Are the past and the future illusions – is the present the only reality that we should live in?

So are the past and future an illusion? What about living in the present? Yes, we are definitely meant to live in the present but we don’t live for the present we live in the present but we need something higher to live for Living in the present is very important because our mind tends to go off in the past, this went wrong, that went wrong if only I had done this, if I had done that we tend to lament about the past or resent about the past and we tend to fantasize and fear about the future I want this to work out, I want this to work out what if that happens, what if that happens so in this way when the mind goes into the past or the future we cannot do any construct so we can’t even experience life as it is we experience life through the filter of the mind which is going here and there and that’s why living in the present is important because the present is where we can make any change, any constructive change where we can make some contribution so the past is a reality in the sense that it happened what is the illusion is thinking, just living living in the past and resenting the past or even repenting the past in a self-flagellating way just beating oneself up why did I do that, why did I do that the past is not an illusion the past did happen, but our obsession with the past puts us in an illusion similarly the future is not an illusion in the sense that the future is going to happen and when it happens it’s going to be reality but our obsession with the future can also put us in an illusion you can go into daydreaming you can go into worrying unnecessary there is an author who said most of our life is filled with frightening experiences, most of which never happen laughter so that’s because what if this goes wrong, this goes wrong we keep worrying so obsession with the past or the future puts us in an illusion so we do want to live in the present but many times the present may not be pleasant if somebody is sick then they are in pain and they are on a bed and they can’t do anything they have to accept that but they don’t live for the present they live for a future where they’ll be healthier sometimes the present may be so unpleasant that this living in the present may be unbearable so what enables one to live in the present is the hope that the future will be better now if one is not doing what is required in the present if somebody is not taking the medicines at all and thinking in the future I’ll be healthy that’s not going to work so we have to do what we need to do in the present so we live in the present but we need to live for something more than the present if I’m studying for getting a degree I have to read the book that I’m reading right now so I have to live in the present but the purpose that we have it extends beyond the present so the present is one moment but our life is a continuity and our purpose is what brings continuity to all the present moments otherwise each present moment will be fragmented and disconnected I do one thing now I do second thing then, I do third thing then but how are they all united they are united by the purpose that I have so this pursuit of purpose is what animates and unifies the present that we are going through and so we live for in the spiritual wisdom perspective we want to live in the present but we live for the ultimate reality we live to seek the ultimate reality to love the ultimate reality and to contribute in a mood of service to the ultimate reality so I have been given some talents so right now if I’m learning to write I may be an unknown writer and I would like to develop my talents and I would like to become a better writer in future but right now all that I have to do is let me get this word right let me get this sentence right so I live in the present but then there is a higher vision, a higher purpose which transcends the present if each sentence that I write, each word that I get if I get it right then eventually I will become a better writer and I will be able to make a contribution so we live in the present but we live for something bigger than the present and what that bigger is that we get the fullest understanding through spiritual knowledge so as I said, Bhagavata explained that there is ultimate reality which is known by different names in different traditions, which is known by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita that is a source of love that is a reservoir of love so we live for the purpose of loving the ultimate reality and experiencing the love of the ultimate reality and we do that through what we can contribute in the present so I use my talents in a mood of loving service in the present but even if in the present I don’t get the result, if I am living for the ultimate reality then through that mood of service I am connecting with that ultimate reality then the process becomes joyful in itself because it connects us with some higher reality because the present connects me with the present living in the present connects me with the present but the present is there one moment it is gone so what is there next after that the present is a means by which we connect with the ultimate reality and in each present becomes a new opportunity to connect with the ultimate reality and thus the present becomes a way to a fulfilling life