One of the most essential and important things to learn in the spiritual path is present moment awareness. Understanding the beauty of the present moment is important if we are to live a more “engaged” life. I call it engaged because I know how so many of us spend so much time chasing after things that they forget to enjoy the journey.
The present represents what is called as the field of infinite possibilities. If someone is constantly in the present, he/she could access a field of infinite possibilities.
What is the field of infinite possibilities ?
The field of infinite possibilities refers to the fact whenever something happens or when we deal with something, we look at things not from the basis of concepts from the past or our expectation from the future. We look and deal with things as and when it is. We are a state of acceptance and in awe in the present moment.
For someone who is constantly not in the present moment, they tend to be limited whenever something happens or when dealing with something. When they are to deal with something, they look at the event with a limited perspective (either from the events that happen in the past or the expectation from the future). Whenever we are at that constant cycle of constantly judging things that happen from this way, we suffer. We suffer because of our limited perspective.
Being in the present helps us to be more alive. Everything that happens we treat it as if it is happening for the first time. We are in a state of non-judgemental. Often, our judgement comes about from our expectation or from our experience. When we are in the present we are not able to judge, because we have no reference for our judgement. We do not have the past to hold on to or the future as a reference.
I have been cracking my head trying to write this post actually. This is because the present is an extremely valuable thing to learn. As a matter a fact, throughout my readings in religion and spirituality, I have never stumbled upon any spiritual teacher who has not taught this. They might call it with different names, but if we were to track its essence it is eventually the same.
How To Remain In The Present
The key to remain in the present is to just think of something to do and do it. It is as simple as that.
So many of us when we are doing something are often so caught up with the past or the future. So just being in the present is the key. It sounds simple, but it takes a lot of practice to master.
Another key way to remain in the present is through meditation and the practice of mindfulness. The practice of mindfulness refers to the way in which we do everything in a state of focus. When we are walking, we walk. When we are listening, we listen. WHen we are doing anything whatsoever, we are doing it without letting our minds wander.
Most would think that it seems crazy to live life in such a way, but remember that we are all just conditioned in such a way. It takes a lot of courage and faith to really try to live in such a way though, especially since almost everyone spends so much time associating themselves with the past and future.
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Note: It is extremely hard for me to write about only the present without bringing reference to the past and the future. I believe that is the essence of being in the present. We can’t understand why the practice of being in the present is so important until we try it ourselves. So, I would have to summarize it in another post in order to connect the whole practice of being in the present, learning from the past and planning for the future.
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