In fact, there is no term in the entire text that is translated as “now” or “the present.”† This doesn’t mean that “staying in the present” wasn’t part of the experience of Buddhist meditators two millennia ago. If you focus on your breathing or on bodily sensations, as prescribed in ancient mindfulness texts, the present is where you will be. Still, if you want to go full-on Buddhist—if you want to take the red pill—you need to understand that staying in the present, though an inherent part of mindfulness meditation, isn’t the point of the exercise. It is the means to an end, not the end
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