Finish the Past and Live in the Present

Preparing for a journey, we recognize what is needed and what to leave behind. On this spiritual journey, packing up our past actions is the first thing that needs packing and disposing. Actually, we need to pack up everything internally – even that which happened 5 minutes ago. Do not recycle! Just keep on accumulating the positive treasures within. 

Until we change our thinking we will always recycle our past experiences. If I am constantly thinking about what I did in the past and recycling what I have to do tomorrow, I am not valuing the newness found in the present.  

This is a big transformation – to take benefit from the present in the present.

Being on a spiritual path helps us change these limited old patterns of thinking.

Let the past be the past – both my past and the past of others. There is no need to keep repeating the past in my head. Whatever happened, happened and move on.  

Like a filing cabinet, the past is a resource of information for learning, but not a place to linger. At work do you spend your day in the filing cabinet? Similarly, are we allowing negative events of yesterday or worries about tomorrow linger in our mind? Realize – if I don’t have the strength to finish what happened in the past, I won’t have energy for the future.

Free yourself now from being a prisoner of the past and become free to create your future. Saying farewell to the past is the sign of a person who is aware of the possibilities of the moment.   

Become fully aware that all you think, say and do right now creates tomorrow.  

Each of us radiates thoughts, feelings, and attitudes from deep within. So in the present, every minute, look at the quality of your thoughts and make them peaceful, positive and pure. Continue to strengthen the soul with this diet of peace, compassion and love, through spiritual studies and meditation.

What I’ll experience in the future depends on what I think, speak, and do NOW in the present. It’s good to know that God, our Supreme Parent and Teacher, is always there to help. He understands our past, cherishes and nurtures our present, and helps us become the carefree architects of our divine future.  

God is constantly available to us when we turn our thoughts to him because God is always “Present in the Present!”

(You can contact Sister Chirya Risely, from Owego, at bkchirya@gmail.com or at chirya.risely@peacevillageretreat.org.)