The Eternal Now

What is this “Eternal Now”? What does Eternal Now even mean?

It’s a difficult concept for people to get. How can something Eternal be Now? It’s because, eternal means it’s outside of time; therefore, it is separate from our everyday concept of linear time.

Most of us are so caught up in our daily lives and activities that we lose touch with the eternal now. The funny thing is, even religious or spiritual people, dedicated to attaining enlightenment or salvation forget this.

Who is Trying To Be Happy?

The problem with trying to be enlightened is we are attempting it in the field of time; while what we are seeking is outside the field of time.

We then have to ask, who it that is trying to attain enlightenment? It’s the ego. But the irony is the ego doesn’t exist. It’s a mirage, an illusion, something we made up because we so desperately need something to cling to. Without it, we feel we are floating in a void with nothing to ground us. Once we create it we become so attached to it that we’ll defend it at any cost. It’s like a god to us.

But this god is failing us. We are not content; we are not happy and we can’t figure out why. Are we perhaps worshipping a false god?

We sense there is more to life, but we can’t figure out what or where it is.

We think if we could just acquire this new thing or attain that next goal we will be happy, but when we get either, we aren’t any happier. Maybe we are for a short time, but it doesn’t last. Then we are off after the next thing we think will make us happy.

The Path to Unhappiness

When I was teaching I asked my students if they were happy. Most indicated they weren’t, but expected to be when they graduated and got their degree. I asked them how many people they knew  were genuinely happy with their lives. They said, “not many”.

I told them this is how it goes for most people.  They think like you, that when they get out of school they will be happy, but they aren’t,

Then they think when they get a good paying job, they’ll be happy, but they aren’t

They think when they find the right person, that’ll do it, but it doesn’t.

Maybe when they start a family, that will make them happy, but it doesn’t.

Finally, they think when they retire that will be the ticket, but it isn’t.

Now the only thing left for them to say is, well, maybe when I die, I’ll be happy. Of course, most people don’t carry it that far, but they might as well because they have never really lived. They chased someone else’s idea of what a “happy” life would be rather than checking in with themselves to discover what that life might be.

Make Sure You Are Climbing the Right Mountain

The mythologist, Joseph Campbell talked of someone spending their entire life climbing a certain mountain only to realize when they reached the top, that they had spent their whole life climbing the wrong mountain, and thus living the wrong life.

It’s not that doing any of those things I mentioned, going to school, getting a well-paying job, getting married, having a family and so on, are in themselves bad things to do. The question is, are you climbing the wrong mountain while attaining them? Are you living your life or someone else’s conception of what your life should be?

If you don’t at least have a good sense of who you are, you will most likely be climbing the wrong mountain.

If You Aren’t Happy Now, You Aren’t Happy

As I told my students, if you aren’t happy now, then you aren’t happy. If you are not happy sitting in this classroom, you probably aren’t going to be any happier when the class is over. You will just carry that discontent with you wherever you go.

The Eternal Now means there is no future and no past. Those are just thoughts in your head. Illusions and mirages that float through your mind. The only thing that is real is Now and until we can live in it, we can’t be happy. If we can’t face the fact we are unhappy now, we have no chance of ever being happy.

We have to ask ourselves, who is it that wants to be happy? It’s the “I” or the ego that wants it. So it constructs all these elaborate ways for us to be happy, but none of them work. The “I” that is doing all this planning and plotting for our happiness is exactly what is preventing us from being happy. It’s like the dog chasing its tail.

Can Selfish Motives Lead to Unselfish Happiness?

The ego by its nature is selfish and has selfish motives for trying to attain true happiness which is defined as a state of unattached selflessness. It’s an impossible task. How can a selfish ego attain a state of unattached unselfishness?

It’s like in Buddhism, where the Buddha tells us that our suffering is caused by desire and only when we rid ourselves of desire can we end suffering. So we work hard to get rid of our desire. But we can’t because desiring to get rid of desire, is just another desire. How do we get rid of that? It’s a paradox.

Can We Accept Ourselves As We Are?

It all comes down to having to accept ourselves as we are, and not trying to change anything. If we think we are too opinionated, judgmental or whatever, and strive to get rid of those nasty characteristics, we can’t. The entity that is trying to get rid of these traits is the entity that has these traits. It can’t get rid of those traits without getting rid of itself, something the ego doesn’t want to do. It’s running a con game on us.  It’s like trying to bite our own teeth or look into our own eyes (without a mirror).

We can’t get anywhere until we just accept this is who we are. When we can sit with that, then something mysterious begins to happen. A sense of calmness and serenity comes over us and those traits begin to vanish in the mist, as if by magic.

So, the point is not to beat ourselves up when these negative feelings overtake us, but rather to just be with them.

We Must Experience Ourselves, Warts and All

Feel the feelings that come up and don’t run from them. Accept that is who we are, at least at this moment. Gradually those feelings will begin to dissipate and we’ll wonder where they went. It might even be a little scary because we are so identified with them that when they go, we may feel a little lost, not knowing who we are anymore.

We don’t want to run away from that uncertainty either. We have to stay with those new feelings and ride them out also. We soon realize that all those thoughts and feeling that keep coming and going, the good ones and the bad ones, are not who we really are. Who we are is beyond all of that.

It’s All Just a Show Between the Ears

Who we really are is the Witness who is aware of everything, meaning all the thoughts and feelings that run continuously through us. Then we realize that all of this is just a show between our ears. It’s like a movie playing out before our awareness. It is what the Hindus call “Maya” which means illusion. Not that our thoughts and feelings aren’t real, because they are, but only for the moment, then they pass and are gone.

We then realize the only reality is the Eternal Now, and if we don’t embrace it, if we keep running away from it because we don’t like what it is telling us about ourselves, then we will stay on this cosmic merry-go-round for our entire lives, never having really lived.

There is nothing we can do to transform our nature, but accept it. Don’t run away from it. If we can live in the eternal now and accept what comes along, then we will be well on our way to happier, more fulfilling life.

Most religions tell us we have to behave this way and do these things to get to heaven or to reach salvation, but as Joseph Campbell pointed out, if you don’t get it Now, you won’t get it. If you can’t attain heaven in this life, you aren’t going to attain it in the afterlife. It’s Now or never.

To learn more about the magic of the universe: Click this link: The Magical Universe. 

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash