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ELI5 - why living in the present? (self.Meditation)

sixtine が 投稿

Hi everyone,

I believe this is my first post in the sub. I've been lurking for awhile. I'm familiar with meditation (but far, far from being an accomplished practionner). I believe it helped me through a struggle against depression... and I'm counting on it to help me once again as this struggle is seemingly not over.

So I'm getting serious about it and read a lot of content, including many posts/links I find here.

I'm intrigued about mindfulness. I stumbled on a link here to this diagram.

What does it bring to someone to give more space to the present? What do you do, or feel differently then?

Thanks in advance for your input.

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[–]Metal-Phoenix 10ポイント11ポイント  (0子コメント)

Imagine that you were abused as a child. The channel of abuse was your dad's belt. Very soon, you associate the jingling of the belt buckle with beating, blood, violence, pain.

Now, imagine that as an adult, you have one or more children. You know that the belt buckle jingle doesn't bring abuse anymore but you can't help but cringe every time your son takes off his belt. It puts you in a weird space, maybe even defensive or hostile. This is being caught in the past. In the present, you are with your children and the belt is not an avenue of abuse. Yet, your actions and reactions to your children will be colored or controlled by that tie in the past.

Being mindful and in the present allows you to choose to act instead of reacting.

[–]ledoron1420 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

The power of now by eckharz tolle is good book on tuis subject.

[–]DrDaring 4ポイント5ポイント  (2子コメント)

Lau Tzu had a good quote on this:

“If you are depressed you are living in the past.

If you are anxious you are living in the future.

If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

The only thing you can control is you, in the present. You can't control others, you can't change the past, you can't know the future. So, why spend any significant time on any of it?

Focus on the present, for that is where you actually live, experience life, and can initiate change.

[–]Chulda 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

Well, I can only speak from the depressed point of view, but this is utter nonsense. Many cases of depression don't stem from a bad past experience, and, as far as I know, not every case of anxiety stems from fear of the future.

[–]DrDaring 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

Depression (clinical) is not the same as being depressed. Diagnosed medical conditions are generally exempt from using meditation as the primary cure.

What kind of anxiety do you experience that has nothing to do with the future? (and its not the FEAR of the future that causes anxiety, its giving the future too much thought, for most of what you think most likely won't come true).

[–]brian242 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

What does it bring to someone me to give more space to the present? What do I do, or feel differently then?

Why don't you meditate, be present, and find out yourself? Your answer by experience is better than any intellectual answer I or someone else gives.

[–]AmbiguouslyYou 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

What does it give you? You're asking the wrong questions, my friend.

The present is the only thing that exists. There is no future. There is no past.

Right now is literally everything. Focusing on the future or the past is, well, it just isn't real. Looking to the past is being unrealistic; looking to the future is being dishonest.

As for why someone would live in the present. Well, the simple answer is that we all live in the present. It's impossible not to.

It seems pedantic, yes, but there's a point to be made.

Usually when people speak of giving space to the present they're talking about mindfulness, which is awareness free of thought or conception. It feels no different from what you usually do. The world looks the same because the world is the same.

Reality is what it is. Unfortunate that I can't find the worlds to fully express what I mean.