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>>DR LAIRD [tape loop] ... exactly what we're ready for.
[sound of tape rewinding]
>>DR LAIRD [tape loop] ... the universe has a way of providing, for each and every one of us, exactly what we're ready for.
[sound of tape rewinding]
>>DR LAIRD [tape loop] ...verse has a way of providing, for each and every one of us, exactly what we're ready for.
>>DR LAIRD [vo] Have you ever asked yourself why this moment is called the present?
Let's think about that now.
>>DR LAIRD Why do we refer to this moment as being the present?
>>MAN [vo] Dr. Edgar O. Laird, PhD, esteemed author, therapist, and self-help guru,
runs a hand intently through his neat, wavy hair,
the kind of hair Moses might have worn if he hadn't died in the desert but made it to the promised land, retired, and hit the lecture circuit.
And the answer to Dr. Laird's question is... Yes.
Any one of us could tell him exactly why this moment is called the present.
He explained it to us just moments ago, before one of the cameras went kaput and we had to start again.
Besides, most of us are so steeped in the wise man's writings that he'd have a devil of a time stumping us.
We wear expressions of unfeigned and delighted anticipation. We're enjoying his schtick even more now that we're in on it.
>>DR LAIRD Can anybody tell me?
This moment, this now, this present...
...is a gift.
>>MAN [vo] I watch as heads list ever so slightly in wistful rumination.
Present... gift... This guy's good.
>>DR LAIRD You know, as a matter of fact, the now is not just A gift?
it is THE gift.
If you take away one thing with you today, I want it to be this:
I want you to take away the knowledge that this moment is truly your only possession.
This is a difficult knowledge. This can be a challenging knowledge, but you are ready for it.
And how do I know this? I know this because: if you were not ready for what it is that I have to teach you here,
you would not be here. And it is that simple.
The car would have broken down.
The sitter would have cancelled.
Your best friend would have called you, at the last minute, begging for a shoulder to cry on.
You see what I'm saying?
The universe has a way of providing, for each and every one of us, exactly what we're ready for.
>>DR LAIRD [laughs] I have to tell you, I was on retreat recently,
on the island with Ben Roshi, the great Zen master...
and I'd just been meditating for about eighteen hours.
I came down in to the lobby of the hotel, into the reception area, in order to pick up a fax.
Lo and behold, Ben was there. He was also picking up a fax.
[laughs]
You know, it's the sages who can truly see how funny it all is.
Anyway, Ben and I, we were in the elevator on our way back up to our room, and he turned to me...
>>DIRECTOR [over PA] Okay, Dr. Laird, we've got this bit.
>>DR LAIRD What?
>>DIRECTOR [over PA] Let's skip ahead and take it from "memories and hopes."
>>DR LAIRD Okay.
>>MAN [vo] He closes his eyes for a moment, recalibrating the fine instrument that is his eternal soul.
>>DR LAIRD What I'm saying is that this instant, is all that you have.
Okay now, I go into this at great length, in much greater detail, in "The Wisdom of Wealth,"
for those of you who want to take it further... but for now really try
to get your head around the idea that there is nothing else.
You have memories, yes,
and you have hopes, yes - but only in the present. Do you see what I'm saying?
This moment is all that you have! So it is up to you, each and every one of you, to live this moment!
To embrace, grab hold, to take this moment and live it!
Live it as though it were your last!
[sound of gunfire]
>>MAN [vo] The bullet smacks Dr. Laird in the chest.
After an instant of stunned silence, a moment of presence in the purest sense...
[a woman screams]
>>MAN [vo] ... people leap to their feet, begin to scramble and claw their way towards the exits.
[alarm rings, people running]
And I allow myself to be carried along with them.
I walk a dozen blocks or so, breathing deep, really drinking in the air...
... and turn down an alleyway.
I ditch the gun in one dumpster... ... my gloves in another.
It's not that he deserved it, that's not what it's about.
Tanya would have left me anyway, I acknowledge that.
If it hadn't been Laird it would have been some other smarmy son of a ***.
No, It's not what you deserve,
Tanya explained it to me time and time again...
It's what you're ready for.