Welcome to My Blog - Bhushan Kachru

 

                      Living in Past, Looking at Future

                          

                                                                  Credit-Gerd Altmann (Pixabay)

‘A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison. That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed. Then the words of his Zen master came to him, “Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.” Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep’.

                                                                                                        (Ref: Present moment-Zen stories to tell your neighbors)

 I remember some twenty years back in a corporate training session; a reference was made to Eckhart Tolle’s famous book ‘The Power of Now’. The book in brief states that “every minute you spend worrying about the future or regretting the past is a minute lost, because really all you have to live in is the present, the now, and start living every minute as it occurs by constantly observing one’s mind and not judging thoughts.” Honestly I heard it superficially but didn’t listen to it. But today I feel sorry for having not taken the lessons seriously and just kept wandering back and forth between ‘living in past and looking at future’. I am no doubt just a beginner, sharing some of my experiences that may encourage readers to initiate active steps to change to the present where all action takes place.

 

 

Our minds get programmed right from childhood jogging between past and future.  It therefore seems impossible to stop our mind from imagining and planning future fantasies? For example, most of us in a jovial mood may tell our children that, “When some day I have enough money, I will do this and that….” Well one normally doesn’t know for sure whether the day will come or not but we do plan. It depicts that our minds are engaged in future. However, there might be few individuals who would say “For buying a car, I am saving money now”. Our minds are often lined up in such a way that it rarely feel comfortable in looking beyond our daily natty- gritty. We are so tuned right from childhood that we usually try to avoid living with the realities. Remember our granny’s reciting bed time stories and the fairy tales we were made to sleep with. The contents of fairy tales perhaps got registered in our minds and as we grew, these stories/ memories slowly keep haunting us every now and then.

                                                          

Some years back I had the privilege to meet a revered saint in Rishikesh (India). During one of my audiences, I prayed “Baba what is the secret of saints keeping happy and healthy”? He said   “We saints are fakirs (beggars)  eat lunch, not worrying for dinner,  sleep, not worrying for bedding,  go on pilgrimage not worrying for mode of travel or weather. See at the moment I am talking to you, my mind is focused on what I am saying and to whom I am saying”. I asked “But Baba how to go about our aspirations?” He continued “Look most people are busy in remembering past successes/ failures or feeling happy that future would be bright.  In spite of knowing past can’t be winded back, yet they swing   between past and future. They have to realize that action for future, takes place in the present. He continued. “Yes ambitions are important; you have to take steps in the present moment. Your unhappiness is only because you do not live in the present”.

                                                                                         Credit-Mrezababaei Photography

 Focusing on the present does appear difficult, unusual and fearful to begin with but with repeated practice, we may start gradually developing a habit of shifting focus to the present. When great athletes fail, their desperation to win reenergizes action for the next competition right away and not tomorrow.  Michael Jordan said once, “Each time I step on the basketball court, I never know what will happen. I live for the moment. I play for the moment.”  Don’t stay on past happenings because that may deprive enjoying the present and avoid managing problems.  Being in the past is a good pass time especially if the past was brighter; it is a ‘place of reference, not residence’. Remember nobody is interested in peeping into past instead we get evaluated on the present situation. Sometimes we may live in the past because we don’t want to manage the present.

 

Bear in mind happenings in future are only a probability; it may or may not happen. Even for meeting future plans, we need to take steps in the present time. Past is no doubt useful for learning/ experiences and making use of it in the present. The reality is that all the actions are taking place in the present moment and this brings in efficiency, alertness, and awareness for accomplishing the tasks. It requires living with acceptance which is not easy. Applying this concept in organizational working some times may be difficult since most of the work is team oriented. Each individual in the team has a different mind-set. Secondly, business operations consist of a chain. For example: in a manufacturing organization, the important steps are: product development, manufacturing, sales, distribution etc. Each step is connected with the other.

 

Certainly we need to dream and have a vision for future, but toil towards accomplishing it in the present. Living in the present does not suggest delaying tactics to avoid decision making for fear of reverses.   Living for the moment necessitates attending to tasks in hand rather than leaving these for tomorrow. In view of customary jogging between past and future, our mind will repeatedly shift its focus and several problems may occur simultaneously. Try to refocus by studying the thought process and deliberate on the task at hand at that very moment. If we ask people whether they are living in the moment? They would say. “Yes we carry our day’s work schedule.” Unfortunately most of us do not appreciate necessity of living for the moment. Remember the old saying, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift; that's why they call it the present!"

 Self Management through Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a way of life of disciplining thoughts with unbiased observations, allowing these to come and go without getting attached. It helps focusing on self-awareness, builds trust, self- acceptance and living in the moment. It aids calming thoughts and strengthens emotions.  Being in the mindfulness mode requires attitudinal change and patience and it does not happen overnight. Our thoughts, beliefs, and feelings in perceptive mind create obstacles and are happy maintaining the status quo.

 

 

To practice mindfulness, sit quietly and follow breathing. When the mind drifts off, just bring it back to the breath. The idea is to put mind away from routine and try   to calm it down naturally. To begin with use up about 5 to 10 minutes daily and gradually increases it to say about 20 minutes. Be aware of thoughts and focus on what we are doing right at that time. Don’t get attached to thoughts, allow these to pass after just observing only. Initially it would appear as if we are short sighted and going backwards .But as we practice, we would realize that we are able to set our realistic goals with a workable and focused plan of action in the immediate present.

 

 

To tap it--Being in ‘Present’ is not a magic formula which will solve all our ills overnight. It is a more realistic alternative to ‘Living in the past, looking at the future”. Changing our life perspectives initially brings in pain and fear. But as we go along, we will realize that shifting gradually to the present gear, helps in accomplishing life goals and improves the quality of life and resolve.

Bhushan Kachru