An Introduction to Vedanta
Part XXIX
Dr. K. Sadananda

Part XXIX – Living in the Present

We can live only in the present. We cannot live in the past, since the past is always gone. The future has not yet come. The present alone is given for us on a silver plate to act in and to enjoy. How big is the present? The present is a thin line where the past meets the future. The gap can be reduced as small as possible - a second, a micro- second, a nano-second or a pico-second – ultimately the time concept itself is dissolved to the very present where we can live or accomplish and where the very life exists. There is no time in the present. But that is where we spend all our lives. In the present, what is there is only our presence – the very life that we are; that, because of which, we say we are ‘beings’, the existent conscious beings that we are; where the dynamic life exists not as a concept in the future and not as memory of the past, but as the very existent-conscious-being that we are.

That is the living present where the action is; where the acting itself reduces to being or where acting and being merge into one. In the present we transcend time itself. There is an objective time for things to be done and things that were completed and for the on-going things – but that is only transactional time or objective time for transactional purposes, just as the reality that we assign to objects is only for the purpose of transaction.

Krishna, in declaring the law of action and results, essentially says that we are only given a choice to act (karmanyeva adhikAraste) but not in framing the results (mA phaleShu kadAchana). This is because we can only act in the present and the results are always in the future. A karma yogi therefore lives in the present ; the present is not a means for the future, which never comes - the present is the end in itself. Unfortunately we do not live in the present – that is the source of our bondage. We drag the past into the present or we dream about the future. If we examine every action, every thought, it either concerns the past or the future. Our ego itself is based on these two concepts and has very little existence in the present.

The bio-data about each individual is about what he has accomplished in the past and what he wants to do in the future. There is nothing wrong with this. The only problem is that, in the process, we miss the very present where the whole action is. For us, the present is only a means to accomplish or to gain something in the future but very rarely the end in itself. On the other hand, when we are doing an inspired action, the very acting becomes an end in itself – that is living a dynamic life; a dynamic present where the time concept itself is transcended. During an inspired action, one is not conscious of time. Time flies. That state of being becomes a transcendental living or meditative living where one does not care what happens – the future takes care of itself. In fact, the future never comes. What is there is only the present – a dynamic present where the Lord resides, where the life is, where conscious-existence exists. That is Brahman.

Surrendering to the present becomes a key to self-realization. Many sAdhaka-s get trapped in this conceptualization of the future and conceptualization of even self-realization. I want to realize one day or I am going to become realized soon – the wanting mind never ceases to want and this is always a future expectation. Vedanta clearly declares that you can only realize NOW (ehaiva – right now and right here) – where there is no space or time, since both are concepts in the mind. Longing for something in the future itself becomes an obstacle for self-realization, since the longing mind or wanting mind is the ego-based mind which assumes I do not have what I want and I am going to get what I want. For a longing mind, the present is only a means to an end and not an end in itself. Life is in the living present and not in the dead past or in an unborn future. How to live in the present is the essence of yoga shAstra, where the surrendering or witnessing presence is the key to freedom from the past and future or freedom from ego.

As we analyzed earlier, the ego bases its firm existence in the memories of the past and expectations for the future. It has little to do with anything in the present other than as a means for an end in the future. Ego therefore is centered on the wanting mind or longing mind. The wanting mind never stops wanting regardless of what it has gained, since it always sees itself as incomplete. To reach fullness or infiniteness is the very goal in life. To be fulfilled or longing for self-realization becomes an obstacle to self-realization. This is the final hurdle a seeker has to go through during his spiritual journey. This is expressed as ‘I want to meditate’ or ‘I want to take up saMnyAsa or renunciation’ or ‘I want to withdraw myself’ etc. These are all forms of expression the ego assumes in wanting to realize. In fact, no ego will be able to achieve self-realization, since the very self-realization involves transcendence of the ego, which lives in the past and future. Any attempt to eliminate ego itself crystallizes ego in a different form. The only way to eliminate ego is to observe its action in the present. This in Vedanta is called ‘sAkShi bhAva’ – the attitude of a witnessing agent. Witnessing is a present action and in fact it is an actionless action. In the process, one lives in the present where ego has no place. What is there is only ‘I am’ or from the bhakti point, what is there is the presence of the Lord.

Proceed to the next essay.