Present

“Inhale the future without any expectation, hold the present and exhale the past without any regret” roared the wall of one of my friends in Facebook. Seriously, is that what these processes mean in our lives? Are we supposed to remember the future when we inhale, think of present when we hold air inside of us and release the past when we exhale air out? I have heard, when we inhale we make a sound “So” and when we exhale we make a sound “ham” together makes a sound “Soham” which means “I am He” reminding us that we are no different than the Universal Absolute. My Guru says, “Experiencing that truth is realization”. As I mentioned elsewhere life is like an equation where both the question and answer are known but only the process to get the answer is left for us to figure out.

Let us take inhalation first. Can anyone do inhalation for a prolonged period of time? The good Yoga practitioners are advising us that anyone who can average 4-6 cycles in a minute (i.e. inhalation, retention and exhalation together) will move towards healthy lifestyle. Similarly, dreaming about the future at best can be restricted only for motivation, visualization and plan actualization. Any more attempt at best will be whimsical. Dreaming about the future is required but prolonged dreaming of the future deprives the present that needs to be better utilized. The capacity to hold air in our lungs is limited and similarly, our capacity to plan the future is very limited. The future plan is more associated with our creativity, quest for enlightenment, pursuit of knowledge and the desire to perform to the full potential. But future is mystery and is subject to change based on prevailing conditions. We have to be ready to change in a heartbeat.

The next is exhalation. Can we exhale forever? The lung’s ability to exhale is limited to the air that is retained in the lungs during exhalation. Actually, the Yoga practitioners advise that exhalation has to be a little longer than the inhalation even though some are retained by the body. It is also absolutely essential to let go our past without any regret. It is the retention of the past that troubles us the most than anything else in our lives. Anything that negatively impacted our lives should be eliminated through introspection. The process of retaining what the body needs is done by the lungs and the process of retaining what we need has to be done by our discriminative faculty. When we dwell in the past, we are denying new information to enter our mind that could make significant change to our lives. The past is history and can never be changed no matter how much time we spend on it. Once we have learned the lessons out of it, the legacy has no value.

The next is holding the air i.e. living in the present moment. That is the sustaining energy without which life will cease to exist. 86,400 seconds are deposited into our bank when the sun rises every morning. What we do with it is our free will. Every second is vociferous notifying us about the clock that is ticking. Sometimes, we may need to use it for actualizing and other times, we may have to use it for introspecting the past but most of it should be used to enhance our happiness and that can’t be done unless we install our inherent quality of love deep inside our heart. Having a meaningful life is directly proportional to how happy we are after all! Some of these moments could be used to express our gratitude or say thanks or sorry to a dear friend or family or have a cup of tea with our dear life partner or cry out loud to let go our anger, ego, greed, hatred and jealousy or to smell a flower or to get lost in the beauty of the creation. Present is a gift and that is why we call it “present”. When we are determined to be happy every moment, it becomes a habit that helps us climb the steps towards the Blissful State. It is how we utilize every moment in our life, how we handle situations that are presented to us and how we learn our lessons out of experiences that build our character.

If we are inspired and enjoy every moment of life, it will activate the Consciousness in us. We can neither be depressed nor anxious but be enthusiastic. If life is a game, it is best to play it without any inhibitions.

 

Dear Poetlatha,

Thank you for your first comments to this snippet. Becoming depressed about the past and becoming anxious about the future are the two mistakes one can make. Living in digesting that present moment is equivalent of retaining air and allowing it to provide energy to our body.

Thank you also for your appreciative words. Vazhga Pallandu with your family and poems.

Viswa

 

Dear Sabitha,

Keeping the mind in the present moment is really hard and it comes naturally to you! I often wonder how you do that most of the time if not all of the time! Our mind is a cauldron of thoughts and even when I sit silently, it takes me on a roller coaster ride. With an out of shape body and ever thinking mind, how do I become mindful of what is in present? I need a rein and that can be obtained only through focus.

I have done one exercise regularly. Whenever I am overwhelmed with thoughts that are disturbing, I have stepped out to look at the nature or watch the birds or do something that I really like to do. It is like pouring water into the boiling milk. The mind quickly restores normalcy. It is amazing how we can easily divert the mind.

Viswa

 

@Aria,



I went back and reread my post to check whether I said "game" or "gamble". You scared me a little.

Yes. We have to play the game of life. The rule of the game varies from person to person and we have to play with someone who has a different set of rules sometimes. In an interdependent world, we can't play it alone. When the opponent flout the rule, we have to forgive and when we by mistake flout the rule, we have to apologize. The wins have to be celebrated moderately without earthworm dances and the losses have to be taken on the stride without tears. Sometimes, we lose the game by a last minute field goal but that is reality. There is always an another time.

Viswa

 

Dear Poetlatha,

What age has to do with sending wishes? A genuine heart is worth a million and it is like a lotus with thousand petals. I will never mistake you for sending wishes.

It is so kind of you to say such wonderful words of appreciation. I am truly humbled. If we divide the day into 86,400 segments and if we are determined to be happy every second no matter what life holds for us, that attitude would make us feel fulfilled. Let God bless you with a lot of happiness, health and wealth.

Viswa