QUESTION-ANSWER Series between Prem Kumar and Surinder
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Question from Prem Kumar:
Our mind swings between past and future all the time. The oscillations must be brought to rest if we want to experience spirituality in the moment of 'now'. I think all outside activities have to be brought to zero in mind to see the 'now' moment. I cannot bring all outside activities to zero. How to achieve it ?” Prem
My Answer:
As long as you are identified with your mind, past and future will remain part of you. If you become identified with consciousness, you can develop capability to ‘ignore’ past and future (past and future cannot disappear). Total disappearance of past and future occurs only during the state of *समाधी (Samadhi), when you can become completely identified with the present. The present moment is शुनियाता (Shuniyata)—a state of pure Consciousness. Once out of Samadhi, the past and future spring up again. Yes, you can push them to the periphery of your mind by practice (by साधना - Sadhana), but that capability occurs only after you become identified with the consciousness in the first place. (*Consciousness sees no past or future—consciousness is a pure now; it is a raw thought, therefore, it appears as शुनियाता (as a Void). The past and future are projections drawn from a point of now. All the restlessness of the mind (the regrets of the past, and the worries of the future) occurs in the projected area.
(*Samadhi is a Sanskrit word, there is no equivalent word in English. The closest I could go, is something as follows: It is a non-dualistic state of consciousness experienced by a person who has willfully focused his complete attention on an object or an idea in such a way that the consciousness of the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object. It is a state in which the mind becomes completely still (voided) though the person remains relaxed, conscious, and happy.)
Surinder
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