The Elusive Present Moment

Buddha probably choked on water when it hit him that no matter who you are, you and everyone you love must endure pain and suffering.

It was a dark epiphany he had to come to terms with.

It was an epiphany that, for the many centuries that came after, barely endured mankind’s individual understanding of things, human error and contextomy.

For centuries, a lot of those who followed his path had to inflict, endure and choose suffering whenever they get the chance. It’s like they’re wearing these glasses that give the world this noir-like atmosphere, as opposed to the brighter, rose-tinted variety.

I won’t be saying that my understanding of Buddha’s wisdom is the right one, but like most of the things I encounter in life, I always lean towards the less toxic.

Most of the human suffering– anger, fear, sadness– is rooted in the past or future. We’re wearing this filter that allows us to see and react to things based on our memory or imagination, instead of seeing things as they are.

Imagine being laughed at by a colleague for your singing. You’d probably get offended or hurt. Hurt is pain. Pain is suffering.

The moment you heard the laugh you took it as an insult. You remember, being the dreamy 12-year-old that you were, when an aunt joked around about your singing. You remember being told that you should never consider singing on stage, that you don’t have the talent and you should give up on the thought.

Pain is pain. It’s pure and unadulterated. “Regardless of your intentions, you hurt my feelings.” It’s like we expect people to know where we’re coming from, and that they should tiptoe their way to gaining our trust.

But did they really hurt your feelings? Did they really insult you or question your self-worth, your talent or emphasize the lack thereof? What if they’re laughing because they don’t know the best reaction to it? What if the way your nose flares up when hitting the high notes makes them giggle?

See, even without judgement we feel judged. We are offended by what we think other people think of us, not of what they actually thought about us.

A lot of our suffering stems from the fact that we’re not really here.

We rush through life going to the next moment, thinking that the next moment could be better than this. Moment by moment we have a mental goal we need to accomplish.

A few more steps, a few more hours… I’ll be happier, better, stronger. We navigate life with the past in mind. We can’t be friends with the here and now, we don’t see things the way they are right now.

This moment is the only real one that you have.
It’s the only place in this space-time that you own.