In the Present
There is a sense that only the present is real; the past is history and the future yet to be. We live only in the ever moving moment between the two. What we call the present, however, is really just the near-past—a second ago being the past. Our sense of past, present, and future is possible because we have concepts about them based on fragmentary memories and fanciful imaginings. Our grasp of reality is often fragile. Indeed, the best evidence that we live in a real world is that we can move about without bumping into things (most of the time). Otherwise, we are living in our thought-pervaded minds where for most, from waking to sleep, the chatter never ends. As for what can be called real, we are all but oblivious to it. Such is the 'normal' thoughtful mind that lives in the past and in what will be. It thinks about the 'present', but little attends to it. Only the mindful brain can approach it. Thought cannot touch the 'present' as it can but form concepts about past, near-past, and future. The present is where religious inquiry takes place and insight can come. Think about it and it's gone. Reach out your hand to grasp it and it is gone.
But religious inquiry is not all. We also need to thoughtfully understand reality. The thought-based mind is essential. To bring our mental model of reality into focus has value. We cannot live rightly on this planet over the millennia if we do not learn from the past, understand the near-past, and plan for a reasoned future. Without thought there will be no life sustainable. The whole endeavor must be well-thought and evidence-based. Delusion may be comforting, but it serves us not at all. The 'present' is both our 'near-past' and our 'near-future,' so let's consider whither we go and whether we want to go there.