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@Vastmind said:
How long is the present moment? When does it start and when does it end?

If I am to be in the present and not live in the past or in the future…how do I measure that?.. If it is continuous moments…how would I be in just one?

We don’t have to be able to measure it. We can think about the effect of changing the width of “Now” and look at the impact of the changes. So, as we define Now in shorter and shorter widths, we more precisely approach the demarcation point. In calculus we say “as delta T goes to zero (that is, as the change in time, — or width of Now — gets smaller) . . . “ we can see a line becomes a point, or a curve has a constant slope (y=mx+b at the point of tangent). This is mathematically satisfying, and we’ve had several posts looking in different ways at a narrow delta T, or a skinny Now.

But we might consider the human aspect of making Now wider, not narrower. Again, we don’t have to quantify; we can look at the effect of making Now wider. The wider it is, the more of the past and future it contains, and the better we can perceive the curve instead of the point. With a narrow Now we can look at how the scene changes at this point in the play. Choreographers care about this. With a wider Now we can look at how the story evolves from the first to the second act, or how this play is a sequel to the first one, or how Theatre changes over the years or millennia. Cultural historians care about this. When we make Now wide, interesting things come into view, interesting perspectives lead to interesting actions. When we make Now narrow, we prevent these perspectives.

There is a think tank that studies this, and the concomitant implications , the Long Now Foundation. There are various facets of their work. Interesting reading.

How long is the present moment? When does it start and when does it end?

If I am to be in the present and not live in the past or in the future…how do I measure that?.. If it is continuous moments…how would I be in just one?

I generally view it as a workable chunk of time…like a day. I can work with that. Enough hours have gone by for reflection, right, right now can call for a pivot …..or pure joy in a tearful laugh or feeling my heart sink…., and maybe after lunch, I’m hoping my memory will serve me enough to activate some mindfulness one way or another. Can’t go back on yesterday, and no one is promised tomorrow.

It’s all just a New York minute, ain’t it?

AFA it being defined by not being measurable…I would argue that refutes impermanence. I’ve already predetermined and accepted the theory that nothing lasts forever and is subject to change, therefore expecting an ending/change and maybe preparing for it. Practice, practice paying attention leads to it happening more naturally.

Perhaps..”being” in the moment is when I go from brain to mind ……..(HERE)..…. back to brain…. and that time frame can vary.

He will be in a freezer soon enough. So to speak.
The important thing is to knock oneself (if unfortunate enough to have any worth mentioning) off any constructed pedestals...

I dunz this!

@Lionduck said:
Guilt is embedded in the Western culture, primarily through the various Christians sects,
where one must always atone for one's sins.
Buddhism is embedded in the culture of compassion, empathy, self-reflection and mercy.
Of course this is a generalization. As this is not intended to be a comparative religion discussion, I will leave it as is.

Peace to all

This rings true to me and I had to reflect on what it is about this contrast. I think in the past several years my path has been more in the western Buddhist scene. I've heard a few times about the attempt to distinguish guilt from shame and I think it is a valuable distinction for a western mind embedded in that way of thinking.

But yeah, within the Asian communities I spent time among earlier there is less a feeling of bad for oneself and more a concern of well being for the other.

As an addendum to Western guilt, I listened to a podcast today about changing one's mind and part of it was about the role shaming plays. Like you said earlier about religion it compels people to comply. It works on the fear people have of social isolation, a sort of death that is often greater than the fear of physical death. They added that it only works on members of that group though. When applied to outsiders it only serves to turn the shamer into an enemy that needs to be fought and resisted.

I have to say, there was an article in the paper here about Wim Hof’s personal life, and that was pretty shocking. It seems he was violent towards his second wife and son, there was a court case which he lost, he was given a restraining order, she and the son both suffer from PTSD now, and his first wife committed suicide. Turns out Wim Hof is not a nice guy.

But it is true that to do these things, swimming under the ice and walking a half marathon on bare feet in the polar circle and going up high mountains in freezing cold dressed only in shorts, requires a pretty extreme personality. He is a bit crazy.

Does how we feel about Wim Hof as a human being impact how we feel about the benefit of cold immersion?

King Ashoka of India was a powerful war king. However, upon adopting Buddhism, realized that war did nothing but inflict pain and suffering. He ceased his conquests and even returned land to previously conquered nations. Not out of shame or guilt, but out of compassion. He established many reforms aimed at improving the quality of life for the common people, including religious freedom. He became know as a great Buddhist Sovereign.
Guilt is embedded in the Western culture, primarily through the various Christians sects,
where one must always atone for one's sins.
Buddhism is embedded in the culture of compassion, empathy, self-reflection and mercy.
Of course this is a generalization. As this is not intended to be a comparative religion discussion, I will leave it as is.

Peace to all