First of all, we have to realize that living in the present moment and focusing our minds on the present moment is not a simple thing. It is very hard but it is also an achievable target. Buddha taught us: “You should not chase after the past and also you should not make too many expectations about the future. Past is left behind, it is over. The future is yet to come, it hasn’t been reached yet. What you have to do is live in the present moment and see the present moment as it is.”
The mind always runs to the past naturally
It is very hard to focus your mind on the present moment. The nature of the mind is it always runs to the past. Normally, our mind has a habit to wander past memories.
When we are alone or in solitude, our mind runs to the past naturally. Our mind lives in the memories with regret, happiness, or sadness… so that is the nature of our mind. It is always wandering in the past.
Sometimes our minds try to make too many expectations about the future. People dream too much about their future but they do not work for the dreams to come true.
You should not let your mind wander in the past as well as you should not let your mind go to the future and make too many expectations. What you have to do is work in the present moment to make your future better as well as to make your past better because when you live correctly in the present moment, your past will be a good one and your future will also be a good one because you are doing the right thing right now.
Practice meditation
So you need to have good practice to focus your mind on the present moment so it should be practiced through meditation. Here are some tricks that you should practice in your life to be in the present moment:
When you have free time, dedicate yourself to living in the present moment for a little time during the day. Even on a busy day, try to allocate time few minutes to live in the present moment.
- Sit on a chair.
- You can close your eyes and remind yourself that you are in the present moment.
- Remind yourself that you are not in your past.
- Remind yourself that you are not in your future.
- You are in the present moment.
- That is the reality.
- The past has gone as well as… the future hasn’t come yet.
- Close your eyes and just try to focus your mind on the present moment.
- Try to think about what you feel, what you hear, and what you think right now.
The best way to focus your mind on the present moment is through a breathing meditation. It is one of the best meditations that bring your mind from the arena of the past or the future to the present moment. When you are focusing on the breath, the breath arises and goes down so this breath prevails in the present. So when you focus your mind on the breath, your mind is always in the present moment.
Make “Living in the present moment” a part of your daily routine
You have to practice living in the present moment in your day-to-day life. It is very beneficial to live in the present when you are in hard times or going through a problem.
Now suppose a person comes to you and starts blaming you. When he is blaming you, you hear that sound. After that, it has gone to the arena of the past, those words are not prevailing anymore. But our mind does not like to think that, our mind clings to those words. It tries to hold on to those words and what our mind does is it always makes a loop-like thing to bring back all those words again and again. That is why we are suffering. If we can realize the reality that all these words that I heard have gone to the past, they are no longer here anymore. Then you don’t want to suffer for anything because it has gone to the past. You cannot do anything about that but our mind is not ready for that, our mind tries to cling to those words so what do you have to do when someone blames you or when you are going through a hard time realize that all those things are impermanent and it vanishes very quickly from your life.
Have a plan. Not a dream.
So if you are living in the present moment correctly, doing the correct thing, you don’t want to worry about the past as well as you don’t want to worry about the future.
Of course, you can make plans for the future but do not dream too much about it. The more we dream, is like we are stopping our vehicle and just looking at the road without driving. You are stopping your vehicle on the road and looking at the vehicles that pass by.
You can make your plans. You can make your goals but do not dream too much about them, just start working for them. The dream becomes a goal when you are working on it. So if you can live in the present, doing the correct thing, doing what should be done now, you don’t want to worry about the past as well as you don’t want to worry about the future. So in that way, you will have a life without regret and be happy with your life.
