4.12 Past and future exist in the present

4.12 Past and future, in subtle form, latent or potential, exist in the present.

The previous sutra already indicated that since active impressions are constantly triggering actions and reactivity, removing their causes, effects, support and objects removes the impressions. With less active impressions, the practitioner’s reactivity decreases. Although every action leaves impressions in memory, some of the impressions are beyond conscious access; in other words, they are not manifesting in the present, they are only latent. Because those impressions are not active but latent, those impressions will manifest in the future, when circumstances are propitious (4.8). Remember that sutra 3.14, stated that there is an underlying essence to everything that can be perceived. What varies is the degree of manifestation. Impressions exist in every moment: in a latent state when they remain only in memory, in potential state awaiting the adequate conditions for its future manifestation, or in manifest state when they are active. Just like an acorn carries with it the essence of the whole lineage of oak trees from where it came, it also carries the potential of one oak tree and all its possible descendants. Yet, currently, the acorn is the present manifestation.

Sutra 4.10 already indicated that the origin of impressions is not known, which may lead to inferring that impressions do not actually disappear. If you know your impressions, discernment can clarify how to prevent the future manifestation of the impressions that you have (2.15 and 2.16). For example, if you fill a bottle with water and just place the lid on top of the bottle without securing it because you are preoccupied with something else, you might forget that the bottle is not fully closed, and it may spill all over when you place it in your lunch bag. If you do not know your tendencies, when everything in your lunch bag is soaked in water, you may think to yourself “Why does this always happen to me?” When this happens enough times, it can cause you to pause and examine your actions. Then, you may notice your tendency to be preoccupied with many things at once, causing you not to attend fully to some of your actions. Perhaps you can choose to avoid future spillage by bringing your presence into packing your lunch. In this case, the impression may remain in potential state but a new impression of attending to all steps of packing your lunch may block that impression of distractedness, as suggested in sutra 1.50.

Can you notice recurring circumstances leading you to suffering and agitation?
Is there an impression coming into manifestation in those cases?
What impressions lead you to harmony with your natural state?
What impressions foster misidentification with temporary phenomena?
To what extent are you aware of the impressions left by your past experiences?
Are some of your actions the effect of a distant impression in the past?

As usual, one more way of exploring the meaning of this sutra is by chanting it.
You can choose to chant it in its traditional form with some of the words coming together:

4.12 atītānāgataṃ svarūpato’stiadhvabhedād dharmāṇām
अतीतानागतं स्वरूपतोऽस्तिअध्वभेदाद् धर्माणाम् ॥१२॥

Another option is to chant each word in the sutra individually:

• atītā
• anāgataṃ
• svarūpataḥ
• asti
• adhva
• bhedāt
• dharmāṇām

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