I don’t write extensively about ‘living in the now’, although I agree wholeheartedly it’s the foremost tool for letting go of unnecessary thoughts. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, my pet subject is the connections between science and our true consciousness. Secondly, there is a great deal of good stuff already written on ‘now-ness’ which I couldn’t come close to matching, as an author. I advise primarily the teachings of Gururaj Ananda and books by Thich Nhat Hanh, an expert in Mindfulness, and Eckhart Tolle, who provides every practical answer for establishing nowness. There are other good authors too of course. I also like Ajahn Brahm’s talks published on YouTube, as well as Eckhart Tolle and Tony Parsons video publications.
Living here and now is a real prospect.
Past and future are not real. The majority of our dissatisfactions arise because we continually bring past and future into our thinking. But past is a story and future is a projection. They are both ideas; intellectual abstruseness. Consequently, unless we live only this very moment, we live the unreal. What a paradox!
Unquestionably, in my view, 99% of life’s problems can be solved by living the here and now. So, what the best authors have to say is truly worthwhile material. Once located and read, I suggest browsing your books regularly until the principle, and the reality, of the present moment sinks in and becomes a habit.
This whole subject understandably sounds a bit weird to folk who spend all their lives filling in the moments rather than being in this moment. Filling in the moments creates enormous busy-ness in life, which obliterates the experience of nowness, which has its roots in stillness.
So try out the reality of this moment, to see what it holds for you, rather than dreaming of some moment yet to come or hanging in the past, which is actually only experience in the same moment as this one (but which was necessary to bring out this moment in yourself).
Every experience of truly being has inherent stillness built in. Stillness is our true nature, which you’ll readily discover if you give sufficient attention to it. You’ll know how satisfying it is to be totally absorbed in an activity. It feels good and sometimes the feelings of such an experience last for a while. Like this, being in the moment is total absorption; total awareness of what is. It’s actually a fourth-cum-fifth dimensional state. Experiencing it provides the knowledge that our inner subtle energy is more satisfying than the outer form.
Don’t think it can’t be done most of the day – however busy you are. You can continuously bring yourself into the present moment, whatever your schedule and however harassed you get. In fact, prioritising the present moment is one of the very best antidotes for stress; avoiding the bad health effects of an overstretched mode of living.
Here’s my number one tip: When trying to be present in this moment don’t think, “I’m now living in the moment, hoping the next moment will therefore hold something better.” That’s a common mistake when encountering this subject for the first time. One should rather aim to think, “This moment is the only moment; the next moment can take care of itself, no matter what it brings.” We need reminders about these principles over and over until the now of life becomes our way of life. No change of lifestyle is necessary.
Adapt to space-time reality and receive the benefits:
“Be free to accept and therein lies your freedom” – Gururaj Ananda
I am irrevocably convinced that the above quotation from Gururaj is the key to overcoming all ills and problems in this embodied life. Let’s look at how it is inextricably linked to living in the present moment.
The operative word here is acceptance. The opposite of acceptance is non-acceptance. Non-acceptance is continuing to live by thoughts of ‘me and mine’. This concept, and the problems it causes, comes about by imagining our solid surroundings (matter, people, objects) as the be-all-and-end-all of existence. This in turn causes attachment. Attachment causes relentless pain and sorrow.
Solid matter – the physical universe – is not real because it’s a perception in 3 dimensions, which is as worthless as perception in only 2 dimensions or only 1 dimension. Therefore, acquiring (what appears to be) solid stuff it or relying on it can never provide ultimate satisfaction. We need to perceive all dimensions to find the answer to life; to solve the illusion.
In short, nothing in the universe is attached except the human mind. Everything operates by nature, except what the human mind creates or causes. Moreover, the human being doesn’t actually possess a mind. The (so called) mind is a man-made energy patterning that continuously projects forwards and backwards based on experiences. The mind thus creates a barrier to reality. Reality is experienced only by being in the no-space, no-time now, by accepting ‘what is’ and by becoming non-attached.
In the now all is known and the confusion created by the mind dissolves. Acceptance means accepting the truth about one’s existence. Putting it bluntly, nobody put you here, in your present body. You chose this short, restricted-dimensional experience as an opportunity to learn true knowledge. The 3 dimensional sphere’s only usefulness is as a platform for enquiry and discovery. True knowledge eradicates the problems caused by untruth (as of now, your previous perception of existence).
The (very) good news is you are in the process of stepping over the threshold from the suffering caused by the mind into the arena of solutions, by seeking out your true nature reading articles like this one. Accepting your true nature takes a bit of getting used to. The ‘new’ concept that you are not solid matter has come about very recently, thanks to scientific effort. But once the ‘penny drops’ – that opening up to our multi-dimensional existence is the one and only answer to life – you suddenly take a leap towards acceptance. The phrase “Be free to accept” is such a short phrase but holds the key to understanding; to real knowledge; to freedom.
Freeing oneself to accept truth takes a decision to move away from untruth. We are soaked in untruth due to religious tale-spinning and dogma, which were unavoidable in times of ignorance. Moving away from untruth moves us away from continuously suffering from ‘problems; no solution’.
You are actually living ‘this moment’ all the time. But, as previously stated, we avoid this experience by performing all manner of activity, both mental and physical. The mind, in an attempt to support its own (invisible) structure, imagines that silence and stillness is unrewarding. The mind needs to create this ‘no reward’ perception in order to keep its (ego) existence going. It throws you off the track of reality by saying “get more stuff in the form of people, objects and excitement to comfort yourself.”
We need to put in some conscious effort to get the benefits available. We have to insist that we are in the process of overcoming the influence of the mind, doing this initially by sheer bravery. It’s a bit of a step into the unknown, resolving to conquer the mind by regularly putting it aside. Partaking in regular stillness experience, whether this be some sort of meditation or mentally living in this moment, or both, helps enormously. Mastering the mind is very simple actually, once we become dedicated to prioritising our whole being.
If you regularly, frequently, practice stillness and silence you’ll definitely get to like it. It may seem a bit alien initially, if your mind is in super-control, but incomparable gratification eventually comes to the fore because the REAL you is the WHOLE you.
The mind can never win the battle (it creates) because it doesn’t have a foundation of realness. The whole you is found in stillness, once your ‘problematical you’ (your mind) is told to shove off!
As I’ve said, the process of being present, in day to day activity as well as in meditation, magnifies rapidly once you free yourself from non-truth. Acceptance is the key to freedom, growth and personal progress. Only the mind says (nags), “3 dimensions is the truth, so don’t bother to expand your consciousness.” Attachment to this historical untruth is the root of all problems / dissatisfaction.
So, why not take the final step? Allow your (currently obliterated) refined dimensions into your perception. It’s not difficult to do this. The whole physical universe isn’t real. This is proven fact. What appears to be solid matter is only an intense coagulation of invisible electrons. What’s observed is only an idea: a partial consciousness. And partial consciousness is non-existent on its own. Only WHOLE consciousness is real. The mind cannot substantiate partial consciousness when a more real consciousness becomes apparent.
P.S. – my number two tip: Become the observer. Watch yourself performing your life due to the influence of your beliefs, your traits, and your patterning that you’ve acquired since birth. Try to see this alongside the truth that we have a whole consciousness of (at least) 11 dimensions. Don’t judge yourself at all; just observe that you invent importance to lots of different circumstances unnecessarily. Observing in this way you’ll start to discriminate between truth (now proven) and what we’ve blindly gone along with previously . Practising awareness will help your acceptance that the present moment is everything – and it’s very satisfying in itself.
© John Lamb 2014 Original article at Curiositive
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