But it is just this reality of the present, this moving, vital now which eludes all the definitions and descriptions. Here is the mysterious real wor… - Alan Watts

This is why all the great Asian philosophies begin with the practice of concentration, that is, of attentive looking. It is as if to say, ‘‘If you want to know what reality is, you must look directly at it and see for yourself. But this needs a certain kind of concentration, because reality is not symbols, it is not words and thoughts, it is not reflections and fantasies. Therefore to see it clearly, your mind must be free from wandering words and from the floating fantasies of memory.

fear is born of duality —

If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall still be dimly aware of the present when the good things that I have been expecting come to pass. For I shall have formed a habit of looking behind and ahead, making it difficult for me to attend to the here and now. If, then, my awareness of the past and future makes me less aware of the present, I must begin to wonder whether I am actually living in the real world.