What Does 2024 Hold?

It can hold little, much, abundant, or nothing. It all depends on which juncture your mind is at. Time forward has much to do with the mind state happening at this moment. It is a bridge to what is in store for the future. If you feel lousy now, the future may look bleak or meaningless. If you feel excited about it, surely there must be something you are looking forward to. It may not necessarily be something you already have in mind, except perhaps the illusion of just wanting to exit the mess of 2023 and hope that the year ahead will be entirely new.

And that begs the question: why does the mind keep looking forward? Eventhough 'forward' or 'future' is nothing more than the present mind thinking, in real time, of an imagined future. Are we living for the future or wasting this moment thinking of the future? Now is the only moment we can ever have. Can it be lived without the burden of the past and future coming into the picture?

Then you may ask, what is the present for? Again, it depends on what state of mind is taking place. The present can hold the answer to the universe or simply be about the continuity of the past, present, and future. The present can be for trivial matters like what should I wear, where can I go, what should I do, or even how do I look. The present can also be the awareness of what the mind is doing at this moment. Or what can be known of the mind at this moment. In summary, this moment, can be an identification or objectification of the mind. There are two contrasting worlds altogether.

When one notices that this moment is entirely how the mind defines it, it gives a sense of nothing-really-happens. And that nothing is not exactly “no-thing” but instead, a greatness of how one finally realizes what this moment truly holds—the way the mind made it.

Only then can you observe indifferently the different states of mental flow, be it sadness, loneliness, worry, unhappiness, joy, or happiness. And it really does not matter what mind states arise that meets the moment, as the Right Understanding understands it as just the nature of the mind doing its work. It is this understanding that life starts to take a different turn, though life is seemingly still the same way as it has always been. A new perspective, a new right attitude, and the way of living takes on a new life—from being an unconscious victim or victimizer to a torchbearer for those seeking a way out of suffering.

Let this be your vision, unless you still wish to dream on…

In grace,
Tuck Loon
2 Jan 2024