by Leonard Jacobson: Being present is immensely worthwhile. It opens you into the truth of life.
It opens you into peace, love, truth and Oneness. It releases you from the pain of the past and anxiety about the future. It empowers you to be yourself and express yourself fully. It enables you to come into right relationship with your ego and with your feelings. It enables you to transcend judgment, which is one of the keys to awakening.
To be present is your natural state. The only way you can leave the present moment is to think your way out of here. And where will you go? There is only one possibility. You think your way out of the present moment into the world of the mind. It is a world of past memory and future imagining.
The problem is that we are all addicted to thinking. The thoughts never stop and because thoughts are always about the past or future, we become absorbed into the past and future world of the mind. In this way, we disconnect from the present moment. This is what has happened to humanity. It is as if we are all lost in an unimaginably complex maze, an intricate network of thought, memory, imagination, concept, idea, opinion and belief.
When we caught within the mind, we are affected by all the limiting beliefs which formed in early childhood. We live with all the repressed emotions from the past. We live with anxiety about the future. We judge ourselves and others.
The only way to come out of the mind and return to Presence is to bring yourself present with something that is here in the moment with you. If you can see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, touch it, or smell it in this moment, then you can be present with it.
Look around the room. Be present with something you see right now. It could be a flower, or leaf, a chair, or anything else you see in the room. Or you could be present with the sound you hear. Everything that is in the present moment is inviting you to be present with it. You can be present in the movement of your body.
The moment you are truly present, thoughts stop and your mind falls silent. The past drops away, revealing the present moment as it is, free of your ideas, opinions, beliefs and projections. Now you are awake in the truth of life, and this will continue for as long as you remain present.
Each moment you have a choice. Do you choose to be present, or do you allow yourself to wander off into endless unconscious thought. This choice is at the very heart of free will, and your life will be radically affected depending on which choice you make. The more you choose to be present, the more Presence flowers within you.
The flowering of Presence from within is like the mustard seed that Jesus spoke of.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, smaller than all other seeds.”
At first, Presence is delicate and it will be difficult to remain present. But each moment that you are present nurtures the seed of Presence. There are so many opportunities to be present each day. Whenever there is no need to be thinking, bring yourself present. Be present as you wash the dishes. Be present as you have a shower or go for a walk. It is that simple. Gradually the seed of Presence will flower within you and you will find yourself becoming more and more established in Presence.
