Living in the Now – is it a trap?

The concept of “living in the Now” has become popularised in recent years through the books of people such as Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie. They tell us how important it is to live in the present moment and not to get distracted by fears (which are future projections) and hurts (which are perceptions of events in the past). If we can just stay focused in the present, we’ll discover true freedom and the end of suffering.

Well how many of us have got it right to actually do this? What seems to happen is that we become focused in the moment, and then suddenly the phone rings and it’s someone with bad news. Then where does our precious “Now” go to? It vanishes, and suddenly we’re back in psychological time and we’re suffering – except that now instead of just the bad news to cope with, we’re also beating ourselves up for being so easily thrown out of “The Now”.

So the Now has become a trap. If you love Eckhart Tolle’s writings, as I do, you might fall head first into that trap, as I have done. We imagine that when we have finally attained the Now, we’ll be in love with everything, nothing will get us down, and we’ll float serenely through our days, just like Eckhart does. What a load of horse manure!

Nothing to attain

Let me share with you another perspective on the so-called Now. When we read Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie we imagine that one day the clarity that they have will come to us, and then we start trying to be in the Now and trying to be present all the time. In short, we try to attain this Now. But to attain something puts it into time, which we don’t have. The Now is right now, this, reading this article, feeling it’s a great story or it’s a load of nonsense. It’s getting up to make tea, it’s feeling tired, it’s feeling angry at your neighbour. Whatever is arising right now, that’s the Now. It’s not one day being able to love everything and walking around in a perpetually blissful state. If you believe that you have fallen into the trap and you’ll feel like your hell just got a lot worse.

It’s always Now

So, to truly be in the Now, give yourself permission to experience the things that arise. Because here’s the thing – you’re always in the Now, whether you know it or not. The Now is now, things happening, feelings arising, “good” things happening, “bad” things happening – and you’re not in control of any of it. Control is a time-based fantasy of a separate ego called “I”.

If you really want to experience heaven, give up the fantasy of control and simply observe what arises. Love yourself even as you’re getting pissed at your colleague or your partner. When that anger or irritation arises – that’s the Now!

Can you love it?

Share

New - Self-hypnosis MP3 downloads!

Want to try self-hypnosis? I recommend these professionally produced hypnosis MP3 recordings to reinforce your process of change. Go to the Self-hypnosis MP3 Downloads page to find out more.