There is only the present. Smell it. Taste it. See it. Feel it. Hear it. Let it pass. It can only be grasped experientially. Human existence in the mundane world gives rise to perceptions of time as separate phases: past/present/future. As such, people can be influenced by past mistakes, future fears, past longings or future desires. Visualize a piece of string with the ends imperceptibly connected (together). It is arranged in a circle. In your mind’s eye, place your finger on the string as an indication of what can be called ‘the present’. Where then are the past and the future located? They have to be subjectively designated. The whole piece of string is the present. There is continual flow of present to present to present.
We experience the environment through consciousness. Consciousness is the vehicle through which awareness of our surroundings is experienced. Awareness gives rise to accurate or inaccurate perceptions. However, perceptive ability must be developed in order to conceptualize what is and what is not. Smelling, Tasting, Seeing, Feeling, Hearing anchor us to physical reality but these are transient. Accept them for what they are because they fade into each present moment.
The mundane world is experienced through the lens of past/present/future. How one used to be in the past. How one wants to be in the future. What one did not or would not like. These are cases of attaching to states that never were nor will ever be. There is memory that allows for calling up, reviewing or reliving things or events that have been done. There is imagination. One imagines things that might never be or those things that can be. When overly indulged, memories and imagination forgo consciousness of the present moment.
Designations of past and future are subjective. They serve only as a frame of reference to one’s existence. The subjectivity can cause an attraction or aversion to the present moment. One either avoids what they don’t want or like or strives for that which they desire. This is subjective because past and future only exist in the mind. The mind that is established in the present can navigate the ebbs and flows of subjectivity by remaining unattached to attraction and aversion.
There is no time as past/present/future. There is only a continuum of endless cycles. The ability to conceptualize time passing by measuring it creates an illusion of convenience. It allows people to express events in a manner that is easier to visualize. The KJV of the bible expresses the non-existence of time. Revelation 22:13 states: ‘I AM the Alpha and Omega’. That is to say that, All things (past and future) are in the Present Moment (I AM). So to, the Ouroboros depicts this same concept. A person displays the feeling state that they adopt and feeling states must be elicited in the present moment. They can never lose intensity as they are continually experienced in the present moment.
The present IS. Being conscious of the present minimizes the tendency to gravitate attractions or avoid aversions. Our past and future are cerebral constructs, transient in nature. They have effect in that they are empowered by our inaccurate perceptions of their being real. Let past and future meld into the present. One’s reality is brought into being by actions that are undertaken in the present. Whatever you want, make daily efforts toward it that are in line with the feeling states of it being present.
Ab-Sutra Wellness and Fitness 