13. Don'T Live In Your Past; It Is Dead!

People tell me, 'Swamiji, we cannot let go of our past.'

Clutching to our past is like living with the dead! The past is dead. It is gone. It is over and done with. The future is nothing but a promise, a potentiality, a seed waiting to sprout. The present is the only real moment, the real gift. That is why the moment is called: present.

God has given each moment of time to us as a present. It is a precious gift. Can we enjoy gifts if they are not open? Yet, we don't bother to open and enjoy the most precious gift bestowed upon us. It is a great pity that the gift of nowlies neglected and unopened.

The meaning of this is very simple. You never live in the present moment. When you are at home, brushing your teeth, your mind is already at the office. If you are at work, you are planning what you can do next as soon as you go home. You are always in the past or in the future. You never really live in the present.

Try to live in the present moment. Try this experiment sincerely for just 24 hours. Try it with intensity and sincerity during all the waking hours of the day. Focus only on that 24 hours, and live in the present for only 24 hours. Do not take the oath that you will live in the present for the next one year. That will not happen. Take one oath; give it a trial run for the next 24 hours, until tomorrow evening. Then, you will be able to experience its effect.

How to do it? Consciously, choose to live in the present moment, no matter what you do. When you go to bed, sit and feel the bed. When you lie down, feel the comfort of the pillow. As soon as you wake up early in the morning from your bed, feel the carpet or the floor beneath your feet. When you bathe or brush your teeth, feel the water; feel, taste, and experience the toothpaste.

Start living using all your senses and being aware of your body for just one day. Only then you will understand and experience the gift of now. Being in the moment, living in the now, requires that we bring awareness to our body and mind. We need to be in complete awareness of our body and mind for the first time in our life. The power of being in the now and here in the present moment will bring in some changes in you. You will experience the power and energy created in you.

Understand the power of 'now'. Experience the power of the miracle of being in the 'now'. Attend to the moment. This is the path to liberation.