Our lives today, no matter where we live or what our situation may be, are often focused on \u201cwhat\u2019s coming.\u201d We get tied up with schedules that tell us of obligations to be fulfilled, errands to run, people to call, meetings to attend, and on and on in a seemingly endless round of preoccupation with the next hour, day, week, month, year. All of this is part of living. Yet, in the process of \u201cfilling time,\u201d we lose sight of the significance of the present moment. Our minds can\u2019t really be \u201chere\u201d if they\u2019re constantly engaged in getting \u201cthere.\u201d<\/p>\n
When we are always rushing around and skimming life\u2019s surface, it can happen that as years pass we question the value of our lives, whether they have been truly useful or whether they have lacked meaning because we\u2019ve not truly lived in the moment. We may look around at others and think the same of those whose lives we see as marked by disappointments, sadness, even remorse, because they appear to be wasted in a frenzy of expendable activity.<\/p>\n
My friend and colleague of many years, the late Ruth Tabrah, talked of the importance of the \u2018now\u2019 in a small volume published posthumously, titled, \u201cJust Live! On Becoming Buddhist.\u201d In the chapter \u201cA Matter of Choice,\u201d she spoke of listening \u201cwith keen interest and an open mind to Reverend Kuriyama when I visited his temple in Nogata, Japan…\u201d and then she wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018No one would say that my life has real value,’ he told us. \u2018For it is a life Shin people have every good cause to be living in the \u2018now,\u2019 as their lives are meant to be natural, not strained, free of the frenzy of self-power striving, and in day-to-day terms, free of feeling valueless and even lost, living in a constant cloud of commotion and busyness.<\/p>\n Ruth went on to say:<\/p>\n \u201cThe person who lives this moment of \u2018now,\u2019 entrusting in the Buddha, lives Consider giving yourself more \u2018now\u2019 time. As you do this, hopefully you\u2019ll feel less and less like an overstretched elastic band from all your \u2018tomorrow\u2019 commitments. And as you discover the importance of \u2018now\u2019 to your peace of mind, you\u2019ll also see there is no real \u201cwasted time and effort,\u201d that your life truly has meaning and value.<\/p>\n Thanks for visiting.<\/p>\n Gassho _\/_ Al Bloom<\/p>\n ——————————— Our lives today, no matter where we live or what our situation may be, are often focused on \u201cwhat\u2019s coming.\u201d We get tied up with schedules that tell us of obligations to be fulfilled, errands to run, people to call, …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nfilled with wasted time and effort, a life of constant regrets. Yet, suddenly
\nwe come to realize that even such a life is not wasted and that it has a definite
\nsignificance. It begins when we give care and concern to the now<\/em> which I live
\nat this very moment. True life and true realization are found in the now<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\nlife without any impasse, no dead-end. Such a person is called the person of
\ncomplete freedom, whose life is intimately bound with true and real life, open
\nand endlessly unfolding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\np.s. As always, feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"