What "The Now" is actualy?

[lemex]

If there is no past, did our ancestors exist in the past?

Clearly the now is relative, but why?

[wstein]

Originally Posted by lemex

If there is no past, did our ancestors exist in the past?

Clearly the now is relative, but why?

Assuming you are a typical human, your ancestors existed in YOUR past.

Now is relative because you can't perceive the totality of this universe (i.e. all of what you call time), in order to deal with this limitation you set up a reference system to instill a sense of where you are within the whole. Having such a guidance system is much better and more effective than wandering about at random.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Soul_Surfer

So couple of days ago i was trying to create a new mantra for my meditation practice. And i started to repeat in my mind: " there is only now". But then i started to contemplate what was i actualy thinking and then it hit me. Past and Future are only in our heads, and Now/present, is an arbitrary point between the two. And since today tomorrow becomes yesterday, thus it is fair to say that present is as elusive as past and future after all. Apparently it's no more real than the other two. I mean, my mind makes it appear to be real, but so it does the other two appear to be. Wouldn't You agree?

The now for me exists in each in-breath and out-breath.

[MARDAV70]

All this talk of "now" is relative to time. Time is a product of the physical world. "Now we can study, learn and produce" is relative to a vast period of time. "Now we are at the age of schooling" is relative to decades. "Now we are in high school" is relative to several years. "Now we are in our senior year" is relative to less than a year. "Now we graduate" is relative to an hour or two. "Now I am given my diploma" is relative to a few seconds. What about that millisecond before we receive the diploma? It's in the future. What about the millisecond after the diploma is placed in our hands? It's in the past. It's passage of time, and it's relevant only to what we experience as physical beings in a physical world.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, eras...all created and marked by the human mind...where the ego exists. What of all that after consciousness is released from it's physical vessel? They have no use and don't exist in that place because those "markings of times" don't exist there because there is no "time" there...at least as we know it. But, perhaps that place is the only place where the "now" really, truly exists.

[no1wakesup]

Originally Posted by Soul_Surfer

So couple of days ago i was trying to create a new mantra for my meditation practice. And i started to repeat in my mind: " there is only now". But then i started to contemplate what was i actualy thinking and then it hit me. Past and Future are only in our heads, and Now/present, is an arbitrary point between the two. And since today tomorrow becomes yesterday, thus it is fair to say that present is as elusive as past and future after all. Apparently it's no more real than the other two. I mean, my mind makes it appear to be real, but so it does the other two appear to be. Wouldn't You agree?

This is common when interpreting the "now" within the perception of past and future. That now is based on linear time and serves as an outcome of further mind made interpretations. There is no duality of "future" or "past" that can provide you with any now that is authentic.

A better question would be:

Whats present behind that "now" now?

[shivatar]

Originally Posted by Soul_Surfer

So couple of days ago i was trying to create a new mantra for my meditation practice. And i started to repeat in my mind: " there is only now". But then i started to contemplate what was i actualy thinking and then it hit me. Past and Future are only in our heads, and Now/present, is an arbitrary point between the two. And since today tomorrow becomes yesterday, thus it is fair to say that present is as elusive as past and future after all. Apparently it's no more real than the other two. I mean, my mind makes it appear to be real, but so it does the other two appear to be. Wouldn't You agree?

The now is the only thing that's real. the past and future are constructs but not real. The past is more real than the future because it's memories of things that have been. Anything about the future is a thought that could be. The past isn't real because we are always in the now, only contemplating the past. The past never comes back when we recollect it, we only experience it again in a new now. There is only an endless success of nows. Life is only now.

I've come to realize this from a first person perspective. I read it first naturally, but came to recognize it was true during some spiritual visions deep in meditation. Also I've tried really hard to experience something other than the now and it's impossible, all we can experience is thoughts of something other than now. However convincing those thoughts are we are always in the same now. Time can dilate based off our concentration. Intense concentration can seem to slow down time, not paying enough can make it speed up. However the now is always a constant speed, it's always our perspective that changes and that is due to our concentration on our thoughts.

[wstein]

Originally Posted by shivatar

The now is the only thing that's real. the past and future are constructs but not real. The past is more real than the future because it's memories of things that have been. Anything about the future is a thought that could be. The past isn't real because we are always in the now, only contemplating the past. The past never comes back when we recollect it, we only experience it again in a new now. There is only an endless success of nows. Life is only now.

I've come to realize this from a first person perspective. I read it first naturally, but came to recognize it was true during some spiritual visions deep in meditation. Also I've tried really hard to experience something other than the now and it's impossible, all we can experience is thoughts of something other than now. However convincing those thoughts are we are always in the same now. Time can dilate based off our concentration. Intense concentration can seem to slow down time, not paying enough can make it speed up. However the now is always a constant speed, it's always our perspective that changes and that is due to our concentration on our thoughts.

The above only makes sense from within the confines of time. 'Now' is NOT a singular moment in time. Outside of time, the now is whatever is affecting you. The timestamp on those things (affecting you) is irrelevant. The 'speed' of now is only limited by how fast you can change your perception.

I know it seems that you are in a series of moments where you live your 'life'. It seems some moments have occurred and some are yet to come. In a sense its true (from the in time point of view). Actually all the moments of your entire life have already occurred, all of them now. You lived them (already). To see the truth of this meditate on being outside of time, view your life from a timeless perspective.