“Look to the future and you can’t shut your eyes. Look to the past and you can’t open them. Live in the moment, and you can’t blink”:- Tai-Da Vrikaurvan


If you look to the future you lose site of the moment as you get too focused on what is to come. This may cause someone to become impatient so they lose site of the now and may miss important things they need to know in the moment. Also there may be something you have done that has a consequence yet to come, therefor you keep focused on it so you can try to avoid or change it.

If you look to the past there may be memories you do not want to remember as you may feel guilty or sad from someone or something you have lost. This means you keep it shut off from your life so you don’t want to look back.

By living in the moment you can go with the flow, act in the moment and take things as they come to you. This means you can follow your nature and remain at peace with yourself as you wont be worried about the future or the past. Although we live in the moment this does not mean we shut ourselves fully from the past of future. The past also has some good memories we should treasure but not let it change who we are now. The future is something we should also not shut ourselves completely off from. The future can be good to look at with people like your wife or girlfriend. But we should be mindful when we are focused on the past or future as they can affect who we are in the moment. We should be mindful of the future and the past. Keep memories treasured and have ideas for the future but not to expect anything to happen 100% or to let our bad memories change our mood. We should be at peace with ourselves and go with the flow. As Jedi we are keepers of the peace. Not just to the world around us but within ourselves, and living in the moment keeps us at peace with ourselves and lets us focus on the world around us now.
Li

I agree

The mind makes a bad master but good servant. (from some Eastern quotation). Following your inner most compass will steer a person much better then trying always to do what is expected, planning the future for what 'should' happen and worrying about everything. The real true path we're meant to walk is far more exciting then anything we could just imagine and plan.

A good book to read about this is "Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live by Martha Nibley Beck"

http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Your-Own- ... 867&sr=8-1

I have been trying to sanitize my thought processes of Western rationalization (which everyone here will tell you I'm very fond of) and instead have been looking at Shinto and Buddhism and consciously designing a new kind of life. It is hard to let go of a culture and way of life you're immersed in, but giving it a shot!

MTFBWY -- Thank you for posting in

Worrying about the past and future causes confusion, stress, and restlessness in our minds. Master Buddha was very compassionate and he wanted to help end suffering in people. He taught that living in the present moment was the best state of mind for people to have. He taught that we should control our minds and not let our minds control us. Lucas borrowed Buddha's teaching and made it a Jedi teaching as well, and its a good teaching. I'm glad he did that!

Buddha: Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Buddha: The Secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

Buddha: Those who really seek the path to enlightenment dictate terms to their mind.

The mind is your servant; like fire, it is a good servant but a bad master, you see. -Kirpal Singh

We should not obey every thought that pops into our head. Instead, we need to give our minds some discipline. The problem is that some people think that they are their minds, and because of that they let their minds and thoughts rule and control them. Their thoughts run wild without control and this causes them to suffer.

We are not our minds, or our thoughts, but instead "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter". We are spirit/souls, eternal sparks of consciousness. The body and mind are our servants. This is the Jedi teaching that Master Yoda was talking about. MTFBWY! JK

The way I understand it from my experience is a thought is a seed that when planted will generate a powerful emotional energy. That can give us drive to obtain our desires, for good or bad.

That is where wisdom comes in.