I may change the name and day at any time as I am still figuring out where this blog is going.
When your attention is right now, the past and future disappear.
They have to because…
The past and future can exist only in the mind.
Think about it. The past is a memory
The future is imagination.
Only right now exists.
“City Dharma” p27
This week I have been reading the book “City Dharma” by Arthur Jeon. The book talks about ways to incorporate the dharma into the daily, hectic lives of modern western city dwellers.
the book proposes that most of the things that bother you or make your life seem difficult are caused by your mind. We spend too much time worrying about things that are not real. Our thoughts are often consumed by desires, which exist in the future, or by anger, which exists in the past. As i quoted above, the past and future don’t really exist. If you can direct your attention to the present, your problems become much less real and you can begin to see the world the way it really is, not as you expect or want it to be.
In the 1st chapter, Jeon writes that, for the most part, people create their own inner hell through their own conditioned thought patterns. We are consumed with thoughts of the past and future, rarely examining the present in which we really exist. We are imprisoned by our attachment to the “what ifs”of life. What if I made more money? What if I was prettier? Much of this is cultural conditioning. Western culture puts many ideas into our heads about how we should act, or what we should desire. In western cultures defense, all cultures create their own norms and expectations. I am citing western culture because that is the culture in which I live.
As a silly example of this, suppose you were born in England (maybe you were). If this were the case you may think that baked beans are something you eat at breakfast. “Baked beans for breakfast? That’s gross!” you may think. If you were born in the United States the idea of eating baked beans for breakfast is probably repulsive. This is cultural conditioning. There is nothing right or wrong about eating baked beans for breakfast. You either eat them for breakfast or you don’t. It is our conditioned response that tells us eating beans for breakfast is right or wrong.
Thinking about that example helps me to see things from a different perspective. When I can step back from my own conditioned existence and look at the world through the eyes (and beliefs) of another I can begin to cultivate empathy. Through this empathy I move closer to seeing the world as it really is, not as I wish it were.
I have been trying to put this into practice in my daily life. When someone is tailgating me, I try to let him or her go by without judgment. I don’t know their situation. They could be a doctor rushing to the hospital after being called in for an emergency. They could simply be an idiot who doesn’t think of others or, as my wife likes to say, “Maybe they have explosive diarrhea”. The point is, I don’t know their perspective, and I am not so attached to my cars position on the freeway to think I own it. I try to put myself in their position. I’m sure each of us has been an idiot on the road from time to time. I’m also sure we have justified our actions with something like “I was running late to work” or “I need to get to the hospital to see my grandfather, who just had a heart attack”. When you think about it, if you can forgive yourself for your bad actions, then you can forgive others for theirs. We need to understand and forgive our own suffering before we can forgive and understand others. Jeon says it best in that “when we encounter people who are trying to run us over in trying to act out their desire, we will see it as suffering and have compassion for them”
Jeon continues by writing that most of the things that bother you or make your life seem difficult are caused by your mind. We spend too much time worrying about things that are not real. Our thoughts are often consumed by desires, which exist in the future, or by anger, which exists in the past. As stated in the quote at the beginning, the past and future don’t really exist. If you can direct your attention to the present, your problems become much less real and you can begin to see the world the way it really is, not as you expect or want it to be.
Does that mean my lack of training last week wasn’t real because it was in the past? That would be nice…
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