Living in the Present

Topic: 17^th Word, pg 224

Heedlessness = Not trusting in God; Not realizing that your own existence is the result of the creation of your Creator.

Since no good appeared from the left either, I look at the present day, and I saw that it resembled a bier; it was bearing my desperately struggling corpse.

* Belief shows the bier to be place of trade and a glittering guesthouse

How can we understand what living in the present moment means?

• It is simply to see that a new act of creation is coming into place within the conditions that I am created
• What it is not: An imaginary world created by pondering about the future and the past

To be secure in your existence, you have to be aware of your present existence at each moment.

The text says that if I am heedless, the present moment looks like a coffin (bier). Why?

We should measure our happiness by asking: Does my explanation of existence make me feel contented and happy?

– Don’t get carried away by judging happiness based on our possessions, etc

I see in my own reality that loving life and existence is innate to our being.

• Majority of us do not choose to commit suicide
• We seek to rather extend our lives
• So, we clearly don’t want to be in a coffin

How to live in the present:

Attribute your existence to a Source

• Since I cannot be the result of accidental occurrences, my existence MUST be the result of a conscious choice
• If I refer my existence to a conscious choice, the situation I am placed in, must be from the Absolute Source
• If I am connected to the Absolute Source, then it no longer matters what my condition is
  • My existence is enough evidence to lead me to the Absolute Source
  • When you are with the Absolute, there is peace because you know that all your fears/anxieties/desires will only be relieved from Him
• If we are not aware of the Absolute Source, we will be in a struggle because there is no ‘Creator’ to hold on to

If I don’t accept that God creates everything, at every moment I am left with the explanation that everything is happening through accidental means

• If everything is happening accidentally, I have no way of being secure in my life
• Everything is based on ‘luck’ and that is very unsettling

We have to establish a firm-hold belief in the existence of the Creator at every moment.

Analogy: You need $1

• You realize that you need $1 at this very moment and you are aware that it is coming from the Absolute Source
• Another person needs $100 at this very moment and he too is aware that it is coming from the Absolute Source
  • If both people are aware that the Source-giver is from the Infinite Source, it does not matter how much he/she possess
  • Knowing that your Source is Absolute, the difference in amount is of no concern because if you need it, your Absolute Source will give it to you.

What we possess (age, money, family, etc) is of NO relevance if we are able to maintain an awareness that the Creator of all moments is Absolute and Eternal.

Our desires are infinite and nothing in this world can guarantee the satisfaction of our desires.

• We should ask: Who gave me this desire for infinity?
• The One who gave me this desire is the only One who can fulfill it
• So I look for Him and find that He is none other than the Creator of this whole universe
• In everything I start seeing His Infinite and Absolute Will
• The material and superficial possessions are just a means to know the Absolute One

Whether it is $1 or $100, if you attribute it to the Source, you are safe. If you don’t attribute it to the Source, you have to find other ‘factors’ to explain to secure yourself

• He is more hardworking
• She was lucky
• He had a silver spoon, etc

Always remember the purpose in life: To acknowledge the Absolute Source

You don’t need $100 to appreciate and acknowledge that the Source is Absolute.

• With even 1 cent you should be able to appreciate that the Source is Absolute
• He Creates everything, both big and small

It doesn’t matter whether a fruit is growing or rotting

• Both scenarios are equally evident that there is an Absolute Source who is creating at every moment
• Nothing in the universe can create the growing or rotting process
• Don’t fall into the chain of order

Similarly, whether I am growing into a young man or an old man, both scenarios are being created and should be pointing me towards the Creator.

Prophets say: You are looking for an Eternal life. You know that this life is transient and that it does not satisfy you.

My reality: I have hope for an eternal life. The existence of this hope is coming from an Absolute Source.

• To say that I have to suffer now and will be rewarded with an Eternal life in the future, is a baseless claim
• How can you be sure of something that has no proof?
• It is the result of these baseless claims that people come to conclude that religion is the opium of the masses.

My memory of the past exists NOW.

• It is a promise and a sign to me that everything exists as a record

My hope for the future exists NOW

• It is a promise and a sign to me that there is something worth living for

Both the existence of ‘past’ and ‘future’ memories is a sign from my Creator.

• If I don’t see them as a sign from my Creator, I start trying to find ways to secure them by myself.
  • I do so by hoarding wealth OR by making baseless religious claims to seek comfort in
    • My money will give me security so I better get a good job and make lots of money
    • If I do good deeds now, my religion will guarantee me paradise after I die (no foundations)

Understanding the Creator

Wahidiya: Unity of the Creator of the Universe

Ahadiya: Acknowledging that each and every being/event/ quality/particle reflects the Creator

Belief in the Creator is at its core means to not be in contradiction with your reality.

You have to first be sure of the fact that your Source is Absolute.

• There is no way to explain the existence of this whole universe IF the Source is not Absolute
• The only way I can get away with not acknowledging His Absoluteness is by using the existence of order to explain the rest of creation (causal chain) OR by just being ignorant

We have to question the order.

• Don’t stop at just using the order to explain creation and attributing everything to ‘order’
• Think about it: Can the preceding moment be the Creator of the proceeding moment?

When you have a worry about what will I do tomorrow?

• I cannot create the sense of anxiety
• It has been given to me
• If I am aware that the Source is eternal, I say: It is the choice of the eternal Source

I have every right to attribute the existence of feelings to the Absolute Source NOT how I use the feeling (my free will).

• The creation of the event must be attributed to the Source but how I use my free will, is my responsibility.

Example: My finger is hurting

• The feeling of pain at this moment is created by the Absolute Source
• Attitude towards the existence of hurting: I have to accept that it is coming from my Creator
• Separately, I use my free will to decide how I should soothe the pain

Naturalists claim: This is the age of modernity. This is the age of science

• Silly claims
• Every age was modern and scientific at its time

The purpose of your life is not to have $100 or $1,000

• Your purpose is to investigate and acknowledge the Source

I want eternal happiness

• If I don’t realize and acknowledge the Eternal Source, my desire for more only leaves me feeling empty
• I try and work hard to accumulate money till I die
  • This understanding contradicts my humanity
• But if I acknowledge the Eternal Source, my desires are Eternally fulfilled
  • I am at peace

Living in this world with belief in my Lord

I plant a seed

• That seed grows into a tree and bears 100 fruit
  • Do I just want those 100 fruits?
• Rather, by planting the seed, I am asking the Creator to grant me fruits
  • The fruits, then, connect me to my Creator
  • If there are no fruits, that too connects me to my Creator and in that I am also ‘gaining’

By referring existence to the Absolute Source, you are at peace.

Manufactures setting: We have to connect ourselves to the Creator, otherwise we will be contradicting ourselves.

Don’t separate belief and practical action

• The separation is the source of all misunderstandings
• You think that the growth of fruits on the tree is a result of your planting the seed and watering it
  • But in reality, He Creates

While using my free will, I should be aware that I am choosing not in order to create but that I am acting as a means of asking God to create whatever it is that I expect.

• Then, you will be worshipping Him while you are using your free will

Example: I am thirsty.

• WITHOUT BELIEF: I drink water to quench my thirst
• WITH BELIEF: I am asking the Creator of the whole universe to quench my thirst
  • He is the One who gave me the sense of thirst
  • He is the One who gave me the knowledge to know that water will quench my thirst

Where does the desire for more money come from?

• From your Absolute Creator
• It is a sign to call you towards Him
  • He is the One who gives you the desire and only He can give it to you

We all desire a perfect life

• Revelation comes and teaches us:
  • He created us with the desire for paradise
  • If you want paradise, seek it from the One who creates it

Paradise is not a ‘religious’ concept. We all innately desire paradise.

– It is a very human concept.

You have hope for $1,000 (future)

You have 1 cent right now (present)

• How do you explain the existence of 1 cent?
• Stay in the present and see His Absolute-ness in each and every moment as it is now.

I want a good job

• Where is this desire from?
  • It is given to you by the One who created you
    • Nothing else can create
  • He is not silly or stupid. He gave me this desire with wisdom
  • He has equipped you with many other senses and qualities to get a good job
  • As you seek getting a good job, you have to be conscious of His Creatorship
    • At every moment you are worshipping Him
    • Whatever He gives me, I have to be content because He creates
      • And I know that He creates everything with wisdom (through my confirmation of creation around me)
  • I have to do my part by using my free will
    • But while I am using my free will, I should be conscious that I am asking my Creator to create that I desire
      • Total submission to the Creator
      • You will be at peace knowing that He creates everything

I do whatever is within my free will and according to the feelings I have been given BUT I have to act and ask by being in a state of consciousness of Him.

I take in a gulp of air.

• I take it in with acknowledgment that He creates
• Whether he gives me life at the next moment or death, is up to Him

Be aware of the existence of your desires

• Attribute ALL my feelings, qualities, desire to the Creator
• Work towards a life where you have a consciousness of belief at every moment

Even my free will is given to me.

• I am not free not to be free
• It has been given to me
• We have to be conscious that we are using it in His name

Desperately struggling corpse: Why desperate?

• Unless I have belief I cannot guarantee my life at any moment and hence am struggling
• If I have belief then the ‘bier’/coffin represents a place of trade and glittering guesthouse
  • • By having the consciousness that everything belongs to Him, you are in a state of worship

When you acknowledge His ownership over all our senses, I don’t fall into despair because I am in the presence of the Absolute, Eternal One.

• Whether I live or die, am poor or am rich, it does not matter
• Everything belongs to him anyway.

By BELIEVING in Him, you are relieved of all worries

• Belief itself brings paradise.

I have to work hard to provide for my family.

• All the actions we perform and the desires within us are GIVEN
• He Creates
• I ask
  • Through the desires and feelings within me I perform my duties with total submission

To worry about providing for the needs of your family is NORMAL. The feeling is given to you. How you respond to the feelings is what is important.

• When you have belief, your every present moment is in submission to His Will and hence leaves you at ease
  • You seek a job and perform your responsibilities knowing that at every moment, He is creating the conditions for you to act within

I am going to secure the future of my child VS I am going to ask my Creator to secure the future of my child

• In the former I am anxious
• In the latter, I am relaxed. I perform my responsibilities but am aware that He creates.

Tags: 17th Word, The Words