A Call to Presence

By: Leonard Jacobson

To be fully awake and enlightened simply means to be fully present in the moment of now. To be present is the simplest thing. It is your natural state.

Every moment, you have a choice. Will you be present in the truth and reality of this moment or will you allow yourself to be seduced into the world of the mind? All thoughts take you out of the present moment. And then if you believe in those thoughts, which most of us do, you get lost in the world of the mind.

For most of us, we have become so habituated to thinking, that thoughts never end. They have a life of their own. We are not even choosing to think. Thinking is happening all by itself and we are simply pulled from one thought to another, never really experiencing the sacredness of this moment.

The present moment is free of memories of the past and imaginings into the future. And so the pain and limitations of the past magically disappear when you are present. Anxiety about the future also disappears. You are just here now, fully present in this moment. When you are fully present, your inner experience is one of peace, love, acceptance, power, truth and compassion. Separation and fear dissolve. You exist within Oneness.

When you bring yourself fully present, thoughts stop and your mind falls silent. But there is an even deeper level of silence waiting to emerge. As your mind becomes silent, an inner door is opened, allowing an infinite and eternal silence to emerge. This infinite and eternal silence is the very essence of your Being. It is your true nature. It is the essence of all existence. It is the eternal silent presence of pure consciousness. It is the "I AM" of you. It is that dimension of you that exists in Oneness with all that is. It is your Buddha nature. It is awakened man. It is awakened woman.

Present..... NOW.... Present Moment

What is the Present? NOW? This is another of those questions I hope to explore on this blog. I looked up "now" in Webster's and it says the present time or moment... so I had that much already!

Think of every moment leading up to this moment in time... that is past. Every moment that has not yet happened, that is future. If we imagine that both of those do not exist, what we are left with is NOW. In reality the past no longer does exist since it is over and in reality the future has not happened yet, so in reality, all we really are left with is NOW! I would love to hear comments you may have on that!

So if that is the case, why do so many of us (myself included) act as if we are in the past or future. Some planning for the future is good! To paraphrase Marianne Williamson, "Don't just show up at the airport and expect there will be a seat for you on the plane where you want to go!" I am talking more about getting lost in the future, like living for the weekend or looking forward to a special event to the exclusion of where you are in the moment.

Many of us act from the past as well. Have you ever had a heated exchange with someone only to recount it over and over in your head for the next hour, or day or week or longer.... and all the lucky people in your life also usually get to re-live it again with you! We've all done that!

I'll share an example from my own life. In 11th grade, I was the passenger in the front seat of a car that was in an accident. My head hit and broke the windshield (I can hear some of you saying - "OH, that explains a lot!") ;) My point is that to this day, I am still a very nervous passenger because of that accident nearly 30 years ago. How can something that happened 30 years ago in the past have such an influence on me NOW? If I could let it be in the past, it would be over, right?

So far, I think I am asking more questions that answering!
Join me in the present!
Penelope

Carry Water Chop Wood

Welcome to my NEW blog! Carry Water Chop Wood.... this comes from the Zen saying, "Before Enlightenment chop wood carry water, after Enlightenment, chop wood carry water." What’s the difference? The tasks are the same. The need is the same. What about the frame of mind? Who is chopping? Who is carrying water?

Some of you may notice that my blog title is the opposite of the saying... this is simply because that domain name was taken... and backwards seems a good approach to take to me right now anyway. That is to look at my life differently than I have in the past and try something new. I need to give credit to my good friend, Debbie, for suggesting the title.

This is going to be a year long experiment on living in the present moment. On the blog I will share the ups and downs, challenges and triumphs of attempting to live in the present moment and how it changes both myself and my family over the course of a year.

I hope to address questions such as what does it mean to be present?

Is it realistic to be present in every day life?

How does it change my experience of every day activities?

How does it change the experience for others?

This will be a more relaxed format than my other blog, Simply Spirituality, and I plan to post on a weekly rather than monthly basis. I also welcome comments and experiences of others in the comment section below!

Please join me in the present moment!
Penelope