Thursday, March 3, 2011

Why Does Mind Avoid the Present Moment?

Friends:
Why Does Mind Avoid the Present Moment?
Is mind truly capable of operating in this present and real moment of now?


Memories: When mind is stuck in the forever gone and now unreal past:
Memory is at best incomplete, one sided, and revisionist because mental
consciousness
is a process, which molds thoughts of past events into
forms colored by preferences and biases conditioned by past education,
experience, and reasoning. These are simply attachments serving the ego,
the
delusional self. Since memory requires mental processing any noticing
of
its conclusions is not truly in the present moment, since mind processes
these thoughts, feelings, emotions, perspectives, attitudes, and viewpoints
constructed in the past. The moment any mental state/idea is formulated
by
mind, time continues its flow leaving its conclusions behind in the past...


Planning: When mind imagines the yet uncome and equally unreal future:

Originating from the same mental processes, the motivation to make plans is
indicative
of a mind afflicted.  It is a mind conditioned by dukkha, that is:
Mental and/or physical pain, suffering, stressed and dissatisfied, tormented
with
feelings rising out of a desperate need to protect the delusional self,
a mind struggling to prevent what it realizes in its ignorance is inevitable
deterioration, death, and annihilation. Moment by moment. Life by life.
Mindfulness of the present & Meditation Reveals How Our Minds Operate:
Real-time personal observations of our own minds operating in what might be
the best approximation of the present moment is during awareness meditation. 
It reminds of sitting in the middle of a busy train terminal watching travelers
come
into and disappear out of the view. There seems to be no mental limit as
to
direction, volume, or capacity in these passing mental phenomena, that all
arise conditioned by mental contact with both external and internal events,
past, present and future, all totally out of reach of personal control.  
 
This does not mean that we are left helpless, as we can chose to:
A. Pay attention to these mental phenomena, thereby giving them importance
and
conditioned reinforcement resulting in clinging and attachment.
B.  Or, passively observe, smiling in equanimity, simply letting them pass away
into
the same empty mental oblivion from which they arose. 
C.  Develop and train a mind which is totally devoid of the arising of thought,
where
all mental processing has ceased.  This is a mind free of clinging, desire,
and
attachment. When all mental processing has ceased, such a mind is truly
in
the present moment, because no reflection is required, as no mental, or
physical action is being processed or contemplated.

It all boils down to a personal choice to participate, or not to participate in
these
flickering, yet captivating effects of mental processing.
When faced with such decisions I have found it beneficial to follow Buddha's
advice
as given in the Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta regarding the crucial
importance of observing, practicing and training our minds.

source:   http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.061.than.html



By our friend and kind editor Ronald J. Chiodi, Concord USA.

More on awareness of the present = Mindfulness
(
Sati):
Noble_Awareness, Awareness_Analysis, Clear Comprehension,
What is Right Awareness?, Four_Foundations_of_Awareness,
Aware_and_Composed, Aware_and_Settled, Clever_Presence,
Awareness_Sati, Causes of Sati, Sati Studies, Sati_in_Solitude,
Accumulation_of_Advantage, Sati_a_la_Anuruddha, Mindfulness,
The_Awareness_Ability, The_Four_Postures, Winning_Awareness,
Clear_and_Aware_Comprehension, Crucial_Foundation, Sati_Summary,
Feeding_Awareness, One_and_only_Way, 4 Foundations of Awareness,
Accumulating_Advantage, Careful_and_Rational_AttentionSati_Acute,
Phenomena_is_Mental_States, 1_Producing_4, Mighty_Magic_Majesty,
Seeing_the_Possible, Thousand_Aeons
Have a nice & noble day!
 
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

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