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Easier said than done - we just keep on replaying that old tape over and over again and use it to support our beliefs and behavior of today. Another quote, from the Spanish philosopher George Santayana tells us – “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That is also true.
So what are Buddhists to do? There really is no one answer, is there? But these quotes give us pause to consider how we understand our past, how that understanding changes over time and how we use it to navigate through today and tomorrow. They also give us pause to consider how our Buddhist teachings offer guidance on the choices we make based on how we remember our past to be.
What about our memories, aren’t they fixed and accurate? Can we rely upon them? Studies on humans show memories are always being edited. When we recall a memory, we are recalling not the actual memory (painful or wonderful as it was), but recall the most recent time we remembered that memory. The editing comes from using new information, gained since the original event, to help make sense of it, but in today’s world with today’s knowledge.
If we accept the Buddhist concept of impermanence, then why should my memory not be subject to the same law of impermanence? Just as we are in constant change, so are our memories. We change, our memories change. This may be where confirmation bias and memory cross paths.
Confirmation bias has to do with how we notice and give greater weight to information/evidence that fits what we already have come to believe as true. Confirmation bias enters when we selectively choose new information to fit our expectations of the world in order to help us understand what is going on. Once this is in play, then our memories gradually are edited to “fit” what we know today.
This insight, rather than keeping us from progressing, is actually helpful. By understanding we are not infallible; by knowing nothing remains “fixed”; by admitting “could I be wrong?”; by acknowledging I do not know what I do not know – all these may help us in moving from dukkha to becoming more open to the call of Amida Buddha, or, awakening.
Mindfulness training today is a major profit center from health providers to corporate America. They suggest that as you become more “mindful” you will gain greater (fill in the blank). With so many engaged in being mindful, why are we becoming even more isolated, more divided and more unhappy? The teachings of illusion and impermanence may go a long way in guiding us to that mindfulness and the benefits we seek.
Knowing this, I still find myself at times giving into my “yesterdays.” I know it is useless, but the bonbu in me sometimes gets the upper hand. Yesterday, or the remembered version of it, does have its place and usefulness. We’ve gained valuable knowledge, experience and insight over the years. We don’t operate in the vacuum of today without the foundational experiences of the past. It is that understanding of how we use our yesterdays for our todays.
For me, what is important as I walk on the Shin Buddhist path is the weight distribution of the time I spend on my “yesterdays” and how I use it for today. The shift, over the years, has been away from the yesterdays. More of my time today, is on today. This shift relieves me of the burden of continually carrying unwanted burdens of yesterday around with me. The lightness is liberation, a liberation that is surprisingly wonderful.
Namo Amida Butsu
In gassho
Rev. Anita
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