What do you see in the word, "now"?

If you had to define the word now, how would you do it?

How do you describe now, in the form of presence?

If you are describing now, in the form of presence, could you describe now in the form of future presence, or past presence?

I am having a hard time buying into this philosophy of living in the now. I understand that now is what matters, but how far does it really go?

reply to post by onequestion


I can't answer your question about now, but everything is now. Rather every persons individuality is a collection made up by personal experience. So what are you doing now?

Originally posted by onequestion
What do you see in the word, "now"?

In the word "NOW", I see 3 letters ... "N", "O" and "W".
Those same exact letters can be re-arranged to form the acronym ... "NWO", as in "New World Order".

Coincidence? Perhaps not.

[edit on 2010-6-10 by EnhancedInterrogator]

reply to post by EnhancedInterrogator


I like it! lol. You may be on to something. Would that alter your perspective?

Second line.

reply to post by onequestion

I am having a hard time buying into this philosophy of living in the now.
I understand that now is what matters, but how far does it really go?

Let me reframe the idea for you: Imagine that you are driving on the freeway, on the way to a date with a girl. There's an accident, and you get stuck in traffic. So you immediately start worrying about what your date will think if you're late to pick her up. You're focusing on the future. Does it serve you to do so? Do you in any way benefit from worrying now about what will happen later?

Eventually you pick up the girl and go to a nice restaurant. Over dinner, you're thinking back on a terrible date you had several years ago during which you made a complete fool of yourself. You're now focusing on the past. Does it serve you to do so?

Does expreiencing stress and worry now over things that may or may nor happen later benefit you in any way? Does pulling out anxiety fromyour past and re-living it in the now help you at all? Does it bring you joy? Does it help you to function better?

What if instead of living emotions of the past and future, you focus on your experience right now?

reply to post by 12.21.12


So everyone and everything exist within the same time fractal, which is described as "now"? This includes everyone we consider as past, or everyone who will be considered as future?

So if i live in the "now", will i be able to meet everyone who has died? Have you actually had a full "now" experience, or not?

reply to post by onequestion


I see now as where we are existing, physically, at this precise moment.

But the past and future can indeed both exist in the now because we can think about the past and the future while we are living in this moment.

I don't see the point of this post.

reply to post by onequestion


If you want but you can only do so many things at once, and if you want to see somebody that probably requires travel and you can only be in one place at a time.

reply to post by LordBucket


Do i really have to have a negative feeling towards a past or future present?

Why can't we use a past or future present as a guide for a present now? Wouldn't the past recognition actually be the stabilizing factor in the now? I mean, if we never had our subconscious processing information and comparing it to the past, how would our mind construct a current reality? Whats your earliest memory?

reply to post by catwhoknows


But by looking, does that not imply that i am looking into the future, however small?

Second line.

reply to post by onequestion


I have already said that now includes the past and the future and I still do not get the point of this post.

Just what are you asking, or trying to prove?

reply to post by catwhoknows


If you don't get the point move on. If your going to state a fact, explain the fact. How do the past and future exist in the now?

If you don't understand the point of reflecting your thoughts off of someone elses then mybe you shouldn't be on a discussion forum where people reflect and express.

Go project negativity were it is welcome.

Originally posted by onequestion
reply to post by 12.21.12

 

So everyone and everything exist within the same time fractal, which is described as "now"? This includes everyone we consider as past, or everyone who will be considered as future?

So if i live in the "now", will i be able to meet everyone who has died? Have you actually had a full "now" experience, or not?

Everything that existed in the past, did so only in the present. The content of reality changes in linear time obviously, but linear time is experienced by your cognitive mind, your ego, your sense of being separate from everything else, your looking backwards and forwards. In reality, you and "everyone who has died" are the same. The thinking mind constructs the ego to separate things, events, time. But there actually is no time at all. Now is not a time, it just is. Separating your egoic conception of reality from your consciousness (or awareness, or presence) is the essence of meditation.

reply to post by onequestion


Firstly, thanks for telling me to piss off.

Secondly, thanks for telling me I am wrong, when I was agreeing your points about past and future.

Thirdly, I still do not understand your original question, and neither do you.

Fourthly, I am used to adolescent abuse.

reply to post by yuefo


Does memory not play a roll in the now? If i didn't know what a computer was, how could i recognize it? By accessing the part of my memory that tells me what a computer is, am i not using the past?

Do you live in a different town then any immediate family members? Do you forget them when they are not in your now?

reply to post by onequestion

Do i really have to have a negative feeling
towards a past or future present?

No. But if you do, do you see how that might detract from your experience of what's going on in your life right now? Even if the feelings are pleasant, do you see how that might still detract?

Living in the now might not be the end-all-be-all final and only thing you have to do be happy, unite with god, win the lottery and have a big home with a white picket fence.

Nevertheless, it is a useful idea that some people may find helpful in overcoming some of their difficulties in life.

Does it need to be any more than that?

Why can't we...
Wouldn't the ...
I mean, if we...
how would...
Whats your...

More to the point, what's your intent with this thread? Are you seeking to gain an understanding of how living in the now might be useful? If so, none of these questions you've asked are likely to help you realize that goal.

reply to post by onequestion


Memories play a part in your egoic self's cognitive activities. Thoughts, memories are antithetical to the now. If you are in the now, it means that you aren't thinking, or at least for a few moments here and there you have broken with your conditioned mind to simply experience the now.

As for your family, if you are in the now, there's nothing to forget because recalling things, memory, is a function of the ego--it is not something that can coexist with awareness of reality (now). What's tripping you up is that it's difficult to separate the conditioned (and useful) functions of the mind. The now is experiential, whereas the past and future are products of the thinking mind.

reply to post by onequestion


I see Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.............ow!

And then I looked again and saw Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo w!

But I didn't see Nnnnnnnnnnnn Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Ooooooooooo!

Cuz it is not time, NOW, for NWO.

And I suppose this is some question about "now" whatever that means.
There is no now, only in your own mind. All is and always has been, and anytime you want to visit a particular "now", I suppose you can.

Yesterday, now and tomorrow are just constraints that keep us from what is, and has always been and always will be.

Meanwhile, I am leaving, now, and will be back "later". Or I already have been here.

A lot of us are obsessed with facts and research.

But why does it become taboo to discuss abstract concepts?

Some of our research depends on discussing abstract concepts in order to gather information and to pass that information on to others.

For me is Now just exact THAT Nanosecond! And that Nanosecond is now the past.