May 27, 2020
Newness in the Now
Echkart Tolle introduced the concept of living fully in the present in his acclaimed book, “The Power of Now” in the 1990s. He urged the reader to embrace the current moment, while transcending thoughts of the past and future so as to enable responding from one’s deep consciousness. Oprah Winfrey endorsed the idea and it gained wide acceptance as it provided hope in an intensely swift world. Yet, approving of a concept does not necessarily translate into action. The pace in our world has risen exponentially in the past decade, leading to ‘no time to stand and stare’ as William Henry Davies addressed in his poem, ‘Leisure’.
In the digital age, humans have the highest form of control over themselves and their environment. Today, one can control the gadgets in their homes and accessibility to loved ones while sitting at a bar in another continent. This results in strengthening the ego, which aims to create a state of comfort and an illusion of authority. Yet, new age spiritual gurus, motivational speakers and self-help books have focused on the power of the present moment. The concept of impermanence forms the bedrock of Buddhism. The Buddha said, “Every man is a river. The river flows so much.” This thought was later reiterated by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who stated, “No same man could walk through the river twice, as the man and the river have since changed.” Hence we are faced with a conflict between the ego and our true selves where one strives for dominance while the other craves for openness and fluidity.
On the one hand, the concept of ‘mindfulness’ has seeped into our mobile phones, schools, work places, and social groups in differing forms, while on the other, our current times require us to be masters at multi-tasking and constantly press the accelerators on our life. We have aptly defied the laws of nature and managed to redefine our circadian rhythms so as to keep afloat with the times. Regardless of the alarming statistics related to burnout, stress and depression, especially amongst the youth, we have failed to catch our breath and use the data as a means of introspection. Afterall, we are all victims to the large pool of external stimulation such that we no longer have the capacity or time for any form of deep engagement. Even experiencing climate change on a first hand basis was insufficient to get us to pause or reset our buttons.
Humans have failed to heed the wisdom of the past ages, respond to the extensive number of warning signs in prevailing times, and disregarded disruptions in relationships, health, work or financial structures. However, the natural systems are always in a state of equilibrium. Just as the body is equipped with self-healing powers, nature knows how to ensure that a state of balance and harmony will be maintained. When the person on the inside does not respond, one is forced to knock louder. In this month of March 2020, nature has risen to the occasion and has broken the illusion of the ego. A city that boasted of never sleeping has now been put to rest. A world that equated worth, value and power with one’s bank balance is now being redefined as the playing field has been equalized in a matter of weeks.
It took a virus for us to acknowledge the interconnectedness of life and existence. Yet, in 1950s, Martin Luther King Jr. had declared, “Whatever affects me directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you are ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” Today, we have realized that only when I am healthy can my community be safe, and only when my city is healthy will the entire world be uplifted. We have realized the futility of power, wealth, status, and are endorsing humanity as a whole. We can no longer limit our prayer to ourselves and our families but are being called to expand the limits of our being to embrace each member of our race equally. We can no longer function in silos as the issue looming over us today is global, impacting each member uniformly. Yuval Harari in his book, “21 Lessons for the 21st century” says, the problems facing us in this century will be global and hence local solutions will no longer be effective but will require global solidarity. Now is the time when we need to cooperate with one another, merge our resources, and unitedly attack as a whole.
Moreover, in the current state of absolute uncertainty and confusion, where no one has answers or potential solutions, we are forced to acknowledge the power of our intuition and rely on the deep seated wisdom that lies within each of our lives. At this stage, where the overwhelming degree of news, statistics and images create a sense of despair, gloom and helplessness, let us instead celebrate this period with deep introspection and access the inner recesses of our mind. The only weapons that will aid us in this moment of crisis are faith and hope. However, we can only avail of these inner resources when we are willing to go within and not without, internal not external, become silent not noisy, and rest not run. Just as we sleep to rejuvenate our bodies and minds, Mother Earth is currently in state of lockdown so she can heal and allow us to use this time for rest, relaxation and reflection. The prevailing times do not signify an end, but rather a new beginning. After all, the darker the night, the nearer the dawn, and winter will never fail to turn to spring. Rather than reminiscing about the past or being burdened with the future, let us truly expend all our physical, emotional and cognitive resources to the activity at hand. When we surrender to the moment, we will experience the state of ‘flow’, as highlighted by the author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book, ‘The Psychology of Optimal Experience’. In this state of flow, the individual is completely engulfed with the activity and situation at hand such that everything else loses significance, and productivity is meant to be highest.
In the 12th century theologian John of Salisbury in his treatise on logic, ‘Metalogicon’ wrote, “We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.” Now is the time to access these pearls of wisdom that have been gifted to us through centuries and be conscientious of our responsiveness in this time of massive change. After all, our stance will have repercussions for generations to follow.
Hope we have all heard the knock on our doors this time and not force nature to slam any further or louder!
