There Is Nothing Behind The Curtain Of Now

Coming to recognize and reconcile with the truth that there is literally no past and no future has big implications. It means that nothing has ever happened. If you want freedom you have to see that you have no history. This means your ‘poor me’ history and your ‘great me’ history are myths. And if they are myths then they are meaningless and they hold no sway over you now - you are free. When I say all there is, is now, it is not a spiritual platitude, like ‘be in the now.’ It is true. There is no past, period. There is no future, period. Time is a mind created concept appearing in the eternal here and now. The only thing you actually know, the only thing you cannot deny and that needs no thought at all to know, and the only thing that is actual is, here and now I am - this knowing that knows itself. And this knowing is not of a 'self', the time created myth of me. It is no thing, simply what is here and now, knowing all of the appearances that come and go.

Inquirer -You were making a comment on one of the old audios that there is only now and everything appears and disappears moment to moment. I said I had read that the universe arises and disappears and you said yes, I had an experience and recognized that. My response was that I can only believe that, I can understand the concept. What was that experience and how does one get there?

One doesn't get there; it just happened spontaneously. But that experience doesn't matter at all. Clearly there is only now, and clearly everything is just appearing now. If you get the mind out of the picture for a moment—the mind that says this now has something to do with the past and is heading into the future, like, I can't be happy now because of something that happened to me in the past but I am going to be better or more enlightened in the future—then the only thing that is actual is now. All else is thought. It is using a concept called past and future and painting a picture that is not actual now. So don't do that for a moment at all. Really, don't do it and just look here now. What do you actually know about what is here and now?

The only thing you can truly say, the only thing you actually know is that here and now what is, is. If you are honest, the only thing you can say is that what is appearing now is appearing now. Anything other than that you need to use some kind of concept based on time. Is that clear?

Inquirer -Yes, that's clear.

If you jump off the carousel of that conceptual philosophizing, then what is appearing has to be appearing now only; it is the only thing you can honestly say. It's a big step for most people because it is very stark. There is nothing; it doesn't give you anything to hold on to as far as knowledge or philosophy, like knowing where you came from or where you are going. So in this way it is the unknown, and that can seem to be an insecure position. But, the concepts of past and future are in fact not secure, because they do not exist and in that way can not be depended on at all. The only thing that can be known, or depended on, is now. So in truth it is the only actual security.

Another way to say it simply is - what is, is. Not what is, is because it came from the big bang 4 billion years ago. Not what is, is because of something that happened in the past, karma, etc,. What is, is - PERIOD. No past - PERIOD. No reason. No meaning.

There is nothing behind the curtain of this moment. There is no past. There is no future. If you say there is, where is it?? In the play of life, all of these things like time and past appear to exist, in the play, here and now. But they have no empirical truth or fact. There is nothing to substantiate to your so-called past except some vague thoughts that are not even dependable. And there is no proof of any future except your projections of hope and imagination.

But this here and now is clearly known, it cannot be denied. It does not need the concept of time, it does not need thoughts and memories, it just is. The play of life is an appearance. Images on the movie screen appear to be real, but there is nothing substantial to them. The only thing that is, is the screen. Now is that screen. Knowing is the screen. What is appearing now, including ideas of past and future, is an insubstantial image, appearing, like a movie, now. Like the movie, it appears and dissolves now, not coming from anywhere and not going anywhere.

The reason you would want to know that there is only here and now is because you want to know what is true. And in coming to know this, you see that this story of self is not true. And if it is clear to you that it is not true then it becomes clear to you that you have no history. And if it is clear to you that you have no history, much of the past-based ideas— poor me stories, self-judgments, blaming of others, victim-hood, etc., and the future-based concepts of hope and comparing your current unsatisfactory state with a better state—lose the power to cause suffering, or seeking, now. A lot of nonsense falls away when this is resolved. And it is resolved by getting real and being brutally honest about what you actually know, what is actually true. Know what's true, and truth shall set you free.

The scientists say there was a big bang 4 billion years ago. I disagree. The big bang is now. This is it, here and now.