Being present

Being present

June 2015

When one is in it, it seems like the simplest, easiest, most natural state of mind, but present-moment consciousness is far from easy. The human condition is that we are anywhere but in the present. The content of our minds – thoughts, feelings, memories, desires, regrets, fantasies, resistances – all drive such a wedge between us and the moment, that we could well be said to be sleep-walking through life. Life happens on auto drive as we conduct a conversation with an absent friend, enemy or lover, while driving to work or taking a walk. Everywhere life flourishes – flowers bloom, birds sing, babies smile and mothers adore – but we have no eyes or ears for them. We are locked in our own tight little egotistic world.

But as we wear down the ego’s hard shell through diligent spiritual practice and meditation, as we get increasingly  comfortable with who we are, as grace showers its bounty upon us, we may reach a space where the mind slows down. The swing between the past and the future is not so manic, and  we get glimpses of that sublime state of being in the present. Time and space collapse, nothing pulls us into the past and the present. This moment is all. Our cover story explores this blessed state of being.

There are rhythms to every life and one of these rhythms is the movement from high to low. Lows hit all of us, but the wise and the resolute learn from them, and move out of the lows fairly quickly. For others, a low can continue indefinitely for they are clueless on how to get out of it. Our article offers you hope and strategies.

Having fun, as I have often said, is a sacred obligation. In each of us there is an inner child that longs to come out and play. Won’t you let her out? We have an article on the subject.

Enjoy the issue and the month.