Rethinking What Living in the Present Means – Can You Actually Live in the Present? No

Article Highlights:

• Living in the “present” isn’t possible
• What can we do instead?
• My new book is available on Amazon!! done!!

Dear Seeker of the Present,

Last week I shared a chapter from my book which is now for sale on Amazon in many countries including the US, England, Canada and Australia. I have another excerpt for you this week with information that came to me in meditation.

While writing the book, an insight was given – specially for the book – that was so interesting and profound that it became a chapter of its own. Here’s an excerpt from that chapter which puts forth the idea that a certain sacred cow of spirituality – living in the present – is not actually possible. And reveals what we can do instead.

I enjoyed this understanding so much myself that I want to share it here so whether you purchase the book or not, you can have the benefit of this wonderful understanding.

CHAPTER 4
The Present vs. The Presence

My mind is blinking and stuttering, flickering back and forth between past and future. Diving into recent traumatic events, it projects them as images into the future as a repeating loop of pain and fear. I’m having a difficult day, struggling to find continuity – let alone peace.

Sitting on a small knoll, the beauty of my surroundings sweeps a stunning 360 degree view around me. But I’m less aware of it than the inner movie I’m unsuccessfully trying to avoid. Past, future, past, future. If only I could get into the present!

For over an hour I’ve been trying to calm myself and move out of the painful past that my mind is fixating on. Again and again I try to quiet my mind and get into the present moment. It isn’t working.

Finally, with equal parts anguish and frustration I exclaim aloud, “Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! I just can’t get it to stop! I’m so stuck in the past and worried about it repeating. Arhhh! I just can’t seem to get present. I give up!”

I surrender hopelessly to my failure to get into the present moment and finally the voice of Wisdom is able to get a word in. “Stop trying to get into the present moment. It doesn’t exist you see. The goal isn’t to get into the present. The goal is to access something and bring it forward.”

“What?! I wondered. Isn’t the present everything? Isn’t that where it’s all at? Where the peace is, the relief? Isn’t the present the spiritual goal?”

“No,” Wisdom continues. “The goal is not to get into a moment so fleeting as any present moment. The goal is not the accessing of the present moment. The goal is to access Presence. The Presence that is in you.” Presence, not the present. This has been misunderstood.”

As I open to contemplation, I begin to understand something new.

~ * ~

We’ve come to believe there is a moment in time that has great power. We call this moment “The Present” or “The Now.” It interests us as an important spiritual principle with practical physical applications.

The belief in the power of the present has gained a great veracity. It’s become part of the spiritual ethos, a fervent belief for many people. We believe that living in the moment will improve our lives, as so many thought leaders and spiritual teachers have said. So we are trying very hard to get in the present and to live there.

Truth to tell, the present isn’t easy to achieve and is very hard to maintain. We meditate to quiet the mind which is always calling us away from the present. We read about “the present,” watch videos on it, take classes.

Doing all these and applying what we learn, we may well experience benefits, but can we say we arrived at something stable? Have we taken up residence in a new place: the present? Have we found it to be the Holy Grail that we hoped? Has it solved the greater difficulties of life?

Have we actually found ourselves able to move into the present moment and stay there? Probably not. Why? What is needed, more diligence? Should we try harder, meditate more, take another course, be more focused in our pursuit of living in the moment? Can we actually achieve this and at last escape our past and solve our future? Can the present moment offer lasting peace? No.

The Question

What is “The Present” if not simply another increment in time, as is The Past or The Future? Past, present, future – all three are merely increments or designations of linear time. Certainly there is great benefit in becoming clear that the past is behind us and the future is not yet here. That is a powerful truth. But where IS this present we must learn to inhabit?

The present is not a place we can live anymore than we can live in the past or future. The present becomes the past as soon as we are aware of it. It is fleet of foot, a moving target, a shape-shifter changing quickly from one thing into the next. It is not a destination. It is not a place where we can meet someone for lunch.

On our journey we are now fully aware that the past is the city we already drove through. We can no longer have lunch there. In the future are the cities that lie ahead on the map and we cannot eat there right now either. And though, where we are, we can indeed share a moment with a friend, that moment soon changes and becomes the past we have shared with them.

The Conundrum

This is the conundrum of “the present moment,” a conundrum created by its linear scope. And being linear, it is limited to increments of time. The problem is this: the concept of living in the present keeps us on a linear highway, as though life is like Highway 66 stretching from coast to coast across the U.S.A. On it, past is the remembered road behind us; the future is the imagined road ahead.

The present is the place along the road that’s visible to the physical eye. The problem is, we are leaving it as we speak. Life is motion and change, and thus the conundrum presents itself: there is no present to bring ourselves to, it’s past as soon as we inhabit it. It doesn’t really exist. But even as the present continues to elude us, we persist in longing for what we feel we will gain by residing there.

Why does it speak to us so deeply, with portent and mystery? What does it stir? What does it have to say? It tells us to come someplace, to bring ourselves, and live there. Where is that place? What do I bring? How do I live there?

The Longing

Can you feel your own yearning to “live in the present”? It is a wise urge, but it is pointing to something that’s not on our linear map. It is pointing to something non-linear, something unseen. It is suggesting something more than meets the eye. “Come to a new place,” it says. “Bring yourself here.” It is drawing our attention to that which compels our journey, that longing of every traveler on the long road.

It is the longing to arrive, to reach a destination. It is the longing for Home. And where is that destination, our true Home? Home is a place within us. And what do we bring to that new place, and what do we find there? Ourselves. Who we truly are. That is what we bring, and that is what we find there: the indwelling loving Presence we are.

The task is not to live in the present moment,
The task is to know and express the Presence within us.
That is what we long for.

To actually be present to anything, we must bring Presence. And what is the essence of our own Presence? It is Light, Source, that which is God. So the Presence we must bring to each moment is the Light of who we are.

What one brings to gain the so-called power of the present moment is not mind or silence or spiritual beliefs or effort. We must bring Presence instead. It is the Presence within that gains us the great power we have glimpsed as we have yearned to live in the Now.

“Become aware of the Light-filled Presence within you.” That’s what the inner voice of Wisdom said. “Practice connecting with that Light and bring it forward into your daily experience.” I’m thinking it over. Sometimes I’m confused. Other times I have an Aha.

Where is that Light? What is it, this Presence? What do I actually do ? This is what I ponder as I roam the Valley. Answers come.

~ * ~

The chapter then goes on to share the answers that came during my time in the valley which would make this article too overly long. But I think the excerpt gives you enough to have fun ruminating further in your way. I thought you might enjoy pondering all the ramifications… I know I do.

Sending you love today from our shared Light-filled Presence,
Mayet Leilani
We Are Light! by Mayet Leilani is for sale on Amazon in many countries including the US, England, Canada and Australia and others.