As colors change in appearance against varying backgrounds so do old ideas reflected in light of a new stage-set take on a new appearance.
For me the ‘old’ familiar idea was the concept of ‘today’ in the writings of Rabbi Natan of Nemirov (student of Chasidic master Rebbe Nachman of Breslov) (Orla 5 par 16) and the new background was Frankl’s concept of meaning.
Rabbi Natan writes that we can live each day one day at a time or we can act as if numerous days are at our disposal.
Each of these attitudes towards time is represented textually by the use of plural and singular: ‘It was on the day‘ (in the singular) refers to living for today. ‘It was in the days of…” (in the plural) refers to numerous days.
These differing relationships to time reflect important ethical and experiential differences to life and to ourselves.
One’s attitude towards time is not morally neutral. Living for today indicates a perspective that says ‘Time does not belong to me. My time is given to me to serve, and I lovingly embrace each and every moment as an opportunity to serve. This ‘now-consciousness’ reflects humility.
Living as if one’s days are numerous indicates a presumption of ‘time-ownership’ and is a reflection of conceit. The presumption is that one has all the time in the world signifies the thought that time and all that goes with it are subject to one’s control.
These diverging attitudes bring divergent experiential results. The arrogant stance of time-ownership is the root cause of all suffering. Arrogance does not stop at ownership of time but ownership of all material effects. The emphasis on ‘numerous’ means taking on the stance that since their days are numerous (i.e. they will live forever) they also try to acquire numerous things. Their way of being-in-the-world is a way of control and ownership.
Since this stance runs counter to the truth of our existence, living with this attitude only brings pain and suffering. In contrast the stance of present-moment awareness brings well-being and happiness.
What is the ‘truth’ rabbi Natan is referring to? The truth is that our days are like a ‘passing shadow.” Time does not belong to us. All we have is this one moment by which we can acquire everlasting life, as it says in the verse ‘today if you will listen to his voice…’
What was the ‘background color’ that illuminated this idea for me? Rabbi Natan’s concept of ‘today’ appears in bold relief against the background of Viktor Frankl’s quadrant. (See discussion of ‘Frankl’s cross’ here.
Success and failure run on the horizontal scale while meaning and meaninglessness run on the vertical scale. The measure of happiness is a result of finding meaning, whether a person’s existence is seen as a ‘success’ or ‘failure.’
The essential point of living for ‘today’ in contrast to feeling one’s days as ‘numerous’ is that this moment has been given to him as a gift with which to serve and through that service he or she continually connects to something eternal.
The bottom half of Frankl’s quadrant leads to despair because it has no permanence. Any time we presume to have ownership (over time or over material possessions) we’re being arrogant and our efforts and pretense of control only end in the emptiness of life’s true lack of permanence.
The search for meaning seeks the point of spiritual connection, a ‘listening to his voice’ in each and every moment presented to us and this constitutes our inner point of joy.
Living in the here-and-now is not living oblivious to planning and seeing outcomes of what we’re doing now. It means planning while knowing that the future does not belong to us. Paradoxically conceit means trying to take control of the future while being anxious about it at the same time.
On the other hand rabbi Natan’s attitude of service and Frankl’s adage ‘what does life expect from me?’ are describing an awareness that the future is not in my hands yet the possibility of engaging in a positive relationship to life is always in my hands. We could not do anything in the here-and-now if we did not think about the future.
Yet just as humility cannot be properly called humility if a person has low self esteem similarly a consciousness of ‘today’ cannot be properly called ‘now-consciousness’ if it does not incorporate a consciousness of future.
Genuine humility replaces anxiety with faith. Time does not belong to me yet no matter what happens I can always serve. I can do something of lasting value in each and every moment I am given with which to make a spiritual connection.