I describe this as developing a mind like a padded cell. When any experience, perception, or thought hits the wall of this cell, it does not bounce back. It just sinks into the padding and stops.
The past does not echo in our consciousness. Some people think that if they contemplate the past, they can somehow learn from it and solve their problems.
But when we gaze at the past we invariably look through a distorted lens. Whatever we think it was like, in truth it was not quite like that at all! This is why people argue about what happened even a few moments ago.
It is well known to police who investigate traffic accidents that two different eyewitnesses, both completely honest, may give conflicting accounts of the same accident. When we see just how unreliable our memory is, we will not overvalue the past.We can bury it, just as we bury a person who has died.We bury the coffin or cremate the corpse, and it is done with.
Do not linger on the past. Do not keep carrying around coffins full of dead moments. If you do, you weigh yourself down with heavy burdens that do not really belong to you. When you let go of the past, you will be free in the present moment.
As for the future—the anticipations, fears, plans, and expectations—let that go too. The Buddha once said,“Whatever you think it will be, it will always be something different”. This future is known by the wise as uncertain, unknown, and unpredictable. It is often useless to anticipate the future, and in meditation it is always a great waste of time.