What does it mean to be "in the now"? Can someone who is always "in the now" exist? Is this something that can happen or has happened before?

What does it mean to be in the now?

To live in the present means to live in the now!

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, the Enlightened being, explains:

“If you’ve lost 600 rupees four days ago and you remember it right now, then it becomes the past [you are in the past]. However, if you recall it into the present, it means that you are dragging the past into the present.

And say you had some problems on your way here, and you started thinking ‘if I have that problem again, I will deal with it in this way…’, then to think about the future while sitting here in the present, is considered as being in the future.

I’ve met many factory owners of Ahmedabad, who while dining with me, would really be lost in the business of their factories. A wife of one such factory owner came and sat before us as we were having our meals and she said, “My husband never eats his food peacefully.”

When I asked him (the businessman) the reason, he replied, “My mind is consumed in the complex affairs of my business.” So I told him, “Don’t do that. When your plate is present in front of you, enjoy what is there and do not worry about what is not present at this time. Enjoy whatever comes in front of you now. Live in the present.”

Can someone who is always in the now exist?

The whole world is entangled in worrying about the future and external problems, ‘What will happen to me? This will happen and that will happen!’

However, a Gnani (the Enlightened One) always remains in the present, in the now. The past is already gone. So he does not think of the loss of one lakh rupees that he had incurred a year ago and cry about it in the now. And as far as the future is concerned, it is under the control of Nature; therefore, there is no worrying about that as well.

Hence, one should remain in the present only. The next moment, just a second after is considered as future and whatever happened a moment before is considered as the past. And we should remain in the present. If one remains in the present, one is tension-free. For the one remaining in the now, can there be any tension? No! Tension comes to someone who gets lost in the past, and / or for the one who delves in the future. If one remains in the present, there is no tension.

Is this something that can happen or has happened before?
Yes, it can and has happened many a times. The Lord has said that the One who remains in the now continuously is a Gnani. Such a person is continuously and constantly in the present only; he always remains in present.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, the Enlightened being, says:
The one who remains in the present does not need to be aware of anything else. Yes, that indeed is considered the highest awakened awareness of the Self.

When You remain in the awareness of the Soul and keep seeing whatever is happening, then, you are said to have remained in the now i.e. in the present moment.

Thus, it is possible for everyone to live in the present, provided one has attained the real knowledge of ‘who am I and who is the doer?’

To know more, you may please click on https://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/spiritual-science/who-am-i-realize-your-true-self/