Hello Rod and Others, This issue of living in the moment has, in the last couple of weeks, become a very useful tool for me. I'll spare you the gory details, but basically I was guilt-tripping myself about some stuff I did in the past, and was fearful/anxious about stuff in the future. Inner attack-and-defend voices were tearing me apart, destroying any sense of peace. Basically I got "wrapped around the axel" so to speak. 'Nuff said.
As usual, stuff comes to us when we need it, and I read something that spoke to me regarding this issue of living in the moment, "Preoccupation with the past and its projection into the future defeats your aim of present peace. Peace cannot be found in the past or future, only in the present." Living in the present is really only possible with surrender/letting go. The only way I could escape the exhausting attack/defend psychological warfare was to disown my thoughts and emotions enough to become aware of the moment. Every time a negative thought of the past or future came up, I said STOP IT!, and went back to living in the now. The more I focused on living in the now, the more the chattering mind quieted down. Giving me enought breathing space to regain my balance and peace. Ahhh. :-) Regards, David M. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rod Scholl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [Zen] Re: Living in the moment Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 09:14:06 -0700 > > > Mackup writes: > > > hey Rod, how does one live in the moment when ones mind is constantly > > thinking about the future and past? > > > > Hi Mackup. I can't tell if this is an accusation ;> (I tend to start there > when reading posts on this forum :) If so I will answer with a defeated > shrug, "I guess I do it like this". And don't forget that I do it thinking > not noly of the future and the past, I do it while thinking of all sorts of > imagined futures -- even imagined pasts! > > If you meant it more seriously. There are a few ways that work a little for > me -- but nothing very original -- or effective thus far. I don't expect > they'd work for you, necessarily. So I'll save us the boredom. When I asked > a similar question a few weeks back, I received two answers that indicated > "one step at a time" if that's of any use to you. You might find Fudo's > follow-up more instructive. > > My best, > > Rod -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/WwRTUD/SOnJAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
