power of now

But the belief that the future will be better than the present is not always an illusion.
The present can be dreadful, and things can get better in the future, and often they do.
Usually, the future is a replica of the past. Superficial changes are possible, but real
transformation is rare and depends upon whether you can become present enough to
dissolve the past by accessing the power of the Now. What you perceive as future is
an intrinsic part of your state of consciousness now. If your mind carries a heavy
burden of past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself
through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what
shapes the future - which, of course, can only be experienced as the Now.
You may win $10 million, but that kind of change is no more than skin deep. You
would simply continue to act out the same conditioned patterns in more luxurious
surroundings. Humans have learned to split the atom. Instead of killing ten or twenty
people with a wooden club, one person can now kill a million just by pushing a
button. Is that real change?
If it is the quality of your consciousness at this moment that determines the future,
then what is it that determines the quality of your consciousness? Your degree of
presence. So the only place where true change can occur and where the past can be
dissolved is the Now.
All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the
present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too
much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness,
bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not
enough presence.
Most people find it difficult to believe that a state of consciousness totally free of all
negativity is possible. And yet this is the liberated state to which all spiritual
teachings point. It is the promise of salvation, not in an illusory future but right here
and now.