Being in the moment: a key foundation in Zen philosophy, teaching and practice. Why?
In Zen, reality is only found in this immediate moment since the past is dead, and the future not yet born. Experiencing genuine, concrete reality of the moment - good or bad- is the only way to approach truthful reality as a gateway to awakening. There are few reasons for this axiom.
Reason#1 Genuine, concrete, truthfull reality is only in the Now.
- Life can only be experienced in the present; memory and anticipation are mental constructions about what no longer exists or not yet.
- When Zen says “be in the moment,” it is pointing to aligning awareness with the only place reality actually appears: this body, this doing, this sensation, this feling, this thought, this situation, others are , by definition, all in the Now, nowhere else.
Reason #2 Most of our delusions are mostly time-related to past and future.
- Delusion is largely a function of being lost in reactivity to remembered past and imagined future such as regret, resentment, guilt from the former, fear, hope, fantasy from the later.
- Returning to the immediacy of experience cuts through these secondary mind-made fictional dreams and lets you see directly: “just this as it is ” before mental commentaries.
Reason#3 Practicality:
- “Being in the moment” in a mindful way is making each moment unique rather than dull, automatic or boring whether chopping wood, taking a shower, or piloting a jumbo jet..
- “Being in the moment” is forcing your mind to be where your body is, and what it is doing. which means that rather than being under the control of your wandering mind, you are controlling it.
Reason#4 : intimacy and compassion:
- Full presence allows “living intimacy,” an unguarded, non‑instrumental meeting with people and circumstances, which Zen presents as the actual aim of practice.
- From this intimacy, appropriate response (wisdom‑compassion) can arise spontaneously, because one is in touch with the real demands of the situation rather than projections.
Reason #5 : Non duality that is there is no gap between self and current moment
- In deep presence, the sense of “me here, you there, world there” softens; practitioner and moment are seen as not-two but one , like waves and ocean.
- Zen calls this “the current moment is perfect”: not morally perfect of course , but complete, lacking nothing, including suffering. Being awakened is recognizing this completeness right where one stands.
Conclusion:
So “being in the moment” is a fundamental part of Zen practice and not a slogan, because it is where everything such as our body, what we do, , what our mind is doing , and our surroundings converges toward one simple goal that is experiencing concrete reality which - di facto- can be found only during the current moment and not in any other mind-made spaces-times.
