By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | Posted: September 23, 2019

Joy is found only in the present moment. Yet usually we find the mind swinging back and forth between the past and the future. We feel regretful or angry about something that has happened to us, or we worry about the way things will turn out.

Caught Between Past and Future

Observe your mind. See how much time it spends on yesterday, last year, when you were a child. Yet the past is past. It is gone, finished. Why waste so much time on it? It’s the same with worry about the future. When you were in school you were anxious about what to do after graduation. When you started your career you worried, “Will I ever reach my goals?” You think, “I’ll be happy when I get a house. I’ll be happy when I’m married.” When you get married you think, “I’ll be happier when we have children.” When you have kids you think, “I’ll be happy when they are all on their own and I can have some peace.”

Be in the present. If you are happy now, the past and future will not torment you.

This is the Art of Living.

How to Pass Through Hard Times

Every rainy season in your life has touched you deeply inside somewhere; it has made you grow, given you strength. Rains bring a rainbow; they stream colors into your life. And you come out as gold.

Peacocks wait for the rain. When they see dark clouds gathering they open their brilliant feathers. And when it rains, they dance so beautifully!

When dark clouds gather, the end has not come. You will pass through this hard time. As you are passing through it, there are two ways you can experience it: either you can groan and cry and pass through it, or you can sing and dance through it.

And when you can sing and dance in the rain, you will get soaked in joy.