Editing Present (section)

==Philosophy and religion==
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|<div style="background:#dddddd; text-align:center;"> Quotations </div>

{{quotation|You shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future. What is past is left behind. The future is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there, right there.|[[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]|Bhaddekaratta Sutta<ref name="Buddha">{{Cite web|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.131.than.html|title=Bhaddekaratta Sutta: An Auspicious Day|website=www.accesstoinsight.org}}</ref>}}

{{quotation|What we perceive as present is the vivid fringe of memory tinged with anticipation.|[[Alfred North Whitehead]]|The Concept of Nature<ref name="Alfred North Whitehead">Whitehead, Alfred North. ''The Concept of Nature'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1930), p. 73</ref>}}
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===Philosophy of time===
{{main article|Philosophy of time}}

"The present" raises the question: "How is it that all sentient beings experience ''now'' at the same time?"<ref>McInerney, Peter K. (1992). ''Time and Experience.'' Temple University Press. p. 44. {{ISBN|978-1-56639-010-1}}.</ref> There is no logical reason why this should be the case and no easy answer to the question.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

===In Buddhism===
[[Buddhism]] and many of its associated [[paradigm]]s emphasize the importance of living in the present moment—being fully aware of what is happening, and not dwelling on the [[past]] or worrying about the [[future]].<ref>Hạnh, Thích Nhất (1990). ''Our appointment with life: the Buddha's teaching on living in the present.'' Parallax Press. p. 53. {{ISBN|978-0-938077-36-7}}.</ref> This does not mean that they encourage [[hedonism]], but merely that constant focus on one's current position in space and time (rather than future considerations, or past reminiscence) will aid one in relieving suffering. They teach that those who live in the present moment are the happiest.<ref>{{cite book |title = What the Buddha Taught |last = Rahula |first = Walpola |author-link = Walpola Rahula |year = 1974 |publisher = Grove Press |isbn = 9780802130310 |page = 72 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_WduwVbiLSsC&q=what+the+buddha+taught |access-date = 2010-04-28 }}</ref> A number of [[Buddhist meditation|meditative]] techniques aim to help the practiser live in the present moment.

=== Christianity and eternity ===
Christianity views [[God]] as being outside of time and, from the divine perspective past, present and future are actualized in the now of [[eternity]]. This trans-temporal conception of God has been proposed as a solution to the problem of divine foreknowledge (i.e. how can God know what we will do in the future without us being determined to do it) since at least [[Boethius]].<ref>Consolatio Philosophae, Bk. 4</ref> [[Thomas Aquinas]] offers the metaphor of a watchman, representing God, standing on a height looking down on a valley to a road where past, present and future, represented by the individuals and their actions strung out along its length, are all visible simultaneously to God.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cline |first=Austin |title=God Is Eternal: Timeless vs. Everlasting |url=https://www.learnreligions.com/god-is-eternal-251051 |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=Learn Religions |language=en}}</ref> Therefore, God's knowledge is not tied to any particular date.<ref>Irwin, William; White, Mark D. (2009). ''Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach Test.'' John Wiley and Sons. p. 128.</ref>