“Live in the now”.....

"Be present”....

“Time is an illusion"....

"There IS nothing but the present moment”.....

All of these statements have become everyday ‘speak’, but what exactly do they mean? How do we take this esoteric concept and apply it to our daily lives and improve its quality? Well, there are many teachers and spiritual guides who have given their insights both recently and over the Milena regarding just that.

Yogi Tobye, of www.yogitobye.com and resident yoga writer for www.omniintelligencer.com, is available today to answer some questions regarding how to ‘embrace the present moment’.

Kathleen: Yogi Tobye, thank you for taking the time to chat with me about this topic.

Yogi Tobye: No problemo Kathleen!

Kathleen: First of all, let’s talk about the ‘present moment’. In yoga philosophy can you just define the concept and expound upon it for a few moments.

Yogi Tobye: I love that quote from the film “kung fu panda”  where the master says “the past is history and the future is a mystery, but now is a gift, that’s why they call it the present.”

Our egos like to define us by what happened in the past, usually focusing on pain and pleasure ie; chocolate cake=good, math=bad. This is then used to kinda predict what’s going to happen in the future. Our ego tries to lead us to the good things and guide us away from the bad things.

It gets quite sneaky at coercing us towards the good stuff even though we know it’s really bad.... like chocolate cake.... we say things like “oh, I’ve had a hard day’s work, I deserve a slice of cake!” This is the work of the ego. Or on the opposite side... we wake up in the morning convinced we’re sick and should take the day off.... because there’s something happening at work we know from experience isn’t going to be nice! That’s the ego trying to keep us away from pain.

In yoga (and buddhism) it’s that constant state of either attatchment to pleasure or aversion to pain, that causes us to suffer. And when we bring ourselves into the present moment, there is no past or future for the ego to get caught up in, there’s only the now. The ego loses it’s dominance the more we stay in the now. We find things like going to the dentist aren’t such a big thing anymore....even though there’ll be some discomfort, we’re aware it’s for our own good and we become at ease with it. Instead of sitting in the waiting room sweating about how much pain there’s going to be in the near future, we could just relax and be content to wait.

My yoga teacher in England doesn’t use anything for pain when She goes to the dentist.....yes, She can feel the pain, but She’s able to just put it to one side.... and I have some other yogi/ini friends that had full surgery with no anaesthetic at all!

Of course for the best example of the present moment you’d have to seek advice from Homer Simpson, who was quoted as saying...after realising He had to pay back the money He borrowed;

“ YOU TOLD ME I’D HAVE TO PAY THE LOAN BACK IN THE FUTURE. THIS ISN’T THE FUTURE, IT’S THE LOUSY, STINKING NOW!”

Kathleen: It certainly is amazing how powerful the mind is and how little most of us use the abilities that can be tapped into. Infusing heart energy into the mental projection of thought is, in reality, what creates the physical world around us. What you have shared  are excellent examples of that!

Looking at ‘present moment’ from a different angle now, there is a section in the book, A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle, that is very interesting... it goes as follows:

Through the present moment, you have access to the power of life itself, that which has traditionally been called “God.” As soon as you turn away from it, God ceases to be a reality in your life, and all you are left with is the mental concept of God, which some people believe in and others deny. Even belief in God is only a poor substitute for the living reality of God manifesting every moment of your life.

It would seem, Yogi Tobye, that by this explanation the only place to fully be realized as part of God consciousness is “Now”. That through living in the present moment we can be fully aware of our place in this perceived world and our place in consciousness. Would you have any thoughts regarding this to share?

Yogi Tobye: Ooh that’s deep Kathleen!

When we come into the present moment fully, we’re stopping the fluctuations of the mind. This lets us hear our Soul... our true Self. Our true Self is always united with God, or the universe, universal consciousness etc.

It’s like our small self and the ego is a child and our true Self is the parent ( Mother or Father, or maybe both!). By being in the now, we stop all the “mind stuff” and our “parent” can teach and influence our “child” to do what’s right as well as giving hugs when needed!

Our “parent” is constantly in contact with EVERYTHING and is quite happy to give us all the information we’ll ever need and when we’re in the now, we start listening.

Kathleen: There is one more statement from Eckhart’s book, The New Earth, that I would like for us to address ...

As you already know, your secondary or outer purpose lies within the dimension of time, while your main purpose is inseparable from the Now and therefore requires the negation of time. How are they reconciled? By realizing that your entire life journey ultimately consists of the step you are taking at this moment. There is always only this one step, and so you give it your fullest attention.

Yogi Tobye:  The fundamental truth is that past and future don’t exist... they’re gone and still to come.

Only now exists and if our lives are being influenced by past and future, then our lives are just an illusion of thoughts and ideas which are constantly changing as an example; I remember watching a documentary of Michael Palin travelling around the world. He was in India... in Mumbhai I believe and he couldn’t cross the road. There was no gaps in the traffic and in fact there was no rhyme or reason to the traffic at all! He was eventually taught to just walk across, not looking right or left, but just to look straight ahead and NOT STOP! The traffic just moved around Him as He crossed and He got to the other side safe and sound!

This for me is a perfect example of the idea of just putting one foot in front of the other and having faith!

Kathleen: The reason I brought up the last passage from A New Earth  is that it reminds me of Mindfulness trainings that can be found in Buddhism. Can you clarify some of the parallels between these two theories and/or understandings?

Yogi Tobye: Mindfulness trainings and Eckhart’s book “practising the power of now” are pretty much the same thing...well, to me anyway.

When Tolle had His epiphany laying in bed (I seem to remember He had thoughts of killing Himself and then wondered who He was actually planning to kill...), it gave Him inspiration to get up and start looking at things and asking questions. He did a lot of personal research into Buddhist practices, so I can see how you would draw parallels.

It’s all about really getting to know ourselves inside and out isn’t it? The thing about being in the now, is that we have a chance to view our fluctuating thoughts and to observe how our past actions and our emotions effect us and we can deal with the bad stuff and set it free without carrying it into the future.

Mindfulness is like this as well right? Our minds are like little puppy dogs that’ll poop in the corner if we’re not watching because they don’t know any different. We have to be there watching them at all times leading the way, showing them what’s right and wrong, making sure they have chewy toys, playtime and food etc. Then in time they learn to go outside to poop! But if you’re staring out the window dreaming about being whisked away by Brad Pitt, the poor little puppy is gonna pee up the curtains and get shouted at even though it’s not the puppy’s fault!

The more we become mindful of our emotions and actions etc... the more we come into the now, the easier it becomes to just see the “mindstuff” as it manifests. We can learn to use our minds as a tool without letting them destroy the soft furnishings!

Kathleen: It seems that often, our intentions as we sit down to focus and meditate on how we want our days to go, get blind sided by our own inner dialogue. Some traditions call this, ‘The chattering monkeys’.

Yogi Tobye: Yeah, the chattering monkeys! If you ignore them and carry on regardless, they will eventually go away!

As soon as you make the intention of slowing the fluctuations of your mind, the opposite happens.

Kathleen: Can you give some specific techniques that might be helpful in setting the intention and making this part of the practice?

Yogi Tobye: Buddhists call it “one pointed attention” ... Focus is another way of looking at it. Breath is the easiest thing to focus on. One just brings attention to the inflow and outflow of the breath with a little pause in-between each and maybe relaxing the back of the throat to create what I love to call “ocean breathing”.

When you focus on the breath, the chattering monkey will eventually get bored and stop talking. If you get caught up in your thoughts, you’ve lost the focus on the breath but you can just re-focus and carry on. The practice isn’t about getting it right first time, it’s about learning how to relax the mind gradually, so that it’s stops gripping. People think meditation is about not thinking, but to start with, there’s always loads of stuff going on!

Buddhist monks always look really tranquil when you see them in the lotus posture meditating, but inside they might be fighting against there own chattering monkeys, just by sitting still and having love and patience.

Kathleen: Some traditions also believe that the only thing that really exists is the present moment. Things that occurred in the past only have the power that we give them over us and our present choices. Thoughts of the future….are just that...thoughts.  Here and now is the only place that source comes into our experience. But the chatter of our minds is in the past and future.

Yogi Tobye: I think quantum physicists are starting to realise the same thing actually Kathleen!

The past is quite simply a learning curve.... not something to get caught up in, but to learn from. What we learn from the past influences the future, but the future doesn’t exist yet, it can change completely in the blink of an eye... which is actually why some religions consider fortune telling to be evil... because if you wanna have happiness in the future, the only way you’re going to do it is to focus on here and now.

God, universe, etc only talks with us right now because only now exists and if we’re not focusing ourselves to here and now we can’t listen!

I just remembered that song “one day at a time sweet Jesus, is all I’m asking of you”.

Set your intentions in the here and now and focus on those intentions and your future will be so bright, you’ll have to wear shades Kathleen!