“We think of present events as being caused by past events and we tend to regard ourselves as puppets of the past, driven along by something that is always behind us… If you insist on being dependent on the past, that’s your game. The fact of the matter is: it all starts right now. Freedom from being a puppet of the past simply involves a change in your thinking. It involves getting rid of the habit of thought whereby you define yourself as the result of what has gone on before, and instead get into the more reasonable and plausible habit of thought of not defining yourself in terms of what you’ve done before but in terms of what you’re doing now - and that is liberation from the ridiculous situation of being a dog wagged by its own tail.”
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From a lecture called “Mystery of Time” by my favorite author, Alan Watts. He wrote amazing books on topics such as consciousness and time and also had his own brilliant radio show in the early 60s (which you can find videos of on archive.org - they are adorable to watch because he’s such a youngin) where he discussed his philosophical views, heavily influenced by Eastern cultures. I listen to him by using the podcast app on my phone while I drive or you can search him on YouTube. He da shit.
