“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
Rumi
Our minds can drift between the past, the present, and the future. This can be represented by a pendulum and the way that it swings back and forth from the left (the past), through the center (the present), to the right (the future), and back again. It is a representation of how our minds work and what we dwell on.
Past
The past is the world of memories, regrets about missed opportunities, and guilt. It needs and spans space and time.
Future
The future is the world of anticipation, expectation, and the “what if’s.” It also needs and spans space and time.
Present
The present is different. It is just a point, with no association to space or time. It is now. Here is where the world stops. And since there is no space or time to move horizontally, we can move vertically and go deeper into what we are experiencing.
The length of the swing of the pendulum is dependent on our conditioning. The more conditioned we are, the wider the arc of the swing, and the louder and more insistent the voice in the head. The momentum of our thoughts swings the pendulum from left (past) to right (future), just skimming through the present. Once in motion, the momentum does not allow the pendulum to come to rest. If the pendulum ever does stop in the present (the now), our thoughts kick in and force the pendulum back into its swing. The mind only exists in the past and the future. In the present, there is no such thing as the mind. There is just awareness… present moment awareness. That is where we are happy, calm, and at peace.
The Pendulum of Thought
