The Myth of Tomorrow

Context and premise

Tomorrow is a word. As a matter of fact it is a powerful word on our minds. Tomorrow is a concept I think about every day without paying much attention to it.

We all live under the strange notion that tomorrow actually exists and that it will indeed come. When? Well, tomorrow!

The inescapable realization that everything that has ever happened to me always happened in a now present has affected me profoundly.

Nothing ever happens tomorrow, nothing!

Life and countless events keep occurring, but they always happen in a now time-space field. I may remember the past but when it happened, it happened in this constant now-energy field.

We can go so far as saying that the only constant is this now-moment. I have been calling it the now-moment to distinguish it as the true context of all things. Humor me for a now-moment and see that everything happens now. Granted, we measure its passing through time and variations in movement and space. However, this passing is only relative to the measuring, not the now-moment itself.

What is the past?

The past is mostly selective memory and the future is imagination or speculation, as it hasn’t happened yet. We would be willing to bet anything that the sun will rise in the morning. Yet, we would only know that from memory, having seen so many past sun risings.

Most psychology is centered on the idea of ego, which Sigmund Freud pretty much revived and invented. For example, it was not foreign to philosophers like Nietzsche.

The word Ego was has its roots in the early 1700's. It was a metaphysical word to describe "the self: that which feels, acts, or thinks," from the Latin ego or "I".

The word Ego means true self which was confused in Psychology in the early 1900's to mean "the over inflated self, the not-self or lower self."

The self or ego, especially as distinct from the world and other selves, is considered a personal and separate self. In psychoanalysis, this separation of the psyche that is conscious, most immediately controls thought and behavior.

Duality is born out of this false sense of identity that we believe to be real.

The “I” that I think that I am is neither real nor tangible except in my thoughts. My senses, body sensations, feelings, thoughts, experiences, etc., all seem to be localized and happening to a "me". However, the “me” is always discreetly added.

In reality, all there is things happening

If you continue on this path of inquiry scientifically or with more focus you come to realize that this “I” that I call me, is incapable of experiencing anything; it can only think about feelings whether pleasurable or painful.

Furthermore, if it thinks about something, the feelings are now in the past even if it is only a moment ago—nothing sticks around except the memory of it.

Yesterday, tomorrow and I, are the biggest “necessary” myths of existence.

Why such committed pursuit of tomorrow and how does this apply to living a better life? According to Canadian psychologist Burt Harding, this “I” (me) is the greatest illusion man has ever known. It wreaks havoc in our lives and robs us of much needed direction and joyous experiencing.

For instance, when we feel something, it is feeling that is happening, NOT “me feeling.” The me is the witness, not the actor. As a matter of fact, when we are completely absorbed in a task such as listening to music, writing or watching a movie, etc., we become completely transparent. The I or me is gone.

All that remains is the experiencing without an “I” to remember. All experiencing is total. Surrender, if it is a word you have contemplated or heard, outside of war stories, is what there is to surrender to: just experiencing without my "I." That's what awakening is about.

The second a “me” is brought into it, there comes a split between the experience and the experiencer (me), and the now-moment is gone.

Self-consciousness is always rooted in that split between "experience and thinking about the experience." It is the most important aspect of relieving tension, doubt and anxiety out of life.

There is a now-moment experiencing or remembered living. When I remember living there is no experiencing, just brain activity at the cellular level that activates what has already happened in the form of imagery.

In the context of the now-moment, all that is happening is in perfect sync and harmony. I like to call it surrendered living. The process has switched from memory to total experiencing.

What is surrendered is the idea of a me as well as the surrender of the fear of not knowing what is going to happen next. Only "me" is worried. Worrying about the future is a mind phenomena; it is a learnt process—we’re all great at it unfortunately.

In surrendered living there is no concern for tomorrow. The best moments of our human existence are experienced; they are never JUST remembered. Sure, you can remember them but they do not bring the “actual” experience back, right?

The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote: you only begin getting old when you have replaced your dreams with regrets.

The connection to living a better life is obvious. All living is experiential by nature. It means it is not a mind process like math. Memory is only useful to facilitate fuller experiencing like remembering where you put your plane ticket before you go on a trip. But you must see that the action of grabbing the plane ticket off the table is an experience. Your mind never grabs anything; it points, remembers or gives you choices.

When mind tries to replace experiencing, we get taken hostages and all falls short. It’s like trying to fall in love with someone you just met from memory because you (your mind) remember that you’ve fallen in love BEFORE. Your mind may think it can because it remembers love experiences from the past but it is incapable of creating an experience.

Mind can project a memory onto another person. In the acting profession, we call this technique "endowment." You can see how projections can be dangerous. It works if you're an actor because the play ends. In life, we run the risk of staying stuck in the fantasy.

Nirvana for a human being is the simplicity of living in the present moment, empty of the past or the future as much as possible.

How you get there is by distinguishing the two realms: experience and memory of experience. Eventually you begin to let your mind talk, while your spirit (for lack of a better word) witnesses the dance of all that happens.