We are so accustomed to letting the movement of the clock run our lives that we can find it difficult to detach ourselves and be present to the moment. Try this practice from Ram Dass and ask yourself, “How can a timepiece actually help me be present here and now?”

At this moment if you set the alarm and get up at 3:47 this morning and when the alarm rings and you get up and turn it off and say “What time is it?” You’d say, “Now.” “Where am I?” “Here!”

Then go back to sleep. Get up at 9:00 tomorrow.“Where am I?” “Here!” “What time is it?” “Now.”

Try 4:32 three weeks from next Thursday. By God, it is—there’s no getting away from it—that’s the way it is. That’s the eternal present.

You finally figure out that it’s only the clock that’s going around…it’s doing its things but you—you’re sitting here, right now, always.

—from Be Here Now
by Ram Dass
Hanuman Foundation, 1978
p. 79-80

So much of our time is spent planning and sometimes worrying about the future—what will happen, how will we deal with it, what actions will we take in various situations? But the truth is, we are best prepared for what the future brings if we are more attuned to each present moment. Read the words from Ram Dass below and then think about this question: “When have I made a right decision in a particular situation and how did I arrive at that decision?”

Reflect on the thought that if you are truly Here and Now—

(a) it is ENOUGH, and

(b) you will have optimum power and understanding to do the best thing at the given moment.

Thus when then (the future) becomes Now—if you have learned this discipline—you will then be in an ideal position to do the best thing.

So you need not spend your time now worrying about then.

—from Be Here Now
by Ram Dass
Hanuman Foundation, 1978
p. 90

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