Making the Most of the Present Moment

You close your eyes and you have the choice. You can stay with your breath or you can think about something else. But it would be wise to say, “Let’s try the breath, and see if we can stick with it.”

The Buddha says that every present moment offers its choices, and we’re free to make choices. Some of the things that we experience come from our past karma or actions, from earlier in this lifetime or maybe from previous lifetimes. Other things come from our decisions right now, and those decisions have some freedom, have some range of choice—which means, on the one hand, that we have the opportunity to choose to do good, to do something skillful right here, right now. You don’t have to wait.

But at the same time, it also means that the mind could change at any time. You’ve made up your mind to stay with the breath, but it could change to go back. So you have to be watchful. This is why the Buddha put those two teachings together: You need to commit yourself to what you’re doing when you know you’re doing it well. But you also need to reflect, to make sure that you’re actually doing it well and staying on course, because the mind does have this potential to change at any time.

So keep reminding yourself. This is why mindfulness is such an important part of the path. You keep in mind the fact that this is what you really want. You want to change the mind; you want to train the mind so that its good qualities take over, and it’s unskillful qualities get weak. This is how you take advantage of the present moment.

All too often we’re told, “Just be in the present moment. Enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations because they won’t last forever, so enjoy them while you have them now.” But that’s basically a teaching on complacency—that what you have right now is enough. You don’t need to think about anything for the future. But the Buddha said discernment is all about thinking in terms of the long-term consequences of your actions.

For instance, when Ven. Maha Kassapa goes into the forest—and he describes the beauties of the forest—he doesn’t stop there: He says this is a really good place to meditate. So that’s what he does. That’s how he takes advantage of the beauties of the forest.

So with the good things you have right now, take advantage of them by training your mind in while conditions are good, because in good conditions it’s a lot easier to do. When the conditions change, when you leave the monastery, go home, deal with lots and lots of people, lots and lots of confusion, you can still do the practice, but it’s going to be harder.

So get used to bringing the mind into the present moment and thinking about, “What can I do right now that would be for my long-term good, for the long-term welfare and happiness of myself and everybody around?” That’s how you make the most of the present moment. You’ve got this freedom right now. It means you have to be careful. But it also means that you can get a lot out of it.

You have your choice.