The Future

Thinking about and planning for what happens next is something that people seem to be invariably controlled by. whether it's searching for new worlds, building empires, fighting for the freedom of our children, or simply college hunting and choosing a major, people cannot inhibit their concern for the way their lives are going to be. The Buddhists' main philosophy on life and living is "awareness". Nirvana, enlightenment, awakening; they all refer to the state of being fully aware in the moment and the now. The only certainty in life is death and it is the thing we are most afraid of. Why plan for a future if you're not going to be able to fully experience it because you are always too focused on tomorrow? I've been reading a lot of Buddhist writing lately and while a lot of people seem to believe they are a simple, slightly detached culture that doesn't understand modernity, their way of thinking strikes me as incredibly insightful and more relevant than any other idea of theology or philosophy. A very large part of their meditation practices are backed by scientific research on the brain and accessing the right cognitive processes that allow to move beyond all the distractions we create for ourselves. Even the Dali Lama is a businessman. An author, leader, teacher, and traveler, he has to be connected to the modern world in order to fulfill his duties. He may not tweet his lessons but is it so much to ask that we put our iPhones in our pockets and experience what is happening around us? I first started researching these ideas in the fall and I remember so clearly the day I started disconnecting myself from my virtual world in order to see the physical one around me. I have lived in New Haven for 3 years now and the beauty of the Yale campus in autumn is truly astounding. The old buildings and falling leaves surrounded by well kept grass and chattering of international students cannot be described accurately in words. Yet if you walk around the campus and really watch, it seems most of the students miss out on this beauty because they are too busy posting statuses, tweeting about teachers, and instagramming their lunches. Later this year, Google is releasing something called "Google Glass". It is a pair of glasses that sync to your phone and basically do everything Siri does for you displayed right in the corner of your vision like a hologram  They are marketing this leap forward in technology as a way of getting our noses out of our phones and to start using thecnology as a method of experiencing the things around us. We will no longer have to pull out our phones and see the world through a screen just to capture a memory of it. 

I have recently had to make some major decisions about where my life is headed and what I want to do with it. I've debated a few different career paths for a long time trying to figure out what is going to make me happy and allow me to lead the life I want. Looking forward I realize that those do not have to be mutually exclusive things. Why can't I simply lead the life I want and make a career out of that? I can and that is what I plan to do. The Buddhists do not tell you to ignore tomorrow and not prepare for your future. They simply urge you to live today. Death is unavoidable but so is time. Experience the now and neither can frighten you.