In Your Own Moment

By Scott Shaw

Since the dawning of the New Age one of the key teachings has been, that of, Getting into the Moment. Terms such as, Be Here Now, Get into Your Moment, and Feel Your Now, have been essential components.

This ideology and these terms are meant to describe a sort of superior consciousness, where the individual is feeling some nondescript enhanced sense of their life—something that the average person does not feel.

In is common that when asked, “What does getting into the Now mean?” Or, “What does getting into the Now feel like?” It will commonly be described by the pundits as becoming childlike—experiencing everything for the first time.

But, what does this mean? And, what are the benefits?

Somehow, in New Age Spiritual Circles, it has become a type of goal to revert to a childlike mind. A mind of innocence, naiveté, and trust.

From certain perspectives these may sound like ideal qualities but there is also another side to this. These are the same factors that cause the child, and the child-like, to become victims of people and society.

But, more importantly, reverting in any way, is both an impossibility and an impractical desired end-goal. The reality is, each experience we have lived, each bit of knowledge that we have taken in, has contributed to who we have become. Good or bad, all experiences have made us who we are. To some, these experiences have lead to seeking out a spiritual mindset. Which has guided them to seek out the understanding of living in the now.

So, what is living in the Now? And, how can this be achieved?

From a philosophic perspective, living in the Now means embracing each moment as a new moment. Okay, don’t we all do that anyway?

Let’s think about this. How are you feeling right now? To answer for you, how you are feeling right now is how you are feeling. Thus, you are already living in your Now.

Many spiritual teachers and traditions believe, however, that a person should get away from their emotions; their feelings. They should be removed from them because they are somehow based in an animalistic level of human consciousness. But, are they?

As human beings one of the essential components of our make up is emotion. Thus, emotions are a natural state. We feel! It’s as simple as that.

You can try to hide from emotions. But, they will not go away.

No matter how spiritual a person claims to be, they too have emotions. As they are human, there is no way to hide themselves from emotions entirely.

This is one of the big problems when people follow teachers who are no longer alive. A dead teacher is a perfect teacher. Why? Because you will never see or experience their faults or shortcomings. All you will do is to read or hear about their superior consciousness. So, basically all you are exposed to is an enhanced description of their existence. Or, simply a lie. Because all living people have faults, just as they all have emotions.

Some people: the insane, the sociopathic, the selfish, the power hungry, the emotionally out of control, and the religious zealots are driven by very negative emotions that are in complete disregard to those around them. They do not care whom they harm to reach their own end-goal. But, these are not the emotions based in a normal individual.

Most of us feel happy, sad, embarrassed, frustrated, bored, in love, in anger, and all of the common emotions that are experienced throughout humanity. In terms of, “The Now,” these are the emotions that bring us into the Now.

Think about how much of your life has passed by and you did not even notice it. Every time you ate breakfast, dinner, walked to school when you were young, drove to work, and all of the nondescript activity that make up modern life; you lived those moments, but they are gone.

Think about this, how many dinners do you remember when the food was really good (or bad), the company you were with that made you laugh and feel good (or angry), and all those times when you were really brought to an expanded emotional level. Those are the times you remember. Every time your emotions were turned-up, those are the times that truly stand out in your mind. Those are the times when you are truly in your now.

As detailed, some gurus may tell their students to rebuke emotions and live in a state of placid, meditative abyss. But, what comes from this? What comes from this is a life lived with no memories—as everything experienced is the same. Just like the boring drive to work, day-after-day, life all becomes a blur.

Some teachers say this non-involved emotionless mentality leads to the higher-mind. But, does it? For here is one of the ultimate illusion on the spiritual path, “Doing nothing leads to something; enlightenment.” “A silent mind is nirvana.” This is all the mumbo-jumbo of teachers who have not lived. …Teachers who have framed their teachings upon the Borrowed Knowledge of those who have walked the path before them. …Teachers who want to control their flock and keep them silent and mindless. Think about this, one of the key components of Zen is to become Mind-Less for only there can some level of enlightened knowledge be lived and experienced. But, all of those who teach this make excuses for themselves as to why they have not personally experienced this ultimately level of human consciousness.

It is all nonsense. It is all playing to the minds and the wallets of those on the spiritual path that seek some sort of allusive esotericism that cannot actually be had, except by the most holy. But, who is the most holy? Usually those who are dead or those whom you are not allowed to live with and see that they too actual have flaws.

Stop believing the illusion. You are living the Now, right now! What you are feeling is your Now. When you are hating your job, that is your Now. When you are happy. When you are sad. That is your Now. When you are taking your boring drive to work. That is you Now. When you are making love. That is your Now. When you are doing whatever it is you are doing. That is your Now.

Stop trying to make, “The Now,” some allusive entity that you have to perform spiritual exercises to find. This is your Now. What are you going to do with it?