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dopeguru's avatar

When they say there is no tomorrow as a fact, aren't they wrong?

Asked by dopeguru (1928points) April 11th, 2019

All the meditation and Buddhist teachers say there is no tomorrow and that is the truth. But I know that there is tomorrow and if I just live in the present I will not get anything done or make plans. Their idea seems too far fetched. How come there is no tomorrow? Yes, I can live in the now, but I can’t totally dismiss time and future at all times.

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18 Answers

Patty_Melt's avatar

Tomorrow does not exist, because nobody will ever occupy it.
Now exists because people, animals, and all our activities are occupying it.
The past exists because all of it has been occupied.
Tomorrow can be thought of, and referenced, but it is in fact, a myth.

hmmmmmm's avatar

I’m not sure of the specific references, but what they may be referring to is the fact that when you think about tomorrow, those thoughts are happening in the present. They are merely thoughts, concepts, and maps of the world that are being played in your head now. The same goes for the past.

So being aware that your thoughts about the past and future can only exist in the present. And in that sense, the “future” is really a stream of thoughts that are happening now, in the present.

Again – not sure who/what you’re reading, but it’s my understanding that it’s not the case that we shouldn’t plan for the future. Rather, we should just also keep in mind that this planning is happening now, and that the concept of the future (what will happen, and what people would say or what you would think, etc) are merely thoughts. And we should be aware when we are thinking of the future rather than being aware that we are engaged in such thinking (or rumination and worry, in many cases).

ragingloli's avatar

It is true.
There is no tomorrow.
Because the word “is”, is present tense, and tomorrow will always be in the future.

LostInParadise's avatar

There are a few different philosophical views of time. There are those who say only the present exists and those who say that only the past and present exist. I like the view of physicists, who say that we live in a four dimensional universe with 3 spacial dimensions and one time dimension. We can travel back and forth along spacial dimensions but, as of now, we can only go in one direction on the time scale. This makes it convenient, as @ragingloli points out, to use time to separate groups of events.

kritiper's avatar

Only man can conceive the concept of time. Likewise tomorrow. Otherwise there is only “now.”

josie's avatar

They are correct.

There IS no tomorrow.

You hope, anticipate, assume there WILL BE tomorrow, but you won’t know that until then.

Most people, unless they are doomed, are optimistic that there will be tomorrow, so they begin planning for it today.

Living in the present does not exclude considerations for tomorrow.

Yellowdog's avatar

Well, I don’t wish to contradict most of you.

But ALL time that will exist already exists, always.
We just move through time

At death, we exit the space-time continuum—people report seeing a display or replay of all their life at once. This is where the concept of eternity comes into play. Time no longer exists so they may see their entire life at once

Some dreams seem to ‘predict’ the future. Many people experience minor precognitions now and then, or experience something they have seen or experienced in a dream the night before.

Christians believe that God exists in all time as the creator of the Space-Time continuum. God says, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” That does not mean he WAS before Abraham, but God IS before Abraham, in the beginning of time, and holds the future, at the end of time. The Alpha and Omega. God exists presently in all time andin eternity

joeschmo's avatar

There is a tomorrow. It is the morrow, it will begin (it begins) at midnight tonight. Planning for the future is important. I have a date tomorrow, so I hope I will be alive for it, and many more tomorrows.

stanleybmanly's avatar

Tomorrow is every bit as real as yesterday or today. Just because we have no experience of it is certainly no proof that it does not exist. There has yet to be a day not preceded by a previous day nor followed by a tomorrow. Past, present and future are all “there” as @yellowdog says.

LostInParadise's avatar

There is a view of space-time similar to @Yellowdog‘s view. It says that everything in the four space-time dimensions is fixed. Whatever happens at a given place and time, past, future or present, is represented. We think of ourselves as traveling a path through space and time, but to an outside observer that path is fixed.

dopeguru's avatar

Most of you say there is not tomorrow. Well I can prove that there is, because there always was. Yesterday’s present turned into past, and right now was yesterday’s tomorrow. So it has ALWAYS existed ever since the beginning of human consciousness. There has never not been a tomorrow, so why would it be any different tomorrow?

ucme's avatar

Tomorrow, Tomorrow…i’ll love ya tomo…

There is never a tomorrow, just like there’s no yesterday because we can only ever occupy the present.

stanleybmanly's avatar

“Tomorrow and tomorrorw and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day….”. McCheese

Zaku's avatar

They’re not wrong. You’re just not following what they’re saying. Tomorrow never exists in the present. As soon as it it exists, it is in the present and past. And it never exists at the moment you are conscious. You can go ahead an think about it in the present if you want to.

kritiper's avatar

The character, Mariko, in James Clavell’s 1980 mini-series SHOGUN, speaks of Karma. Something to the effect of:
You can’t do anything about yesterday, and tomorrow isn’t here yet, so the only thing that matters is “this moment.”

mazingerz88's avatar

There is no tomorrow because it always turns into the present before it can happen.

SABOTEUR's avatar

One is bound to encounter difficulty when attempting to discuss spiritual or metaphysical concepts. As humans I think it’s inevitable, but one might be mindful that attempting to discuss such things quite often misses the point of following or practicing a spiritual path.

Eastern philosophy often places emphasis on “being here now” or “residing in the present”.

Either you get it or you don’t.

Unfortunately, for those of us consumed with thoughts or addicted to thinking, simply accepting or rejecting a concept is never enough. It’s not enough that I disagree with something…I have to convince everyone else to disagree as well.

It serves no useful purpose turning concepts such at this into a right/wrong situation…except, of course, to give us something to do with non-stop thoughts that continually direct us between “past” and “present” and adhors all inclination to reside in the present.

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