KNOWING THE EDGE OF THE FUTURE…

KNOWING THE EDGE OF THE FUTURE…

In Full Presence Mindfulness FPM class recently, some students discussed experiencing some difficulty practicing the EDGE OF THE FUTURE exercise from page 99 of, ‘Dynamics of Time and Space’. The practice invites us…

“To rediscover the immediate feel of this connection [in touch with the dynamic of time], we can go directly to the point of arising itself: the point in each experience WHERE THE FUTURE COULD BE SAID TO COME INTO BEING. Just there we touch an aliveness that can expand within our consciousness. The possibility emerges for a DYNAMIC KNOWING…”

The question arose in class…. How do you know the leading edge of the future? How do you know you’re there? As a student, I’ve discovered clues. A good starting point is often simply being aware of the body… the feel of the air on the skin, the feel of the breath expelled from the nostrils, the rise of the chest and the feel of breathing in. FEELING THE BODY is PRESENT… not so much when we’re thinking thoughts ABOUT the present, or the feelings… rather, just simply ‘feeling’ anchors awareness in the present. THE BODY IS ALWAYS PRESENT. Tuning that present awareness to the senses is OPEN… You may notice much more is available to be aware of, than a prior tightly focused attention on this or that. You can notice the universe comes alive… you can feel the aliveness.

In TSK we are taught, “TIME gives experience the active dynamic that informs each moment.” And also. “THE FUTURE, UNDERSTOOD even in ordinary thought AS A REALM OF INFINITE POSSIBILITY, is the natural focal point for this dimensionless dimension—THE ‘SOURCE’ FOR IMAGINATION AND ALIVENESS, IMMEDIACY AND CREATIVITY.” So, the future we are looking into is NOT a projection of what we imagine might be, rather, the future we are looking into is open, and HAS NOT HAPPENED. We are at the edge waiting, with anticipation, and trusting something will come into being.

So how do you know you are at the edge of the future? We feel at the edge of ‘dynamic knowing’… we can sense the availability of a ‘luminous vitality’… we taste the aliveness… it’s palpable. We haven’t named anything or taken up a position yet to identify… we ARE the edge of arising…

“When the past is stripped of its weightiness, this present point in time is no longer separated out from other points in time. THE FUTURE IS FREE TO PRESENT itself, for IT DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE ON THE IDENTITY OF PASTNESS. We may notice a heightened awareness of arising and of consequences, or find ourselves MORE SENSITIVE TO THE IMMEDIACY OF NOW: THE ENERGY OF THE BODY, the images of thought, the presence of an unfolding past.”
…’Dynamics of Time and Space,’ by Tarthang Tulku, p. 311

The above quote describes what happens at the EDGE OF THE FUTURE. Every instant that passes… every myopic self-concern, every moment of pain, every negative emotion… by orienting to the edge of the future, our past can BE STRIPPED OF ITS WEIGHTINESS. In a sense, we lay the baggage down. When the past is stripped of its gravity, the present freely and fully opens to the arriving future. That is the promise of practicing the Time, Space, Knowledge vision… the present opens to the future unburdened by a restrictive past… and THAT ARRIVING FUTURE IS UNKNOWN…

“Beyond the knowledge that the temporal order conducts, there is the knowledge through which the structures that we conduct into being take form. If we are to find A POINT OF ACCESS to such knowledge, it CAN ONLY BE IN THE PRESENTATIONS OF THE PRESENT TEMPORAL ORDER: the stories we tell and the structures we conduct. HERE, [at the edge of the future] WITHIN THE ORDINARY, IS WHERE THE UNKNOWN PRIOR WILL MAKE ITSELF AVAILABLE.” DTS p. 142