, we always are our own worst enemy. But these are the very instincts which creates a warrior, and molds and shapes the free individual. How does this free individual fight what he loves and what he hates (the tyrant)? By accepting all of who he is, in all of his beauty and in all of his horror, by overcoming one's self in their opposite...
I suppose that's enough to answer your question, at least from my perspective.
I think we need to understand why the subconscious mind could be so cruel in some individuals. It is partly genetic and partly due to the bad treatment of the conscious mind. We cannot fix the first part, yet we can suppress it according to the leatreatures. For the second part, we need to understand the trouble we have caused to the subconscious mind, trying to heal it.
I do see your interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy, especially the idea of 'eternal recurrence' as being helpful in contemplating living in the 'here and now'. His original thinking was of a literal ongoing process of cycles, whereas he later viewed the idea as being more symbolic.
What may have been problematic in the interpretation of Nietzsche is how so much has focused upon his thinking as a critique of Christianity. It was so to a large extent, but it was not just a foundations for nihilism and absence of meaning. If anything, it was a foundation of 'transvaluation of values'. This involves the path of individuation and Zarathrustra's quest could be seen in that context. This, especially in relation to the idea of 'eternal recurrence' can be viewed about framing and creating meaning in the moment.
Although he critiqued Christianity, one of the lesser understood aspects of Nietzsche's philosophy is that he was a bit of a "fan" of the primative Christianity of Christ, prior to the church and the disciples take. In fact Nietzsche subsumes the framework of Christ into the detaila of his noble time. Not the teachings of Christ but the way he operated. We can see from AC 33 and 39 what he subsumes from Christ's framework. Which allows for one to "feel blessed," in the moment.
I think most people naturally accept their mortality and don't fear it. But what they do fear is poverty, infirmity, and living a life that is merely endured and tolerated. There is a strong taboo in our culture about these themes.
This strikes me as a psychological issue, or perhaps a personal philosophy of life issue. I question whether you'll find the sort of peace you seem to be seeking, by pursuing it from more generalized philosophy. You might consider asking others how they deal with the sorts of issue that you struggle with. Maybe something will click for you.
I think "to be now". Means to be aware of what you are doing currently mentally. Or to be acutely aware of your direct environment. But in any of these cases I think it's often important that you are alternating between these states of awareness. As to not forget where your attention is. (Which is what the salience network helps with , so I have heard).
But there's also your body. Which is always here and now. Your thinking, even if it is about the future happens here and now. You can be highly aware of potential future related thoughts and objects of awareness in the now. So since your attention can seemingly be elsewhere. Your body isn't. So in meditation circles they seem to define you as your attention or most intense awareness.
I would ask. Is it really a problem that your thinking about the past or the future? When thoughts about the future or past arise. They are an opportunity to analyze them. To revisit them and learn from them.
You could interpret your thoughts as an automatic mechanism. It brings up thoughts that are true or false. When memories arise they can be dug for knowledge. They shouldn't just come and go necessarily.