THE MYTH OF THE PRESENT MOMENT In his just-published, groundbreaking study The Myth of the Present Moment, Ron Purser wrote, therapeutic mindfulness is limited to the alleviation of first-level suffering, in terms of mental stress and emotional pain, and other psychosomatic symptoms... The practice of Buddhist mindfulness, however, is not limited to symptom reduction at the first-level of suffering. The penetration into the true nature of the self, to see through the delusion of its inherent existence (annatta), is a cornerstone of Buddhist philosophy. The Buddhist teachings consider basic ignorance (avidya) as the root cause of mental and emotional afflictions (kleshas). However, this form of ignorance is not a mere lack of knowledge, but a deeply instinctive sense of an unchanging, separate self or “I”—which requires a particular temporal order in which to operate. The the author, a member of our community, goes on to explain why mindfulness approaches which use instructions to pay attention to the present moment non-judgmentally not only leaves the conventional temporal structure of suffering intact but also lacks efficacy for the cultivation of penetrating wisdom and insight. He challenges that reductionist view of time, by stating: The so-called present moment is located in a past-present-future temporal structure. This view takes for granted that time is an abstract container for actual moments, or units of time, which are arranged in a linear progression. Of course, thats how we experience time in the daily living with our conditioned consciousness, but that shouldnt make us forget that that is just one of the many ways of experiencing it. Therapeutic mindfulness is not directed (nor should it be expected) to cultivating the penetrating wisdom and insight for seeing the true nature of phenomena, particularly the nature of the self. Going deeper in our mindfulness practice, we can transcend the cult of the present moment (which can be very useful in therapeutic or problem-solving contexts), and let the witness penetrate essential core of the experience, where the observer and the observed are not two. Thats where we step out from the present moment framework; thats where a deeper meditation starts happening. Referring to the teaching of Dōgen, a 13th century Japanese Zen master who founded the Soto school of Zen, Purser says, Dōgen provides an image of time as also being arrayed like peaks of a mountain range. While reality may only be experienced in the present moment, this is significant only because of the present moment’s relationship to the past and future. Relative time is the time of our conventional world of cause and effect. This could be thought of as the horizontal dimension of time, where moments are causally connected. To live in dynamic presence, is to live in a present moment that vanishes as quickly as it arises, but it is a moment that has meaning and significance because of everything that came before it, and everything that will follow it. For Dōgen, living an awakened life is not only living in the fullness of the present moment but also in maintaining a broad temporal awareness (surveying the mountain peaks) of the conventional world of causal continuity with the past and future. Note that neither Purser nor Dōgen suggests to abandon the horizontal time of our daily living for the sake of the vertical or trans-temporal time of the mystical experience. It is remarkable to notice the resonance between the rigorous scientific analysis of the myth of the present moment by Purser and the teaching about time by Thomas Hübl, a contemporary _mystic_. Hübl says, the mystical moment is not the moment in space and time, not right now, the time that we have... Its an entry point... not connected to space and time. Its transcending space and time... Time is a function of crystallization. Time is when the divine intelligence becomes cooler, more contracted in order to make space for worlds to appear, the physical world and emotional world and mental world. Thats just a tiny part of the many worlds that exist. When time comes into play, energy becomes structure. While the present moment of the therapeutic stream of the mindfulness movement gives access to that structure, both ancient wisdom traditions, and the best of contemporary mysticism can teach us how to experience essence/energy. We dont have to choose between therapeutic and essential mindfulness; we can embrace them both for their different gifts. What I enjoyed the most about reading Pursers article it was the sharpening of my sense of discerning the difference between them. Id recommend all serious students of mindfulness to read it. You can download it from our file library, here: https://facebook/groups/mindfultogether/282836995250800/ Please note that another article by the same author and his co-author, challenges recent scholarship on mindfulness that has narrowly focused on attention enhancement, present-moment awareness, and its stress reduction effects, devoiding its from its ethical foundations. You will find it here: https://facebook/groups/mindfultogether/282837841917382/
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 10:56:27 +0000
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