On “Living in the Present”

On “Living in the Present”
Life has only one challenge: the present is painful. This makes living in the present the ultimate question in the philosophy of the mind.
I. The Present Is Complete
Innate wholeness, the luminosity of our own nature
Everyone possesses innate wholeness: unconditional completeness and existence in the present. No striving is needed. Stop seeking outwardly and inwardly.
Everyone has experienced innate wholeness and ultimate tranquility. Only for an instant, like that sliver of blue in an overcast sky.
Life is like lava: there are not only dark karmic obstructions, but also the blazing luminosity of our own nature, flickering through them, impossible to conceal.
Life is like a lotus: there are mud and dirty water, but also green leaves and white blossoms, and those blossoms are the complete luminosity of our own nature.
Completeness at Every Step
The past has always been complete; our own nature has always done its utmost; the present has always been complete.
Complete at every step, flowing with the current at every step, riding the wind at every step, natural at every step.
What does life lack? What is there to regret about the past, to hope for in the future, or to fear in life and death?
II. Where Should We Direct Our Efforts in Healing and Spiritual Practice? Applying Effort Leads Us Astray; Let Things Unfold Naturally
(1) Earlier Essays: “Striving Is a False Concept” and “Spiritual Practice Is a False Concept”
Everyone has already done their utmost. Applying still more effort is attachment. Su Shi’s final words were: “Applying effort leads you astray.” Can human beings control the pace of inner growth? No. The “cessation of contemplation” in Oxhead Chan means recognizing the limits of thought and not clinging to spiritual practice. The *Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp*, “Chan Master Benjing,” says: “The substance of the Way fundamentally requires no cultivation; without cultivation, one naturally accords with the Way. If someone gives rise to the intention to cultivate the Way, that person does not understand the Way.”
When it comes to our inner lives, we do not have much freedom. We cannot control ourselves, because we are more than ourselves: a human being is a part of the universe, the sum of social relations. We have neither that much freedom nor that much responsibility.
(2) Letting Things Unfold Naturally
How does a person return to vitality, fullness, mindfulness, and presence? Genuine healing and change unfold naturally. Applying effort is useless; applying effort leads us astray.
(3) Awareness

1. Awareness Is the Most Important Thing
   The most important things a person does each day—resting, eating, exercising and moving, controlling blood sugar, thinking deeply, ending entanglement in karmic obstructions, and restoring connection with their own nature—all require a high degree of awareness, rather than striving. The *Platform Sutra* says: “Deluded in the preceding thought, one is an ordinary person; awakened in the following thought, one is a Buddha.”
   The things we strive and strain to do each day are often things we do reactively, or troubles we bring upon ourselves. Awareness can lessen the state of karmic obstruction within them.
   But awareness is not something we can control, which is why keeping a diary matters: a state of greater awareness connects with a state of lesser awareness.
2. The “Only” Thing “We” Can “Do” Is Be Aware, Yet Awareness Is Also Beyond Our Control
   We merely move from adding needless distress to healing naturally. Awareness means stepping out of the self-driving mode of karmic obstructions, while ceasing to strive at spiritual practice means stepping out of another layer of karmic obstructions and accepting the autopilot of the libido.
   Liezi said: “Encounters of the spirit become dreams; contact with the physical world becomes affairs. Thus daytime thoughts and nighttime dreams arise from what spirit and body encounter. When the spirit is concentrated, thoughts and dreams naturally subside. What is trusted in waking cannot be conveyed in words; what is trusted in dreams cannot be understood: these are the comings and goings of the transformation of things.”
   Sleeping in the Present:
   Sleep is often when the ego goes off duty and the id comes on duty. Sleeping peacefully means letting the ego go off duty in peace. When the mind is unsettled and caught in fixation, clinging to a phone and insisting on staying awake instead interferes with sleep and “awakening.”
   Sleep when you are tired, making room for the id. Going to sleep before you are tired is an even greater wisdom: following nature.
3. The Fixation on Controlling Breathing and Meditating
   Ultimately, we cannot take over our breathing. The essence of meditation is relaxation, mindfulness, and healing through our own nature. Meditation is not a technique but an outcome and a strategic state. Straining to meditate is itself a failure to relax.
   (4) Where Is Our Freedom?
   Natural at every step, free at every step: freedom is already expressed in every present moment of our lives. Our own nature has already done its utmost in every present moment.
   It is only our karmic obstructions that refuse to accept the present and demand more. Deluded thoughts, attachments, and the ego arise; when the frenzied mind comes to rest, that itself is awakening.
   IV. What Are We Often Doing Before We Move Toward Awareness or Greater Vitality?
   This is a genuinely good question. We write down: I slept, and I feel much better. I went to the park today and felt good. Today I actually finished work I had thought would be difficult, painful, and tedious, and the result was even impressive. (These things are often merely the last bun that finally makes someone feel full.)
   This does not mean we have mastered a method and can now strive. Rather, the subconscious feels more comforted and secure, sensing the luminosity of the id.
   “How People Change Others: Through Connection with Our Own Nature, Rather Than Effort or Coercion”
   When we suggest that others try some small, easy, healing activity, such as keeping a diary or taking a stroll, they may actually do it (they happen to have the mental energy, interest, and disposition for it, though later they stop again) and indeed experience a positive change. This does not mean we have mastered the art of helping people, or that they have mastered the art of “striving.” It is the connection with our own nature itself that is working. People have conveyed a message: in this very moment, we are already “good” enough for one another; we, as human beings, have many experiences of pulling ourselves out of the mire through our own nature, and this time should not be too much of a problem either.
   “From the Perspective of Connection: Striving Is Already a Mistake; Applying Effort Leads Us Astray”: connection is also at the heart of good habits.
   Habits cannot be established by force of effort. Rather, the process is: mental energy recovers -> small things in the present -> mental energy grows, karmic obstructions are worked through, and our own nature shines—a virtuous cycle. Mental energy -> experience -> connection: a natural process. We can only settle into clarity and tranquility, wait for our mental energy to recover, and let healing happen naturally.
   IV. “On the Concrete Practice of Living in the Present”
   (1) See and record the present (2) Do the small things of the present (3) Connect
   V. Karmic Obstructions -> Awakening -> Those Who Reach Stillness First
   At last, we understand the limits of thought and the process of stopping thought, ceasing to strive, and healing naturally.
   Discipline, concentration, wisdom. Uprightness, stillness, clarity, emptiness: an empty room fills with light.
   After awakening, there are often connections with the luminosity of our own nature. Like warm sunlight melting ice, many inner karmic obstructions will heal “more quickly,” and we will continue moving toward “stillness.” Once stillness is reached, we become less entangled in karmic obstructions and encounter fewer blockages; many inner and outer karmic obstructions will be worked through “more quickly.” But many karmic obstructions rooted in material conditions will not disappear, especially those involving money. For example, teacher Zhang Guimei still has to seek sponsorship and cooperate with those above her, compelled by reality.
   Awakening is the turning point at which the soul moves from increasing entropy to decreasing entropy: the true coming of age of a person’s soul. (See the earlier essay “The Singularity of Ascendance in Life’s Five Elements.”)
   Those who have awakened and those who have reached stillness do indeed benefit others, as in *Zhuangzi*: “Benefiting Others Through Stillness.” “Those who reach stillness first” help bring along “those who reach stillness later.” How many they can help depends on circumstances and their natural unfolding. Those who reach stillness first know their objective influence, and also its limits. They do not overstep or imagine themselves capable of controlling another person’s progress. That is why they are called “those who reach stillness first.”
   It is like a baby’s smile, which leaves a whole room of people quiet and entranced. The baby does not know it has this power. Children who know they are cute and make a display of their cuteness are no longer cute, because they have become caught in karmic obstructions, lost their innocence and naturalness, and lost their connection with people’s own nature. Marx and Engels had a radiance of character that brought people tranquility, but they still could not control the revisionist turn of the German Social Democratic Party.
   People whose karmic obstructions are relatively lighter will have some positive influence. Like a good secondary-school teacher, they know the enormous positive influence they have on students, as well as its limits—without deluded thoughts or reckless actions. It is a matter of “affinity.”
   The enormous influence a good teacher has on students also shows the power of our “own nature”: even a slight connection can have a tremendous impact. At the same time, it shows the power of karmic obstructions. See the earlier essay “Sparks Reflecting One Another into Radiance.”
   Much of the knowledge and “ability” in the counseling profession merely records what effects different kinds of counselors objectively have on clients, and how large those effects are. Schools such as psychoanalysis, humanism, and existentialism have all “recognized” that what works is “connection” itself.
   The *Recorded Sayings of Mazu* says: “Be clear and tranquil yourself, and let others become clear and tranquil; be at peace yourself, and let others be at peace.”
   When two ordinary passersby smile in acknowledgment of one another on the street, healing appears in that instant of connection between their own natures.
   As for when the whole world will become tranquil, we can only wait for historical materialism.

VI. The Present Is the Other Shore

1. A Person Has Only One Real World: the Present.
   All reality is in the present. Distinguishing the illusory from the real is awakening from a dream.
   All inner and outer resources, and all ways of engaging with them, are in the present.
   The reality of all affinities, opportunities, and possibilities is in the present.
   All studies and careers begin in the present.
2. The Present Is the Other Shore
   All beautiful experiences can be felt only in the present.
   All freedom, the luminosity of our own nature, and subjectivity can be felt only in the present.
   The Way that can be spoken is not the constant Way. The Way can be felt only in the present.
   Before birth and after death, we are an equal part of the universe. It is because we are born human, with a mind, an ego, and attachments, that we become estranged from the universe. With no deliberate mind, we accord with the Way.
   The luminosity of our own nature, connection with ourselves, and connection with the world are the unity of humanity and nature: unconditional happiness and tranquility here and now. We are always a part of the universe.
   The other shore is in the present. If we do not awaken here and now, when and where will we awaken?
3. Our Own Nature Follows Our Destiny; With No Deliberate Mind, We Accord with the Way
   Withdrawal from the world versus engagement with the world is a false distinction. Thinking about “withdrawal versus engagement” is often merely a way of avoiding the present and breaking our connection with it.
   Engagement with the world and destiny involve both the fate of karmic obstructions, such as earning a living, and the luminous calling of our gifts. Neither is something we can control. Nor has there ever been any so-called withdrawal from the world: even deep mountains and ancient forests do not free us from everyday necessities and capital.
   When a person brings right mindfulness and the right path to their historical calling and luminous calling, without seeking outwardly or indulging in greed, anger, and delusion, this engagement with the world is the ultimate transcendence of worldliness and the ultimate freedom.
   So it was with Marx, Engels, Lenin, Commander Peng Dehuai, and Zhuangzi, as well as countless ordinary people whose own nature shines throughout their everyday lives.
   Bringing one’s own nature into one’s destiny is Zhuangzi’s teaching on nature and destiny. With no deliberate mind, we accord with the Way, with historical materialism and dialectical materialism.
4. Gifts Are Destiny; Destiny Is Gifts
   Everyone’s own nature is complete and equal; differences all arise from circumstances encountered in life. Gifts are destiny, and destiny is gifts. Living in the present, accepting and connecting with destiny, is the only way to connect with our gifts.

VIII. As Things Are, Naturally, Seeking Truth from Facts
This is the destination of Chan Buddhism, Zhuangzi, and Marxism: in fact, there is nothing at all, no attachment; the mind should abide nowhere. Countless members of the petty bourgeoisie break through layer upon layer of karmic obstructions to reach a state that countless ordinary people inhabit naturally.
Mountains are once again mountains. To know the constant is called clarity. Complete at every step, following nature.
No Deliberate Mind, No Attachment
Oxhead Chan: cease contemplation; with no deliberate mind, accord with the Way; the nature of the Way is spontaneous. Mazu’s Chan: the ordinary mind is the Way; being free of preoccupation is Buddhahood. Just walking, standing, sitting, and lying down as we do now, responding to circumstances and engaging with things—all of this is the Way.
In the *Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp*, the Fourth Patriarch instructs Master Farong of the Oxhead school: “Your own nature possesses innate wholeness. There are no three realms to escape, no awakening to seek. Simply let your mind be at ease in whatever circumstances arise. There is no need to visualize or undertake spiritual practice, nor to force the mind into purity and clarity. Be open and unimpeded, moving freely in every direction. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you encounter is an occasion for awakening, always the wondrous functioning of the Buddha. Simply follow your mind freely, without deliberately managing or dealing with anything. This is called the ever-abiding Dharma body; there is no further transformation.”
In *Zhuangzi*, “The Great Ancestral Teacher,” the discussion of sitting in forgetfulness includes Yan Hui’s words: “I let my limbs and body fall away, dismiss perception and understanding, leave form behind and relinquish knowledge, becoming one with the great all-pervading Way. This is called ‘sitting in forgetfulness.’” Confucius says: “In oneness, there are no preferences; in transformation, there is no fixed constancy.”
Unimpeded by the World, Letting the Mind Roam in It
Karmic obstructions inevitably impede us. Only with fewer karmic obstructions can we flow more freely and move with ease.
Zhuangzi speaks of having no ego and no attachment through the example of an “empty boat.” When no one is aboard—when there is no ego and no attachment—whatever one encounters gives rise to no greed, anger, or delusion. The mind is like an untethered empty boat, following the current and the circumstances. Let the mind roam in the world.
The *Platform Sutra* says: “Coming and going freely, with the substance of the mind unobstructed: this is wisdom.” The *Inscription on the Mind* says: “Nature is empty and frees itself; let things unfold, rising and sinking with them. Unchanged by favor or disgrace, choosing no particular dwelling. Unborn, following things, finding a quiet refuge wherever one is. All entanglements cease at once; nothing is held in mind. Unimpeded in what one does, equally at peace in leaving or staying. Stillness does not arise; one is open and free in every direction. Serene in the joy of the Way, wandering freely in what is real.”
Liezi: “My mind became concentrated and my body released; bones and flesh dissolved together. I no longer felt what my body rested upon or what my feet trod. I followed the wind east and west, like a leaf or a dry husk. In the end, I did not know whether the wind was riding me or I was riding the wind.”
Seeking Truth from Facts
Connecting with the world’s complex reality is the only way to “change” the world—or, one might say, this is the calling of those destined by historical materialism, as Marx was. Idealism opposes utilitarianism and vulgarity; it is not fantasy or escape, but bringing one’s whole being into accord with the Way.
The *Tao Te Ching* says: “The myriad things flourish, each returning to its root. Returning to the root is called stillness; stillness is called returning to destiny. Returning to destiny is called constancy; knowing constancy is called clarity. Not knowing constancy, one acts recklessly and brings disaster. Knowing constancy brings inclusiveness; inclusiveness brings impartiality; impartiality brings wholeness; wholeness accords with Heaven; Heaven accords with the Way; the Way endures, and to the end of one’s life there is no peril.”
Marxism speaks of seeking truth from facts: being plain and practical, allowing one’s own way to resonate and connect with the greater Way.

Rebirth in the Present
Live in the present. Whenever we understand the present more deeply and connect with it more fully, we become an entirely new person, taking over an entirely new life. We are reborn again and again, until we connect with destiny and become the protagonist favored by the particular version of our own destiny. Novels about rebirth and traveling into other times or worlds are popular because life itself is an experience of countless such journeys and rebirths. Reincarnation in Buddhist thought originally refers to the arising and passing away of the ego. Nine lifetimes of reincarnation, the hell of unceasing suffering, and finally, full realization.