There is a story about a sculptor that was so renowned for his work. While sculpting his piece he did not realize his surroundings. There was so much happening around him but he was so engrossed in his work that nothing from his surrounding disturbed his concentration in his work. When he was asked how he produced such good work his reply was simply “I am living in the present, my mind is always in the work but not in the result “.
In the story above, we come to realize that is not only skills that the sculptor depends on .His mind is refined and attentive to the present moment that he is able to do quality work. Quality work does not only depend on the material we are working for or on, but how much of attention goes to the work.
Attention means here concentration of the mind without any distraction. Why are we distracted? There are a few reasons why we may be distracted from our work. Either we may feel the work to be a burden or we may be thinking too much of the result of the work. When the mind is distracted from the present we may not be able to produce pure awareness at that present moment.
So where is the mind? The mind is either in the past or in the future. Like a pendulum swinging from one thought to the other. Neither the past can be changed nor can the reality of the future be felt. The mind is in a space where it is not required. Thinking of the past and worrying about the future is not going to change our lives. It will just increase fear and distress in our lives.
Understand that the mind is meant to be in the present when it moves away from the present there is instability in our emotions. There is only reality in the present there is no reality any more in the past neither is there reality yet of the future. If we can bring our mind to the present our goals in the future can be achieved with much clarity. There must be clarity first of the present moment in what we are doing and that very clarity will result to further clarity.
What does living in the present actually means and how can we do so? Often we see that the health of the mind gets disturbed as our mind is engaged in thoughts that are not futile and many times we go in circles. We make a habit of wandering and worrying into these thoughts. Stop and change the thought. Be attentive to the present moment. Observe what is happening to you in present and the thoughts that are there in the present moment. You will find that many times the present thoughts are much silent and simple. They are less provocative to the mind and refine in nature. The thought of “Now” has a much balanced nature then the thought of past or the future. The thought of “Now” has simplicity and breath weaving along that allows you to be in peace with yourself.
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