Many times — maybe even most of the time — our mind is dwelling on the past or the future. The mind that is in the past or future does not directly perceive things. It is a conceptual mind that is remembering or projecting. Conceptual minds can be very useful, as they allow us to learn about emptiness and the Dharma. They can also be very troublesome because they mistake their object for the real thing. When we are thinking about a certain person, we confuse the mental image of that person with the actual person. That is why we can think about somebody who is not in the same room and get very angry at him, be very attached to him, or create all sorts of stories about him in our minds. It is the same with remembering the past and anticipating the future — they are all a bunch of stories projected by our conceptual mind. 

It is important to notice when our conceptualising starts causing emotional turmoil and brings us back to what is happening now. If you think about it, every moment of life can be good if you learn to take it moment by moment. (As you are reading these words, you are probably sitting in a place that hopefully is at least safe, maybe even comfortable with kind people around you.) So, what is the point of lamenting about things that hurt us in the past or worrying about what could happen in the future? Your mind is probably going to say, “But what about when I am dying, or if I have a car accident? Everything is going to be really bad then, so I’d better think about it now!” On the contrary, your mind is going to be much calmer in those situations if you can stay with what is happening in the moment.

What throws the mind into pandemonium when we are sick, dying, or in an accident is our fear of the future. If you are lying in a hospital bed in pain, you can reflect, “Well, I’m in a hospital bed and in pain, but there are people around me who understand my situation and are trying to be kind and helpful. Plus, I still have the power of my Dharma practice to tame my mind, so this is okay.” It is not always easy to get the mind to stay in the present, but with some practice we can train it to stay with the body and what is happening, instead of letting it dwell on the past or fly off into the future with all the conceptual whirling we do. Then we will be able to manage situations well.

“365 Gems of Wisdom” e-book is out now!