Live in the magic of the present moment

Two thousand years ago, a penniless prophet and the greatest person the world has ever seen, was wandering through a stony country where the people had a hard time making a living. One day a crowd gathered about him on a hill, and he gave what is probably the most-quoted speech ever delivered at any time. This speech contains twenty-six words that have gone ringing down across the centuries: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

There is only one minute in which you live, this minute here and now. Live every moment of your life to the fullest. As you traverse the landscape of life, you must smell the roses, for you get only one chance to live. As the existentialist philosopher Albert Camus wrote, “Real generosity towards future consists in giving all to what is present.” Start doing what you want to do right now. We are just tenants in the tent of time. We have just this instant twinkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake to vanish into thin air.

Delight in the fact of your existence. Enjoy the uniqueness of your being and living. Each moment is a precious diamond in itself. Do not waste this precious treasure. In this context one is reminded of the insightful words of the late Bollywood star, Dev Anand, the evergreen hero, the ever-flowing fountain of unflagging energy and effervescent youthfulness: “I live for the moment. I have been through it all and know how to handle it. Live in the moment, enjoy the moment, because if you don’t, you’ll miss out and trust me, nothing can bring back time lost.”

Living in the present moment requires great mental poise and emotional balance. The difficulties inherent in living in the present moment can be illustrated by an analogy. Think of yourself in a concert hall listening to the strains of the sweetest music when you suddenly remember that you forgot to lock your car. You are anxious about the car, you cannot walk out of the hall and you cannot enjoy the music. Then you have a perfect image of life as it is lived by most human beings. For life to those who have the ear to hear is symphony; but very, very rare indeed is the human being who hears the music. Why? Because they are busy listening to the noises that their conditioning and their programming have put in their heads. Those who live in the magic of the present moment find their eternity in each moment. The wise man seizes the treasures of the present moment. The great French Marshal Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow-growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshal replied: “In that case, there is no time to lose, plant it this afternoon.”

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.