The problem of planning for the future is one thing: to start living in the future is another thing. The planning about the future is in the present. And the more you are in the present, the better you can plan: the activity of planning is in the present.

The problem with the mind is, it starts living in the future. It starts thinking of beautiful golden days that are coming. That is not planning; it is daydreaming.

I can understand planning, but remember, planning for the future is not equivalent to living in the future. Planning is a present moment activity. And the more you are present, the more you have clarity and transparency so you can plan without any haziness or dreams lurking around you.

You are saying, “I see that a lot of my mind activity goes into planning – for next week, for next month.”

This is not being in the present. Being in the present there is no mind. Mind cannot exist in the present and when there is no mind there is clarity, absolute clarity, and with this clarity you can see into the future; then something of immense importance will happen to you. But mind activity is simply living in the future: next week, next month, next year, next life.

You are postponing living, in the name of planning. You should live, not postpone! You should live the moment and while you are living the moment – with the clarity that it gives to you – you can visualize. It is not mental activity. You can visualize a better moment that is coming to you. You have lived this moment, you know you can go even deeper, you know you can rejoice more, there is no limit to it. And when the next moment is coming you immediately go deeper into it, more rejoicing, more playful, more humorous.

And you have only one moment at a time. So if you know how to live one moment you can plan your whole life in that very living. You have tasted something of reality; next moment you can have a bigger chunk. But there is no need to plan for it, because in planning you will forget to live.

To the man who lives spontaneously two things happen: one, he never postpones; second, his future is lived through his present, through his experience of the present. Then planning is not a mind activity, but an expansion of consciousness, an understanding of life that goes on deepening every day more and more. And the deeper you are, the more beautiful, more human, more fulfilled will be your actions.

You are also saying, “And when I try to act spontaneously I look like a weather vane that does not know how the wind blows.”