31. Don't kill the Present with the Past
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In the eighth sutra, Patanjali says, 'Interpreting based on past incompletions leads to misconception or wrong understanding.' Whatever problem you have can be solved with this one key, because all the problems you are suffering with are just because of one incompletion from the past - one interpretation based on past conditioning - which leads to misconception or wrong understanding.
Please understand, all your fear, all your greed, all your worries, whatever you think of as a misfortune in your life, all the things which you think of as your identity, can be sorted out with this one understanding: If you look towards the present moment with a little sympathy and compassion, it will completely open a new door; you will have a new understanding. When you don't have compassion towards the present moment, you always judge this moment with your past experience. Please understand, I am giving you a new key: have compassion towards the present moment. We never have compassion towards present moment; we are always violent with the present moment, that is why we kill it with the past. We kill the present moment with the past. We are constantly waiting to destroy the present moment with the incompletions carried forward from our past. Abusing the present moment with the incompletions from the past is what I call hell. Please understand, Eternity presents itself to you in the present moment. You can touch Eternity only by touching the present moment. You can't directly touch the past, you can't directly touch the future; the present moment is the only way you can directly connect with Eternity.
In the seventh sutra, Patanjali talks about the three sources of right knowledge - pratyakṣa, anumāna and agama. In the eighth sutra, he speaks about wrong knowledge. In the seventh sutra, he talks about what should be done; in the eighth sutra, he talks about what should NOT be done. If you don't connect directly with the present moment, if you are constantly torturing it with your past, you are creating incompletion, misconception, wrong understanding. For example, if you have been hurt in the past by somebody who was wearing a white dress, whenever you see a person in a white dress, you will always have that fear, that sankata, that discomfort, without knowing why! That man and this man are in no way related, no way connected, but you carry that. That memory becomes a root pattern in you; you will always carry that. You carry that incompletion from your past, and try to constantly judge the present using that past.
Today, constantly remember to bring awareness to your thoughts. Whenever you catch yourself with a negative feeling about a particular situation - pause. Look in and see - what is the incompletion or wrong understanding from the past, which you are bringing into the present situation? Can you complete with that past happening and let it leave your life?
> Putting an end
> to the misunderstanding
> is real meditation.