There’s a common understanding that the purpose of meditation is to fully arrive in the present moment. However, the Buddha taught people to focus on the present moment not as a goal, but as a place where work is to be done to go beyond the present. This talk, based on the essay, “The Karma of Now” will explore the Buddha’s understanding of the present moment, and the implications of that understanding, not only for the practice of meditation, but also for Buddhist practice as a whole.