'for the time being' refers to the present continuous period of time. It doesn't refer to an instant or a moment 'now', but rather to an extended period of time in the present , a current occurance or state .It is very much like 'currently' as TASagent mentioned. "For the time being I will concentrate on learning English, then pursue learning the other languages later on." As you see in the example 'for the time being' doesn't mean 'now as in ' at this very moment ',it rather means 'now' as 'at the present time, at this period'.

they are not the same. You would use "for the time being" in a sentence like - lets leave this couch here for the time being. Where as you would use "now " in the same sentence, but changing the whole concept of the sentence - we have to move this couch now.

'For the time being' has the same meaning as the phrase 'for now'. It's like saying 'now' or 'currently', but implying you think it could/might change. eg, If you say 'I'm full for now', the implied meaning is that you will be hungry later If you say 'I'm full now', the focus is on how you just became full.

for the time being = temporarily 暂且 http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=for+the+time+being