Freud

I was really moved when reading Illusions by just the first couple pages. When Freud talks about knowing our past and our present, but also being fully where we are right now, it caught my eye because it is something that I have thought about so much in my life.

Firstly, he writes that "the less man knows about the past and the present the more insecure must prove to be his judgment of the future." but also that "people experience their present naively." It seems like in this day and age we live at such a fast pace and just go full-throttle ahead without really thinking about where we have been, or what we are racing towards, and because of the pace we don't even look at where we are now. This aspect can be applied to all sorts of various aspects of life, although Freud is obviously talking about religion here. It isn't until we can stop and look at ourselves fully as well as examine our surroundings that we can even begin to take in all that is life and growth and purpose and belief.

Without this knowledge we are living in ignorance, and you can tell when reading that Freud is pretty critical of others' ignorance. He already takes the view that religion is irrational, although he concedes that there is some use to it's practices. We have to focus on forward motion and evolution of our understanding, not just be content to sit and accept what we are told or keep believing just as we always have done.

He says that the "present must become the past" because sometimes we need that third-person standpoint in observing ourselves, otherwise we tend to be biased and not probe as deeply as we really need to. We have to ask the hard questions of ourselves and of our culture in the time we live. What do I really believe? Why do I believe that? Is what I believe the best for me? Does it even make sense? These are questions we all need to ask ourselves if we really want to grow and not remain stagnant.

Be here now. Be present now. Expand your thoughts, your knowledge....