the song goes on. The past is like empty space, no anything and the basic principle is lost. No anything and the basic principle is lost. And Sheng yen says, without the accumulation of experience, knowledge and views, there would be no illusory mind. If you never learned the name We were given at birth, you would not know your name today. If you cut yourself off from the past, you wouldn't have any illusory thoughts. In fact, you won't have any thoughts at all since there are no illusory thoughts in the present moment. thoughts arise because of attachment to the past, in anticipation of the future. We connect these thoughts to make comparisons and judgments. I'm sure all of you were thinking today while sitting on your cushions, some of your thoughts were of the future, your job plans, families, friends, and so on. All of these thoughts come from the past. If I scold you for thinking, you might be sad or angry or happy, let's say you were happy. This happiness comes from past experience, you know what to expect from me, and my guidance makes you happy. The song of mine says, the past is like empty space, your previous thought is no longer present. Neither is the thought before that one, and on and on. There is nothing in the past which is already gone. Wouldn't it be interesting if the past continued to exist? If a car went down a street in the past continued, then instead of going from one point to another, the car would form a continuous entity and block the street? How could we do fast walking meditation if the past existed? Yeah. However, even though the past does not exist, good thing, we can't seem to seem to stop thinking about it. There is nothing substantial about our past fortunes, misfortune, successes and failures, yet we cling to them. The argument you had the other day is gone a thing of the past, Why dwell on it? If we can grasp the principle that the past is like empty space, then one second of practice is all we would need to succeed, then there will be no illusory thoughts to deter us.