The truth is that you can only come to know God when you give up

In the vast, ever-turning wheel of existence, the truth that Wayne Dyer speaks of rings like a bell, clear and resonant. “The truth is that you can only come to know God when you give up the past and the future in your mind and merge totally into the now, because God is always here now.” These words, simple yet profound, hold within them a key to understanding the very essence of existence. For we are creatures bound by time, caught between the memories of what has passed and the anticipation of what is to come. But the divine, the sacred presence of God, exists not in these imagined realms, but in the eternal present—the now.

The past, with all its wounds, regrets, and glories, can never be relived. It is like a distant shore, washed away by the relentless tide of time. The future, too, is but a fleeting shadow, ever out of reach, shaped by our hopes and fears. We are often so consumed by what was or what might be that we forget the only moment that truly exists: the present. God, as Dyer so wisely points out, is not found in the distant echoes of the past nor in the imagined future, but in the now. The now is where the divine dwells, ever-present, ever-constant, ready to reveal itself to those who are willing to turn their gaze inward and embrace the moment fully.

In the ancient world, the great sages spoke of a similar truth. Buddha, in his teachings, spoke of the importance of living in the present moment. He taught that suffering arises when we cling to the past or anxiously reach for the future, missing the opportunity to be fully alive in the here and now. The present, in his teachings, is where true peace resides, where the mind is free from the clutches of past sorrow and future anxiety. Buddha's call was a call to be awake, to be present, and in that presence, to touch the divine.

Jesus, too, in his teachings, spoke of a similar truth. He urged his followers not to worry about tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of its own. In the moment, there is a connection to the divine that cannot be found in worrying about what was or what might be. His message was not about looking for God in distant places or in abstract ideas, but about recognizing God's presence in the here and now—in the simple acts of living, in the breath we take, in the relationships we cherish.

Consider the life of Socrates, the great philosopher who, despite living in a world filled with the noise of politics and the demands of society, always sought to live in the moment. His wisdom lay not in grasping at the fleeting future, nor in being bound by the past, but in seeking truth through conversation in the present moment. When we seek the truth of who we are and the nature of the world, Socrates taught, we must strip away the distractions and enter into dialogue with the present, where the divine truth unfolds in real-time.

The essence of Dyer’s words is a call to liberation. To know God is not to escape the world of time, but to enter into it fully, free from the mental chains that bind us to what was or what might be. The present moment is where divinity resides, waiting for us to become fully awake to it. By releasing the weight of our past regrets and the fears of our future, we free ourselves to experience the divine that is already here. God is always here now, not somewhere else, not tomorrow, but in the now, where life is happening, where we breathe, where we move.

So, how can we carry this lesson into our own lives? We must learn to let go of the past and the future and embrace the present. Practical action begins with mindfulness—the art of being fully aware, not lost in thought, not caught up in what has been or what is yet to come. Take a deep breath and feel the life flowing through you in this moment. Look around and notice the beauty that exists right now. Engage fully in your conversations, in your work, in your relationships. By doing so, you align yourself with the divine that resides in the now, and you open yourself to the truth that is always available, always present.

The lesson of Dyer's words is one of deep spiritual truth: to know God is to be fully present, to immerse ourselves in the now, and to release the past and the future. Divinity is not distant; it is right here, waiting for us to open our eyes and embrace the moment fully. If we live in the now, if we are present in each moment, we will find ourselves, just as the great sages of old, in the very presence of the divine. And in that presence, we are free, we are whole, and we are at peace.