Settling Into Presence

A good practice is not always to feel you have to fill up the present moment with something, but actually enjoy a present moment that is not filled up with anything. By filling up, I mean external activity or internal activity. So both are kind of filling up the present moment. And on the external, as we mentioned before, of course, you have all the devices that humans have invented to help you fill up the present moment, to make it easier not to have any space whatsoever. So whether it's your television or radio or cell phone or text messages or emails or Facebook or Twitter, or the old fashioned magazine that you consume, weekly magazine gossip, or maybe a little bit more elevated. And you can, when you do it, you can sense the addictive nature of needing to fill up your inner space. It's an automatic thing. And people are actually afraid to have a moment. They're afraid of having this moment that's not filled up. Then they feel there's something very wrong. And they might interpret this as. Some people even feel anxiety, I should be doing something or thinking something or something wrong. Or they may feel unbearable boredom even after two minutes not doing anything. Or they have something in the head, a mind form that says you should be doing something. How dare you just sit there. There's so much to do. Come on, do something. Somebody beating you up in the head, you lazy so and so. But you're missing out on something very precious and very vital. And that is experience the depths of life rather than the continuous horizontal extension of life. And you don't have to overdo it, just make it a habit from time to time to enjoy the spaciousness of the present moment. And everything at this moment just is the way it is and you come to an acceptance. And then the compulsive need to fill it up with something may subside for a moment. And then there comes perhaps for some people, a moment of unfamiliarity with having this space. Then you accept that. Then it actually oh quite pleasant, this moment. Occasional thoughts may come in, but they're no longer occupying your entire space. And then this is the first step of appreciating what's around you, which is a manifestation of life also. And if you're in the mind, you would call it uninteresting. Everyday things are happening around me. But if you don't interpret, you might see that there's a certain aliveness and beauty in everything. So the appreciation comes, can only come there. Thankfulness is a term often used in spirituality, New Age especially. And of course it's important. But the real thankfulness isn't through Words, although a word can point you to it. You could say, thank you for this moment. And don't wait for some spectacular moment, because they're not that many that come when you say, finally, thank you for this moment. Some people think something spectacular has to come along. You have to stand on the mountaintop, oh, I've made it. Thank you for this moment. But it doesn't last that you can't stay on the top for too long. You have to come down and then you have to look for another one. Some people look for a wedding or something like that. It's a great thing. But that doesn't last that long either. Preparations can go on for months and months, and it's all exciting. You're building up towards it, and finally it happens. And if you're lucky, it doesn't get spoiled by something, by relatives getting drunk or pouring with rain or whatever could happen. But then it's over. And then ordinary life starts with one ordinary moment after another. And if you then become dissatisfied because you can't appreciate the ordinary moment. And why can't you appreciate the ordinary moment? Because you're not going deep enough into it. You're not allowing yourself to settle into it. A danger, when you come to the moment of settling into the present moment and you're not used to it in order to stay there. And it doesn't matter how long, 1, 2 minutes of feeling comfortable in the now is fine. It's a good start. One minute. Or you can start with half a minute of just, ah. If your mind comes in and says something, it's not necessarily true. It says you can't afford to just sit here and do nothing. Well, I think anybody can afford to sit for one or two minutes and do nothing. If the mind tells you you can't, it's not true. There might be an emergency situation that's a different matter. But I often tell people, when you get into your car, why immediately go into automatic mode, but give it. Use the opportunity when you shut the door to have 30 seconds or so. And you don't have to count the seconds because then you're filling up the present moment again. 30 seconds or so of just spacious being. You look out of the window, whatever you see there, feel yourself breathing, and for a moment you break the momentum of the mind that otherwise pulls you along. So you shut the door and you go, 30 seconds. Unless there's a real emergency, 30 seconds don't really make much difference. If you believe the mind, you will believe that you can't afford 30 seconds. It's too much to do, Sa.