Experience the Unknown, the Very Essence of Life

The present contains the fullness of the world and the fullness of spirit at the same time. But the present is elusive. We all lead our lives by remembering the past and anticipating the future. Therefore, the real and unreal are inexorably blended. They are so entangled, in fact, that the present must be retrieved piecemeal; you cannot leap into it all at once.

The only way to retrieve the present is to clear out the past, which means whatever is routine, dull, knowing, calculated, anxious, and traumatic. You cannot manufacture innocence, for example, but by removing its opposite, knowingness, you leave space so that innocence can express itself once more.

Right now, the present moment is full for you, but in an unreal way. It is full of memories, expectations, projected beliefs, and past conditioning. The present moment could be full in a different, far more real way. You must challenge yourself to move from the unreal to the real.

When confronted with someone you think you know very well, whose behavior is predictable, don’t react at first. Leave a place for something new in your perception of this person. Ask a new kind of question, agree where you would normally disagree, without judgment, and see what happens. The same process can be applied to every other quality of the present moment. Distance yourself from past expectations, and in that way something unexpected can emerge.

Adapted from The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 1995).

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Dale O.

6:31PM PDT on Apr 3, 2012

Cleaning out the past helps, but often the past is traumatic and one can conceal and hide it but it never leaves you until it is fully dealt with such as childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse and other horrific issues that many who journey through life have experienced.
Once the light has been held up to these horrific secrets and brought out into the light-be it via the courts for justice, a counsellor or therapist, friends or healing groups it is much easier to clean the past from one's life. The past never really leaves, it has shaped whom we are but one can rest easier.

send a green star

KS G.

5:36AM PDT on Jun 23, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Past Member .

1:02PM PST on Feb 1, 2011

Yesterday is over ... and tomorrow's far away ... and I remain committed to the good I do TODAY.

The Power of NOW by Eckhart Tolle might help.

Brian M.

1:07AM PST on Dec 25, 2010

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: (paraphrasing): What is in our past and what lies before us is nothing compared to what lies within us.

6:32AM PDT on Jun 15, 2010

I always enjoy reading your articles.
Thank you Deepak!!

Piers G.

6:59AM PDT on Jun 1, 2010

If The in the Past you were boiled-tared-and feathered. and Never give a light but kept in a dark room it not easy to "just forget" Heaven help me I've tried, Even now with me waiting for the "Train or Bus" of life to stop for me, that hurt is still very much part of of me

Ann W.

10:41AM PDT on May 31, 2010

A great book. If only we were that flexible.

Jean M.

8:48AM PDT on May 31, 2010

We are who we are today because of what we experienced in our past. We can't shed our ourselves from the past, as a snake shed it's skin, but we can put it into prospective, and keep the balance.

NO EMAILS P.

12:24AM PDT on Mar 29, 2010

thankyou

Teresa W.

4:59AM PST on Jan 20, 2010

Interesting!