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Why "Now" is Not Enough

Buddha Standard Time

August 16th, 2012
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Most of us stay obsessively stuck in the past or future, running our mental trains backward and forward on that track every minute of the day. We have a limited view of ourselves and our capacities. And nothing will change unless we stop the train and get off. Emaho! (That's Tibetan for "Hallelujah!") We can stop the train. Buddhist wisdom teaches that the minutes and hours of our days do not merely march from future to present to past—looming, engulfing us, passing us by forever. Rather, each moment is intersected by a realm of infinite spaciousness and timelessness, known in Tibetan as shicha, the Eternal Now. This is the precious awakened dimension that I call Buddha Standard Time, and it is available to us every instant.

–Lama Surya Das

Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes

"Let go the past, let go the future, and let go what is in between, transcending the things of time. With your mind free in every direction, you will not return to birth and aging." -Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

We're all given the same twenty-four hours a day. We can spend our time feeling hurried and harried, overwhelmed by chores and demands, distracted and burned out… or we can awaken to Buddha Standard Time, the realm of timelessness where every choice, every action, and every breath can be one of renewal and infinite possibilities.

Buddha Standard Time shares one of the great realizations of Buddhism, and insight that anyone can learn to apply. The minutes and hours of our days do not simply march from future to present to past. Rather, each moment is intersected by a fourth dimension. By learning to live in this dimension—Buddha Standard Time—we reduce the amount of stress in our lives and find greater focus, fulfillment, creativity, and even wisdom.

Drawing on Tibetan Buddhism and other great wisdom traditions, as well as on neuroscience and holistic traditions, newnowned teacher and national bestselling author Lama Surya Das shares real-world examples, practical exercises, and essential techniques.

The pace and pressure of today's world feels relentless. That is why, now more than ever, we need the ancient wisdom contained in Buddha Standard Time. Far from being at the mercy of time's demands, we will finally realize that we have, in fact, all the time in the world.

Purchase Buddha Standard Time by Lama Surya Das

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Comments

Stanley says:
Mon, 08/06/2012 - 21:18

I enjoy Ram Das's book "Be Here Now" and I enjoy Eckhart Tolle's books on now. And yet I have always felt that there is more to this game than just being mindful of this little fleeting present time. I thank Lama Surya Das for pointing out that the next step to to break through to the Timeless Big Time which transcends and includes the little past, present, and future.

I also thank Surya for verifying that Big Mind transcends the perfect and imperfect. So the ultimate state is not about sitting back in an uncaring way mumbling that everything is perfect the way it is and turning a blind eye to all the very real suffering all around us all the time.

I get the feeling that Surya can effortlessly chat on for hours and hours about lots of cool stuff. I am looking forward to parts 3 & 4.

Stanley says:
Tue, 08/07/2012 - 13:27

While we are waiting for parts 3 & 4 we could watch many fine hours of video from Lama Das's winter retreat of 2010. I am on day 2. It is very kind of him to make such a compassionate offering to the World. Thanks Surya. I would like to steal a line from him and dedicate a poem below to him. Hi. My name is Stanley. I am a thinkaholic.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=surya+das%2C+long

Natural Mediation

Sitting - just as it is.

Breathing - just as it is.

Awareing - just as it is.

Being held in the vast loving arms

Of mother here and now.

Layman Pascal says:
Mon, 08/06/2012 - 23:19

I love how straightforwardly keen and supportive you are, Stanley. There certainly are some wonderful relations between the naive, little "present moment" and the wisely vast "eternal now".

Big Mind transcends perfect and imperfect. That's what's so perfect about it. Some people already mean that when they say everything is perfect... but other people don't.

Stanley says:
Tue, 08/07/2012 - 03:53

Thank You Layman

I try to keep most of my posts short and straightforward so that even harried and frantic people could pause for a few minutes from their busy and complex lives and hopefully take away something useful and inspiring.

Also, I am not getting paid by the word.

Mats Larsson says:
Mon, 08/06/2012 - 11:16

Hi everyone,
I found this conversation between Ken and Lama Surya Das extremely inspiring!

Here is some more on the same note by Otto Scharmer, that Ken mentioned.
These video clips paint a very clear gestalt of the whole process of “Theory U and Presencing”, I think

In all there are five clips for adults:

1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lUyGBBcdJY
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMPOf4iMDe8
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbnfpUAi_lk
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPZV2TeDDus
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R9ObTXFqP0

…and one for kids:

6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byGUgoXFppE

Enjoy,
Mats

arniheidar says:
Sun, 08/05/2012 - 09:11

Hey Joseph, I know what you are talking about, it can be quite annoying. All that is needed to do is to mix the recording with a compressor. Very easy and quick for someone who knows how to do it.

Joseph Sopko says:
Sun, 08/05/2012 - 00:19

This is a cool talk but I wish the audio was a little better. Ken's voice is quite louder than that of Surya Das. So it makes it difficult to have a happy, medium volume. It I turn it up loud enough to understand what Surya Das is saying, Ken's voice gets uncomfortably loud, if I turn Ken's voice down to a comfortable level, I can't understand a lot of what Surya Das says. Unfortunately, this is an issue with a lot of conversations.
Lama Surya Das

Lama Surya Das is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars. Surya Das teaches and lectures around the world, conducting dozens of meditation retreats and workshops each year. Based on his relationship with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Surya Das founded the Western Buddhist Teachers Network and has organized three week-long conferences of Western Buddhist Meditation Teachers with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India.

Ken Wilber

Ken Wilber is the founder of Integral Institute and the co-founder of Integral Life. He is an internationally acknowledged leader and the preeminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development. His many books, all of which are still in print, can be found at Amazon.com. Some of his more popular books include Integral Spirituality; No Boundary; Grace and Grit; Sex, Ecology, Spirituality; and the "everything" books: A Brief History of Everything (one of his largest selling books) and A Theory of Everything (probably the shortest introduction to his work).

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