LOK 13 – Inventing the past – my memories of the past are incredibly charged with connections, ramifications, emotions. It seems to be because of such a ‘feeling’ element that memories get stored in my memory bank. As a result, entering into a past event directly becomes extremely difficult. Sometimes when I look back on an event, I find that I have infused it with a level of emotion which, in fact, came about subsequently, but which I find I am now projecting back onto the event itself. Thus the event memory becomes loaded with baggage that would not actually be present if I could go back directly to the past event.
What strengthens my memory of an event is the ‘feeling’ content’ which develops either at the time or in retrospect, whether it be, for example, annoyance at an error I make, or whether it be a feeling of joy at the sight of a beautiful sunshower outside my window. It is the ‘feeling’ of the event which remains most strongly. The tension, the emotion, associated with an event is what helps to keep it from fading into oblivion within my mind.
I find it interesting that David’s post also discusses at several points the way in which emotions are tied up in past projections.
LOK18 – Projecting the Future – I find that past memories of future events certainly do become mixed up with anticipations of the future – again feeling tone plays a part?
In my thought patterns, imagined future still very much depends on the past, as my conditioning throughout my life has given me only this past to draw upon for my projections/anticipations. I don’t believe that I can project in a totally unlimited way (I think this fact is part of the human condition, though Tarthang Tulku may well disagree with me on this), but I do believe that I can work towards being more open to assist me to move towards such ‘unfettered’ projection.
I did also try LOK 25 on one occasion, but found little success in attempting to break the past-future link.
 Gaynor