NEVER LOOK BACK

"Never look back.  Something might be gaining on you," the old saying goes.  What might be gaining on you is who you have been.  The trouble is, who you have been is not who you are now or who you will be in the future.

Yet, it is difficult for us to see ourselves in the present moment, because Now is, well, when is it?  It's so fleeting, it's hard to pin down, hence hard to pin ourselves down to that one moment in time.

Seeing ourselves as a collage is much easier, as a blend of who we have been and who we imagine ourselves to be in the years ahead.  This is for the simple reason that for most of us there is more to work with when we draw on the past and on the future.

Unfortunately, this collage, while satisfying, is false.  It's a contrived self.  It's like a writer who pens a novel and sends it off to a publisher, only to have it land back at his doorstep with the words "too contrived" on it.  This means that the story was not convincing.  It didn't ring true.  Likewise our collage self doesn't work either.  It's not believable, even if we like it.

The answer is to just be present, as basic as that sounds.  Just stop and look where you are.  Use a candle as an aid.  Focus on the flame.  The flame is happening now, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but now.

Next, turn your attention from the candle inward.  The person you find there is plain consciousness, pure consciousness, which is who you are, truly, the eternal you, the present moment itself.