and now we try to properly understand this concept of the here and now
given what I just wrote…….
in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna wishes to quit the battlefield because
his relations, uncles and grandfathers and the like are in the opposing
troops and he doesn’t wish to kill them…and the supreme lord, Krsna
is trying to convince Arjuna to go through with the battle… One of the
tactics that Krsna tries is though the idea that the body is temporary,
but the soul is permanent…and if the body is temporary, then its
ok to kill the opposing forces because it really doesn’t matter because
their soul will go on and they will be reborn, reincarnated into other
bodies…it is basically a no-lose situation for the opposing forces
because regardless of what happens, the opposing forces will not suffer…
and if Arjuna fails to go through with it, even if for good reasons, he will suffer
from a loss of the esteem of the opposing forces… thinking Arjuna is a coward type
of thing… but if the body is temporary, who gives a shit what someone thinks about
you… and the second part of the argument that Krsna tries is because the body
will be reincarnated, it doesn’t matter if the opposing forces are killed, they
will be reincarnated… but that is an assumption that we are reincarnated…
the same type of assumption that we somehow go to heaven or hell for that matter,
when we die…
but, if we reject both types of arguments of Krsna, then we can have a third understanding
of this matter…we refuse to fight the battle because all we have is the here and now…
there is no such thing as yesterday, a long gone phantom and there is no such thing
as tomorrow because it hasn’t happened… so we are left with only the here and now…
this moment… and we can infuse this moment with values… values
like love or peace or charity or justice… that is what gives this moment
some value, some importance… yes, we might, might be reincarnated or
be sent to heaven but we can’t be sure… but we can be sure about this very moment,
this very second because we have infused it with love and honor and peace…
by our very actions, we create the value/s of the moment…
Arjuna should have just held onto the moment, not depend upon
some misty eye hopes for yesterday or tomorrow because they
don’t exists… yesterday is just dust in the wind and tomorrow
hasn’t happened… there is nothing else but right now and right here…
and he can say to Krsna, "I will not fight because the right here and right now,
has more value then some suppose vague hope for the future, heaven or being
reborn… and we cannot try to pin our hopes on yesterday because it is a phantom
that has no shape or form…yesterday has no form, it is dispersed particles
that have no shape or form today… I went to work yesterday… and
I stood there for 4 hours… and what exists of that work I did yesterday?
nothing… it was simply actions done in air and is gone with the air…
it has no form, no value, nothing concrete about it… it can’t be touch
or seen or heard or felt or tasted…it has disappeared… and that is all
yesterday is… phantoms in the air…….
and just as tomorrow has nothing… no form, it cannot be touched or felt or
heard or seen or tasted… it isn’t concrete because it never existed…
so how are we to pin our hopes on something that has no form or existence?
we cannot…but we can look at right now and right here…
I can see this very moment and I can hear this very moment, music by
Haydn and I touch this moment by touching the keys of this computer
and I can taste the cookies I am eating and I can smell the rain outside
of my open window…I can give this moment, this very second,
this place a value, by infusing it with values… I am at peace
and at harmony… that is the value I am giving this moment…
you can give your moments your values but I would suggest
your give your moments positive values like peace and hope
and love and justice……….
I can also give this moment anger and hate and fear… but to what end?
what can the negative values offer us at this moment and place?
Hate begats hate and fear begats fear and greed begats greed.
if so, then we can give this moment something besides hate or fear or greed…
we can give it the positive values… we create the moment by inserting
values into the moment… and what values are you infusing into this moment?
Kropotkin