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Can you defend indulgence by "living in the moment"

tim45174tim45174
edited March 2010 in Buddhism Basics
Do you think that the Buddhist teaching to live fully in the present means that people should live with so much abandon that they dont even worry about consequences of their actions?

Comments

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited March 2010
    Of course not.
    If you're living fully in the present moment, there is no abandonment.
    Quite the opposite.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited March 2010
    I think you got a point. That is why you have to understand what living in the present really means. It does not mean that you do not think of the future. What it really means is that you realize that mental dreams about the future and past are actually just thoughts occuring in the present! Since the past and future are occuring in the present that reduces the traditional meaning of past/present/future and means that our conventional understanding of 'now' or 'present' is also a construct. This can also be seen by noting that the 'present' can be divided into smaller and smaller moments until it is so thin that it has no duration.

    In other words our experience of past present or future is a mental construct existing within our minds.

    When the meditation method tells you to return to the present it is not talking about physics. It is just telling to notice that you are thinking. 'just thinking'
  • pegembarapegembara Veteran
    edited March 2010
    tim45174 wrote: »
    Do you think that the Buddhist teaching to live fully in the present means that people should live with so much abandon that they dont even worry about consequences of their actions?

    The Buddha taught to not cling to past, present or future as any clinging can cause suffering.
    "And what are the five clinging-aggregates?

    "Whatever form — past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near — is clingable, offers sustenance, and is accompanied with mental fermentation: that is called form as a clinging-aggregate.

    "Whatever feeling — past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near — is clingable, offers sustenance, and is accompanied with mental fermentation: that is called feeling as a clinging-aggregate.

    "Whatever perception — past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near — is clingable, offers sustenance, and is accompanied with mental fermentation: that is called perception as a clinging-aggregate.

    "Whatever (mental) fabrications — past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near — are clingable, offer sustenance, and are accompanied with mental fermentation: those are called fabrications as a clinging-aggregate.

    "Whatever consciousness — past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near — is clingable, offers sustenance, and is accompanied with mental fermentation: that is called consciousness as a clinging-aggregate.

    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.048.than.html
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