What does it mean to live in the present ?

Question

and how can we identify if we are living for the future or past. How can the cycle be broken ?

Answer 1

to live in the present is to enjoy what is happening right now and not to spend too much time planning ahead or reminiscing past events.

we identify it by analyzing what we think about most of the time. i don't think the cycle can be broken,  maybe a little miss shapen.

Answer 2

I LOVE YOUR Q AND A BY THE WAY.

IN ORDER TO LIVE IN THE PRESENT, YOU HAVE TO TURN OFF THE PART OF YOUR MIND THAT ENABLES YOU TO LIVE IN THE PAST OR PRESENT.

YOU HAVE TO WALK AROUND LIKE AN IGNORANT ANT.....BUT IN RETURN YOUR DEPRESSION WILL BE RELIEVED.

OR YOU CAN KEEP LIVING IN THE PAST/FUTURE, AND BE THINKING IN VANE*

OR YOU CAN LIVE IN ALL THREE....WHICH IS MY CHOICE....SIMPLY BEACUSE I HAVENT TRIED IT YET.

TO IDENTIFY WHETHER YOU'RE LIVING IN THE PAST OR FUTURE, YOU HAVE TO STUDY YOUR OWN PERSONAL MOTIVATIONS FOR THINGS.

WHEN YOU THINK SOMETHING, IMAGINE SOMEONE ELSE SAYING THAT OUT LOUD....THEN ASK YOUR SELF 'WHERE ARE THEY LIVING....PAST PRESENT OR FUTURE'

ITS A VERY GOOD WAY TO STUDY YOURSELF.

THE CYCLE CAN BE BROKEN BUT I KNOW YOU DONT WANT TO READ ANYMORE....SO I HOPE MY LITTLE PIECE HELPED. ^_^

Answer 3

don't try and think about what will happen in the future and just give all your attention to what you are doing NOW, NOT later

Answer 4

Live each day to its fullest.  If you find yourself worrying about the future or reliving the past, try to remind yourself that you can't change the past or completely control the future.  What you can do is try to figure out what would make today the best it can be.  Then go do it!

This is motivating me to do something important with today.

Answer 5

Since man has the faculty of reflection, we tend to concern ourselves either with past regrets or future anticipation (hope and fear).

If you are yearning of some past moment or past regret, you are not living in the present; you are living in the past.

If you are viewing the present moment as something to be put up with (and therefore, not enjoyed) as serving a means to an end of some future state of happiness, you are not living in the present; you are living in the future.

Example:

"I want to be rich and that is all that matters.. Everything I do right now serves only as a hurdle or barrier that I must overcome and get past to reach my destination." Obviously I put no effort into making an example, and this is quite superficial, but you get the point. In this example, "I" am simply putting up with the present whilst hoping for the future.

What is the problem with neglecting to live in the present?

Simple. ALL you have is the present; usually, life will past you by, only in the end you will realize that your life was a present moment forever passing, never enjoyed because you were always living in hopes of some future state, which finally arrives in the form of death.

Whats the problem with living purely in the present moment?

It is ever fleeting. Its mark is temporary. One minute it is; the other, it was. That which "is" is almost as that which "never was"; it doesn't exist (or no longer exists). Thus, to live in nothing but the present moment is to live (and therefore devote life) to a ever-temporary fleeting moment which always in the next moment will not exist--it is not sustainable.

Find your own balance, but don't neglect the present; it's the only life you know and have.

Answer 6

To live the life as it comes...

Answer 7

it means not worrying or obsessing with the past and the future...... the present is the only thing you can control, therefore, dont waste tim thinking, what should've been and what could be..... concentrate on what can you do to make today a great day.....

PEACE