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Only Living In The Moment – And Why It Can Be Dangerous.
DaltheJigsaw
Mountain View Veteran
(I agree with the author, but at the same time, I am not sure if he or she is understanding mindfulness when it comes to Buddhism terms.)
You don’t have to look very far in the psychology world to find advice about “living in the moment.”
And the truth is there is a lot of scientific evidence showing the physical and mental benefits of mindfulness and why we should aim to be more present in our everyday lives.
The purpose of this article isn’t to diminish the importance of mindfulness or “living in the moment,” but to remind you that it’s just one mode of awareness. At times, it is just as important that we “step outside of the moment,” and interpret our world from a broader viewpoint.
The benefits of reflecting on the past.
One benefit we don’t get from only living in the moment is reflecting on our past and learning from our mistakes.
If we never look backward at the scope of our life, the choices we’ve made, and where they have led us, then it’s incredibly difficult to identify what we’ve done right and what we’ve done wrong.
Research indicates that reflection is key to learning.
The benefits of planning for the future.
Living a happy, healthy, and successful life often requires adequate planning and foresight. It rarely happens by accident.
Therefore, looking forward into the future is often just as important as reflecting backwards on our past, or living in the moment.
If we never think about the direction we want to go in our life, it is very unlikely we will get there. This is why it is so important to make our values and goals clear to ourselves.
Try creating a rough timeline to better envision your goals.
http://www.theemotionmachine.com/only-living-in-the-moment-and-why-it-can-be-dagnerous
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Comments
I would also add be wary of perfect Buddha's who do everything right and are always in the moment - all the time...and never upset anyone, or fart etc... for me the perfect Buddha is not perfect at all - just like the person reading this imperfect comment. But then again it might be funny to meet a perfected one, but I am not in the game as the thought of being reborn as a cockroach or a fox doesn't worry me at all, could also be interesting.
The reality is that " letting go " is a by product of a practice of focused attention, not a result of diffused attention, and as for living in the present there is no real choice. Even when remembering or anxiously planning we are in the present in actuality.
The present has no more and no less reality than any apparent segment of conventional reality.
this is why thinking about meditation and it's benefits can and often do lead to absurd conclusion.
why can't you be present while planning the future?
problem solved.
and about the past, people have this delusion about learning from the past.
first of all there is no such thing as past.
secondly, learning from the past sounds good in theory, but in reality people usually don't learn from the past. The vast majority of the time when they reflect on the past, they spend that time strengthening their negative emotional reactions (their anger/sadness/fears etc...
(that guy really was an assh#$e, ahh if i see him again i'll really tell him whats on my mind etc...)
this person, as it so often seems to be the case, would have had all of his very common misconceptions resolved in 30 seconds if he would have took the time to ask someone who knows about the subject.
Planning for the future is much better in fact if we have the mindfullness that releases our attachments. My simple example is that I worked so hard to go for teaching, I got my degree and subbed and looked for jobs. It all felt like a 'push' (largely because I had to make lawyers and ex beleive I was planning). So I found my current job and it has opened new horizons. Every time I get attached to being an elementary school teacher instead of being where I am at then I get attached and no longer can plan with open eyes if that makes sense. I ignore what is in front of me that offers joy and opportunity in favor of a past and a future I can get attached to. Mindfullness in the moment however clears the way for me to follow my personal precept of letting life find you instead of pushing to find it (and none of this means I do less work, many things that find me require a lot of work on my part in following that opportunity).
I must agree with not learning from the past. We did a training at work that was excellent. It was about dealing with difficult people and I think it used a lot of mindfullness. So instead of saying that person was rude, I now will do X because it worked in the past or avoid Y because that was a disaster, instead I will stop and simply notice that person was rude, take a moment to feel my feelings and identify my needs and then go to deal with the situation. You are not avoiding the situation however with a moment of mindfullness you are less reactive and more effective.
It just means be attentive to the moment--don't obsess about past moments or future moments to the exclusion of the current moment.
We have no problem obsessing about past moments or future moments--it seems to be our natural tendency. So the reminder is to pay attention to the current moment as well.
If we paid good attention to all "current" moments, then in the end we'd have paid good attention to past, present, and future moments. Or in other words, paying attention to each current moment IS a good long-term plan.
It means don't run your shopping cart into someone while worrying what temp to set the stove at later!
love it!
It isn't more complicated that that.
It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it.
(By Sylvia Boorstein)
In fact - there can only be mindfulness in the present moment. The emphasis on being "present" in the present makes the distinction. Therefore if one is "present" then wiling away the day in remembrance or planning the future could well be mindfulness too.
But the past is always seen in the light of the present and the present is where the power is.
There is an emotionality to the past of course, but all of that feeling is arising in the emergent moment.
This house of cards - past present and future isn't so literal.. actually the past and future are both happening in the present. The 'now' isn't the present as the present is defined in terms of the other times and that whole schema is an illusion. The 'now' is what happens when the house of cards, the 3 times, collapse.
Or you could say the 3 times interbe like Thich Nhat Hanh says. In the present is (we see) the future and the past. You can't separate these three times, they muust interbe....
Further, when I am meditating, my mind becomes more pliable, and I think it automatically processes / reflects on my actions. Although I am not consciously reflecting, my mind is organizing my thoughts and presenting them, but I try not to hold on to them - why should I, they've already been processed!
If you think about it, many creative thoughts arise from meditation. That's because your mind is clear to process and organize ("reflect") on your thoughts. You don't have to be thinking about the past to actually understand and process it.
read all the above posts. Sorry but my view seems to be different. What follows below is what i understand of mindfulness and my thinking(it can be totally wrong, so please feel free to avoid reading the below thing)-
Mindfulness is what is here and now, nothing of past and nothing of future. To live in this world by being totally mindful seems too difficult as we have to plan our future activities and sometimes reflect on our past activities. But when we are doing both activities like reflecting on past, we are thinking about the past, so we are not in the present moment(physically present, but mindfully awareness is absent in present moment) - same thing when we are planning for future, we are thinking about future, so not aware of present moment. But in order to achieve materialistic goals in this material world to fulfill our desires, we have to plan for future and try not to repeat our mistakes by reflecting on past. But all this material world which we see through our physical eyes is a delusion and in reality, there is just matter and consciousness. If our ultimate goal is self-realization, everything else can fall in place automatically.
As already said above, the above is my view and it can be totally wrong, so please feel free to neglect my this post.
Again, i can be totally wrong here, so please feel free to neglect my this post again.
Now, where did I read that truth is always positive, never negative, and if someone draws a negative conclusion from truth, then it's a wrong understanding of what's been taught.