Here and Now — A Story of the Ungraspable Now

Human suffering arises

when, although only this moment is here,

we feel as if something else should be.

We look back on the past,

and we imagine the future.

In the movement of these thoughts,

we drift away from now.

Yet thoughts themselves arise naturally.

They appear, and they disappear—

and still, there is not even a trace of appearing or disappearing.

When we understand their nature,

there is no need to stop them.

We can simply let them be.

“Here and now” is not

the “now” within the flow of time,

but the quality of this very moment.

It does not come from somewhere

or go anywhere.

It simply appears as it is.

It cannot be grasped,

nor can it be pushed away.

It leaves no trace.

And yet,

when we notice, it is already here.

Before we realize it, it is already so.

That is the here and now.

Even when we speak of “now,”

there is no now that can be held.

It is not even a “thing ”

that appears or disappears.

It simply is—

before we notice.

And so,

there is no need to fix the present,

no need to make it into something else.

As we release the tension

of trying to manage the now,

we slowly become free.

Without adding anything,

without taking anything away,

what is already here remains.

We don’t know when it appeared.

We don’t know when it will fade.

There is only the way things are.

And within that,

we are held in a great, quiet love.

Photo and Words by K E I K O