Posted 8 September 2016 by Sal
There Is Nothing Behind The Curtain Of Now
Coming to recognize and reconcile with the truth that there is no past and no future has big implications. If you want freedom, you have to see that you have no history. This means your poor me and great me stories are myths. And, if they are myths, they are meaningless and hold no sway over you, now—you are free. And it means your fears and hopes for salvation in the future are fantasy and have no basis in reality.
When I say, “All there is is now,” it is not a spiritual platitude, like “Be in the now.” It is true. There is no past, period. There is no future, period.
Time is a mind-created concept appearing in the eternal here and now. The only thing you actually know, the only thing you cannot deny (and needs no thought at all to know), and the only thing that actually is, is—here and now: I am this knowing that knows itself. This knowing is not a “self,” the time-created myth of me. It is simply what exists here and now, knowing all the appearances coming and going. It is no-thing.
You were making a comment on one of the old audios that there is only now, and everything appears and disappears, moment to moment. I said to you that I had read that the universe arises and disappears. You agreed and mentioned that you had an experience and recognized that reality. My response was that I could only understand the concept. What was that experience like and how does one get there?
One doesn’t get there; it just happened spontaneously. But that experience doesn’t matter. Clearly, there is only now, and everything is just appearing, now. If you get the mind out of the picture for a moment—the mind that thinks this now has something to do with the past and is heading into the future—then the only thing actual is now. All else is thought. The mind is using concepts called past and future, painting a picture that is not actual, now. So don’t do that for a moment. Really, don’t do it at all and just look here, now. What do you actually know about what is here and now?
The only thing you can truly say, the only thing you actually know, is that here and now, what is, is. If you are honest, the only thing you can say is, “What is appearing now, is appearing now.” Anything other than that you need to use some type of concept based on time. Is that clear?
Yes, that’s clear.
If you jump off the carousel of conceptual philosophizing, then what is appearing must only be appearing now. It is the only thing you can honestly say is true. It’s a big step for most people because it is very stark. There is nothing. It doesn’t give you anything to hold on to as far as knowledge or philosophy, like knowing where you came from or where you are going. In this way, it is the unknown and can seem like a very insecure position. But, in fact, the concepts of past and future are not secure because they don’t exist and cannot be depended upon at all. The only thing that can be known and depended upon is now. In truth, it is the only actual security.
Another way to say it simply is—what is, is. Not what is, is because it came from the Big Bang fourteen billion years ago. Not what is, is due to something that happened in the past, karma, etc. What is, is—PERIOD. No past—PERIOD. No reason. No meaning.
There is nothing behind the curtain of this moment. There is no past. There is no future. If you say there is, where is it? In the Play of Life, concepts like time appear to exist, here and now. But they have no empirical truth or fact. There is nothing to substantiate your so-called past, except some vague thoughts that are not even dependable. Also, there is no proof of any future, there are only our projections of desire, hope, and fear—imagination.
However, this, here and now, is clearly known and cannot be denied. It does not need the concept of time; it does not need thoughts or memories; it just is. The Play of Life is an appearance. Just like images on the movie screen. They appear real, but there is nothing substantial to them. The only thing substantial is the screen.
Now is the screen. Knowing is the screen. What is appearing now, including ideas of past and future, is an insubstantial image. Just like the movie, it appears and dissolves now, not coming from anywhere and not going anywhere.
The reason you would want to know there is only here and now is because you want to know what is true and be free of time-caused suffering. In coming to know this, you see that the story of self is not true. If it is clear to you that it is not true, then it becomes clear to you that you have no history. If it is clear to you that you have no history, the past-based ideas—the poor me stories, self-judgments, blaming of others, victimhood, etc.—lose their power to cause suffering or seeking, now. Similarly, if it is clear to you that there is no future, the future-based concepts—hope, fear, longing, becoming, and comparing your current unsatisfactory state with a better state—lose their power as well. Being thus reconciled is freedom.
Most nonsense falls away when you are reconciled that what is, is. And it gets reconciled by being brutally honest about what you actually know. What is actually true? Know what’s true, and truth shall set you free.
The scientists say the Big Bang occurred fourteen billion years ago. I disagree. The Big Bang is now. This is it, here and now.