Below is Eknath Easwaran’s Thought for the Day for January 25. I have these sent to my e-mail automatically each day. It seems that when the ground under my feet is shaky one of these "pearls" will help me take the next step in discovering a way to change my experience. Ponder this message. I need to take a nice long walk in this cold winter day to feel what is happening Now.
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid . . . for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. – Deuteronomy
Whenever we worry about something in the past or the future, we are setting up our own little haunted house and peopling it with our own special ghosts.
Most of us live very little in the present. If we could watch our thoughts, we would be surprised to see how much time we spend in the past or future – or simply daydreaming, out of time altogether.
Very seldom can we say we are fully present in the present moment. Yet now is the only time there is. The present is all we have. If we feel we don’t have enough time, the first thing to do is not throw it away. Instead of ceding it to the past and future, we can take steps to give our undivided interest to here and now.
Attention flowing to the past is not energy used; it is energy wasted. The same is true of the future: looking forward to things, worrying about what might happen, fantasizing about dreams coming true is energy drained away. When the mind stays in the present, all this vitality comes back to us.
The Thought for the Day is today's entry from Eknath Easwaran's Words to Live By.
(Copyright 1999 & 2005 by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.)
