Can We Access the Present Moment?

A prevalent view within the Buddhist community today advocates living in the present moment and seizing the now. But can we truly access the present moment? None of the forms we see, the sounds we hear, the odors we smell, the tastes we experience, the tactile sensations we feel, or the mental objects we cognize constitute the present, direct perception (pratyakṣa). They are all reflections of what has already passed. It is like watching television: what we perceive are a series of dynamic images generated by the rapid projection of individual frames of film. These images arise and cease instantaneously; each single frame is itself static. Because the sequential playback is so swift, the resulting images appear continuous, and the people and events within them seem to move fluidly. Superficially, they appear real, yet in truth, they are mere reflections—reflections of reflections.

What our six sense faculties (ṣaḍāyatana) encounter and what our six consciousnesses (ṣaḍvijñāna) perceive are all reflections of the past. There is no present moment, much less anything truly real. Although it is said that the five sensory consciousnesses (pañcavijñāna) discern objects of direct perception (pratyakṣa), what they discern is absolutely not the true object of direct perception. These too are reflections of what has already arisen and ceased—illusory, neither real nor present.

The objects encountered by the five sense faculties (pañcendriya) are likewise never the true objects of direct perception. The five types of information—form, sound, smell, taste, and touch—reach the five sense faculties only after the four great elements (mahābhūta) that constitute them have undergone countless instances of arising and ceasing. They are fundamentally not the original state of the elemental particles, nor are they the initial occurrence of form, sound, smell, taste, or touch. Even these particles are not ultimately real. For example, sound originating from a source propagates through a medium, its energy gradually diminishing. By the time it reaches the auditory faculty (śrotrendriya), its amplitude and energy have weakened. The greater the distance traveled, the weaker the energy upon reaching the ear. Further, after transmission through the auditory nerves to the subtle, essential root (sūkṣmendriya) in the brain, the particles of the four great elements may undergo further changes. The sound formed is then neither the original sound nor the sound of the present moment. The other sense faculties operate similarly.

Therefore, the "present moment" we seek to grasp is always the present of the past—from the perspective of the actual present, it has already occurred. Moreover, even as we speak of "this present moment," it has already passed. Each present moment, each thought-instant, does not linger; like flowing water, it passes never to return. The actions we perform in each present moment can only influence the course of the future; they cannot affect the present or the past. What is called "real," what is called the "present moment," is what the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) contacts. However, the Tathāgatagarbha does not discriminate (nirvikalpa); it cannot describe or articulate this contact, so we remain unaware of it. Given this, how should we correctly approach the present-moment objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental phenomena? We must cease regarding all these phenomena (dharma) as real. We should also not generate strong attachment (upādāna) towards them. Naturally, achieving complete and utter non-attachment is optimal, for then the mind is fully liberated.