Why does the mind jump to past/future if it most benefits from now? (which it knows)

[moon777light]

I keep reading about this more about how people biggest regrets is not being present. I become more aware of the dangers and consequences of not being in the now. Human brains are wired to be in the present moment just like all living creatures (theyre not consioucly present i guess, but they just are). I intellectually and emotionally know that past and future bring only disorder and discomfort. When i am present, i feel safe, harmonized, peaceful. I am aware of my body, sensations, and sounds. When i get a thought usually looping something that happened in the past or a possible future event (or sometimes just fantasizing like superhero stuff) i feel off balance. I get stressed, excited, agitated, anxious, and i get this "high" (especially superhero fantasies). But i also get physiological effects, like heart speeding up, maybe getting sweaty, dizzy or even shaky.

If my rational mind knows this brings no benefit and only dis-balances me and i emotionally feel how bad these feel why do i go there? Like how does the past and future manage to tempt and persuade the "i amness" to take a leap into time? And why is it so hard to be present throughout the day, not talking about meditation. Meditation after a while gets easier and you get the jist of it, but the true challenge is living out this meditation. Baby steps?

[mandyjw]

You want to be and you also want/need, are called to create. It's tough to balance, I'm in the same boat. 

[moon777light]

@mandyjw i hear some teachers say how every time your not present, your pathologically thinking. I also hear other teachers say that if you ignore your desires and your needs that your also being pathological to your soul. Maybe its a duality/ yin&yang? Confusing

[mandyjw]

Yeah, it is confusing. Both are true at the same time. Being present is being present with what arises... there's no ideal way to be, circumstances are always changing. 

[tsuki]

43 minutes ago, moon777light said:

If my rational mind knows this brings no benefit and only dis-balances me and i emotionally feel how bad these feel why do i go there? Like how does the past and future manage to tempt and persuade the "i amness" to take a leap into time? And why is it so hard to be present throughout the day, not talking about meditation. Meditation after a while gets easier and you get the jist of it, but the true challenge is living out this meditation. Baby steps?

Don't worry, time is tricky. Confusion is just a clever way of saying that you're exploring the territory until you get the hang of it.
You cannot fight your way into presence, the only way is to relax into it. The mind needs to become like water, accept everything, retain nothing.

The primary error you seem to be making is that you cannot do anything in order to be present. You cannot plan the steps, or start a practice.
That is because any intent puts you in the future and that is exactly the opposite of what you're trying to do. You cannot still a pond with a stick.

One thing that stills the mind is simply giving up on life.
It does not mean to throw it away and kill yourself, or be miserable, it just means that you accept wherever the tide takes you.
You treat every day, every pain as a lesson and change in response, harmoniously. Find solace in death, treat it as a friend.

It does not matter why a mind is wired to seek future. It is enough that it does and you don't want it that way.
You need a why only if you have a plan to do something and that does not help with presence.

[Nahm]

@moon777light

Contemplate the past & future. Look for it, point to it. Try to hold it.  Try to go to the past and bring something with you into the present. Do the same for the future. Stand up and go walk to the past and look at it. Same with the future. 

Accept very deeply that what you’ve been referring to as “the past” - isn’t there. Your direct experience, is of a thought. 

See that there is no such thing as “the future”. Your direct experience, is of a thought. 

The present is your own selfless gift. Do not ask for more. It is enough. 

[Truth Addict]

@moon777light

This is a very deep question, probably one of the deepest there is.

It's not a mistake, it is this way by design.

Existence cannot exist without illusion.

The past is information processed into lessons, the future is data processed into expectations.

All of that is happening for a reason and through infinite intelligence, to sustain the present and keep it going forever.

☯️

[Shin]

 

Past and future are there in order to sustain the conceptual self.

If you were constantly present, the conceptual self would collapse.

 

Edited May 7, 2019 by Shin

[Lister]

@moon777light What is aware of the mind not being centred in what it imagines is the present moment? 

The present moment does not actually exist. But let's not venture down that rabbit hole. Let's inquire into true I amness. It's always there, it's what Zen calls your original face. It's never not "present", even when your mind made sense of I amness is lost in thought. 

What is it that was watching you daydreaming the whole time?  

Edited May 7, 2019 by Lister

[RichardY]

@moon777light Collective Ego, survival mechanism.

As for  Yin and Yang; I think the general idea is to transcend the feminine(Yin), in favour of the masculine(Yang), more presence. Similar to a "Left-hand"(satanism) or "Right-hand path"(not satanism). The Tao Te Ching helps with the thinking aspect of non-duality. As for the other aspects.....

The future in memory, is obviously something that hasn't happened. Only memes of the past.

As for a middle way between two extremes. I'd imagine that would be fairly godlike.

[Farnaby]

5 hours ago, moon777light said:

I keep reading about this more about how people biggest regrets is not being present. I become more aware of the dangers and consequences of not being in the now. Human brains are wired to be in the present moment just like all living creatures (theyre not consioucly present i guess, but they just are). I intellectually and emotionally know that past and future bring only disorder and discomfort. When i am present, i feel safe, harmonized, peaceful. I am aware of my body, sensations, and sounds. When i get a thought usually looping something that happened in the past or a possible future event (or sometimes just fantasizing like superhero stuff) i feel off balance. I get stressed, excited, agitated, anxious, and i get this "high" (especially superhero fantasies). But i also get physiological effects, like heart speeding up, maybe getting sweaty, dizzy or even shaky.

If my rational mind knows this brings no benefit and only dis-balances me and i emotionally feel how bad these feel why do i go there? Like how does the past and future manage to tempt and persuade the "i amness" to take a leap into time? And why is it so hard to be present throughout the day, not talking about meditation. Meditation after a while gets easier and you get the jist of it, but the true challenge is living out this meditation. Baby steps?

I think it's probably related to survival. Learning from past experiences and the ability to plan ahead are very useful abilities. They are not pathological IMO, unless you become obsessed with your thoughts and can't detach from them. 

Notice that when you think of something that happened in the past or have an expectation related to the future, the thought you're having is ocurring in the present moment. One could argue that the brain activity precedes the experience of being conscious of the thought, so you could say even the present moment is an illusion. 

I think if you connect with yourself, with your body, your intuition, etc., you will know what helps you feel grounded and "present". In my experience, forcing myself to be present only creates tension and makes me feel ungrounded. However, gently bringing back my attention to my breath or my body when I notice my mind drifting too far into thought loops, usually works. 

[d0ornokey]

What a great question

[zeroISinfinity]

3 hours ago, Shin said:

 

Past and future are there in order to sustain the conceptual self.

If you were constantly present, the conceptual self would collapse.

 

Yup goodbye self welcome witnessing. Why the fuck I need body then?

[Shin]

Just now, zeroISinfinity said:

Yup goodbye self welcome witnessing. Why the fuck I need body then?

Because sex is fun,

Especially with bananas.

[zeroISinfinity]

Who needs those. It is time for final encounter hope I Will never re-emerge. See you guys❤️

[Shin]

1 minute ago, zeroISinfinity said:

Who needs those. It is time for final encounter hope I Will never re-emerge. See you guys❤️

Good death filthy zen devil

[robdl]

6 hours ago, moon777light said:

 

If my rational mind knows this brings no benefit and only dis-balances me and i emotionally feel how bad these feel why do i go there?

Rational mind is still mind.  There is no rational mind apart from mind.   Rational mind may understand the value of being in the moment and the issues with dwelling on the past/future, but only as concept/memory/experience/knowledge, i.e. the past.   Mind runs on the past and rational mind runs on the past, because they are one and the same.

Edited May 7, 2019 by robdl

[Forestluv]

Thinking within a past-future timeline isn't limited to stress and worry. My mind-body can engage is some wonderful past-future thinking. I may laugh with friends while reminiscing about some fun memories of the past. I may get excited about planning an adventure in the future. 

For a while, I tried to halt / repress thoughts within a past-present timeline - yet I've learned that isn't the best route for me. It just sets up an internal conflict and a struggle for control of the narrative. What helps more is awareness that thinking is taking place Now. It doesn't matter if it is thinking about the beauty of a song I'm listening to Now, regretting something I said in the past or worrying about something in the future. All of those thoughts are happening Now. Right now thoughts are flowing through my mind about taking a nature walk before it starts to rain. Those thoughts are occurring Now, just like the song I'm listening to is occurring Now. With this awareness, my mind-body generally relaxes a bit and a "higher" awareness and sense of being present arises.

[robdl]

6 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

Thinking within a past-future timeline isn't limited to stress and worry. My mind-body can engage is some wonderful past-future thinking. I may laugh with friends while reminiscing about some fun memories of the past. I may get excited about planning an adventure in the future. 

 

Indeed.   Thinking's inherent nature is to project the past/future --- it can do so either through fear or desire, as both fear/desire depend upon recalling the past or projecting the past onto the future.  So the mind loves both!  Mind escapes/resists (fear) or mind seeks (desire), but in either case mind gets to self-perpetuate.

Edited May 7, 2019 by robdl

[SOUL]

It's for survival. The mind is always modeling reality in a virtual conceptual paradigm using past experience to assess and understand present experience as well as anticipate potential future experience.

If the mind didn't do this we probably would be in a perpetual state of fear and confusion from a survival perspective. Even though the mind is constantly modeling experience in this way there is a part of our conscious experience that is always present in the moment which is observing the mind processing experience this way.

We also have as part of our conscious experience an ability to be aware of the observer of the mind's processes. Being present can be understood as this awareness not being consumed by the mind's processes even if the observer of the mind is attentive to what is going on in the mind to sustain life.

Don't let people lead you to believe that there is anything wrong or bad with the mind doing what the mind does or that the observer of the mind is doing what it does. That would be a limiting belief which can cause self suffering because it's virtually impossible to cease all mind activities and still physically function to survive.

The simple approach is to be accepting of the natural expression of consciousness and the manifest existence and not allow it to cause self suffering by rejecting or fighting with it. Even though we're accepting of it we don't have to believe it and that is the way we don't attach to the content which can be a source of self suffering.

The most challenging part of this is to act in a way that promotes well being and physical survival without creating a dogmatic belief system around our conceptual framework and behavior. The mind is a believer, the observer of the mind can decide on something but in awareness we don't have to believe to be present.

Edited May 7, 2019 by SOUL