"It's this cloak of time that real spiritual inquiry has to address."
-Adyashanti
The term "Now" is thrown around a lot in spiritual teachings:
"Be in the Now"
"The Power of Now"
"Be Here Now"
"Now is all there ever is"
So what is the Now, and why aren't we there?
The video excerpt below from Adyashanti gives an excellent description, telling us that we are living in our memories and aspirations, we are living in "the repetitive nature of mind." Since we are following all these thoughts, memories, and dreams, we aren't really experiencing what is right here and now. We are experiencing the past, what we remember ourselves to be, the beliefs we've carried all our lives.
Looking through this filter of the past and future, placing the past and future over the present moment, limits the Now to a narrow experience. True meditation is viewing reality as what it is in the moment instead of filtering it through memory or anticipation.
"If there's no memory, who are you without memory?"
So the "goal" would be to view reality without the filter of past and present, without going into an experience with an idea of what will happen or what is going on that is drawn from memory.
"Who are you now, not who were you?"
I thought this video was really clear, One of the better explanations of why we aren't in the Now. I highly recommend giving it a listen as he goes into much better detail and clears a few things up. He's not saying we shouldn't have memory or ideas, but that we shouldn't perceive through memory. As usual, it's difficult to put into words as the language is limited, but I think the concept is still strong.
A few quotes on Now:
“I have one aim only: to impart a fraction of the meaning of the word now.”
― Frederick Salomon Perls
“Our attention is in the moment; we are not afraid of the future or ashamed of the past.”
― José Luis Ruiz
In my experience, I notice at both conscious and subconscious levels I have ideas and beliefs about how things work, who I am, and what is going to happen on a day to day. Having these thoughts, beliefs, and ideas seems to be the opposite of what teachers talk about when they say to let go or surrender.
I think the first thing to do would be to start noticing your thoughts and beliefs. Really examining how you feel about the moment, what you are expecting, and why. Sometimes it's hard to do, sometimes life demands we focus on the task at hand, but over time as we slowly pull apart this view of reality we've held for years, we start being able to operate without our beliefs, to give them up and see what is here without them.
It's an odd experience at first, and one we resist because it is different than normal. There is a fear of letting go, we don't expect to be caught by anything, we think we are the ones keeping everything together by having these beliefs and memories, etc.
But it's a relief to let go, an unburdening.
I hope you get some value out of this video, I really like the way Adya speaks, he usually puts things in a way that challenges you to look for yourself. Rarely does he give a clear answer for you mind to grab, rather he gives practical instructions so you can try for yourself and see what the practice would mean to you.
Let me know if you want to see more of these posts, I've found a lot of help by watching youtube videos of different teachers since I haven't been able to attend a retreat lately, and am always willing to share my perspective. Let me know what you think in the comments!
@jakeybrown