A Trick for remaining present
Posted: July 22nd, 2007, 3:57 pm
Since it is obvious, to me at least, that the more baggage we carry into our every-day existence, the more difficult it is to remain present, and to remain present, is essential to opening the heart and being here now without all the distracting noise of the mind. I like to express it more "spiritually" perhaps? - it allows Grace to flow. I thought perhaps someone might find it useful to share here a moment in my own life, which became extraordinarily obvious to me, and stopped the chatter and absurd waste of energy that remembering the past, and mulling it over, then bringing it into the present, and re-experiencing it over and over. As a practice, perhaps it is useful, although the effectiveness for myself was beyond a practice, it just happened in a sudden flash. But I remember it when old habits resurface.
I simply and suddenly realized that, if I knew for sure that I, or my loved ones, were to know that we had only one day to live, would ANY of the past have ANY significance whatsoever within those next 24 hours? Indeed, now? The obvious answer to that was no, and indeed, to remain anywhere but present would be irrational and absurd. And in that flash, I was present, bright, full of energy, entirely open, content, and full, and without any train of thought whatsoever. Clearly here! It simply became apparent to me that I could not remain presently focused if I remembered past experiences and allowed them to continue to seep into my consciousness.
In considering this further, I realized that for some, imagining this condition might be too extreme, for it is hard to bring a real sense into the imagination of a limited 24 hour time frame of continued existence. Instead, the same obviousness would be there should I have a serious illness, and recall when I did years ago, EVERYTHING else in the world fell away, and I was present, fully, at that time. It was impossible to go backward, because it was irrelevant. It was impossible to go forward, because the present moment was intense and required my attention and focus. I was, again, fully present and full.
Under both these conditions, the energy available to me was enormous, and the mind clear, focused, and constrained, yet my "state of consciousness" was expansive. I was in the position of control, as opposed to the mind driving me. This is obviously the rationale behind practices that aim at controlling the errant mind, and the rationale behind remaining in the present in order to experience God, or allow Grace to enter one's life. This is clearly the purpose behind prayer, fasting, meditation, and all the rest of it. It blocks the intellectual process, so that the heart's understanding may shine forth. It is obvious to me as well that the heart's understanding is ALWAYS shining, but the mind casts a shadow over its light because of its persistence and domination AND our allowing the mind to do so.
Perhaps all that seeking is is that. Unravelling the mind's predominance, so that who we are can shine through. And who we are when it shines through is Grace, or God shining through God's manifestation.
I simply and suddenly realized that, if I knew for sure that I, or my loved ones, were to know that we had only one day to live, would ANY of the past have ANY significance whatsoever within those next 24 hours? Indeed, now? The obvious answer to that was no, and indeed, to remain anywhere but present would be irrational and absurd. And in that flash, I was present, bright, full of energy, entirely open, content, and full, and without any train of thought whatsoever. Clearly here! It simply became apparent to me that I could not remain presently focused if I remembered past experiences and allowed them to continue to seep into my consciousness.
In considering this further, I realized that for some, imagining this condition might be too extreme, for it is hard to bring a real sense into the imagination of a limited 24 hour time frame of continued existence. Instead, the same obviousness would be there should I have a serious illness, and recall when I did years ago, EVERYTHING else in the world fell away, and I was present, fully, at that time. It was impossible to go backward, because it was irrelevant. It was impossible to go forward, because the present moment was intense and required my attention and focus. I was, again, fully present and full.
Under both these conditions, the energy available to me was enormous, and the mind clear, focused, and constrained, yet my "state of consciousness" was expansive. I was in the position of control, as opposed to the mind driving me. This is obviously the rationale behind practices that aim at controlling the errant mind, and the rationale behind remaining in the present in order to experience God, or allow Grace to enter one's life. This is clearly the purpose behind prayer, fasting, meditation, and all the rest of it. It blocks the intellectual process, so that the heart's understanding may shine forth. It is obvious to me as well that the heart's understanding is ALWAYS shining, but the mind casts a shadow over its light because of its persistence and domination AND our allowing the mind to do so.
Perhaps all that seeking is is that. Unravelling the mind's predominance, so that who we are can shine through. And who we are when it shines through is Grace, or God shining through God's manifestation.