Oakville Zen Meditation
Present Moment: How to be in the Now: few tips
Please go to the last Dharma lecture “ NOW: the magic of the present moment “ as
introduction.
Being in the present moment as often as possible has been stressed over and over by all Zen spiritual leaders for the last 2,000 years or so. The present moment is called “the miracle of Now”, and there are 3 fundamental reasons for that:
Now is the only space-time that exists since the past is gone, and the future is not born. Both exist only on pics, calendars, and in our minds.
We are alive physically, mentally, and spiritually only in the present moment, not before, and not after.
It is only durant the present moment that we can experience, using pure mindfulness-based awareness the factual realities of our environment, of self, and life in general. This is Awakening that is, in its spiritual sense, being Awake to your genuine self or True Nature, free of our mind-made prison.. Being Awake is the opposite of being a day-dreamer, wandering non-stop in a mind-made mental movie and chattering made of illusions, delusions, thoughts, and feelings such as regrets, guilt, grievance, non-acceptance coming from the past or as worries, expectations, envies, fear coming from the future.
How to practice “Being in the now “?
Being in the Now is a shift of Consciousness from the thinking/analytic/emotional consciousness to the pure genuine one. You bring your wandering mind where your body is, and what it is doing.
It opens the door to Awakening to your True Nature which always exists.
In a mindful way that is- again- w/o any analytic /decisional thinking, you learn to pay attention, to observe, to focus, to be aware of :
a) what you are doing b) your posture c) internal sensations such as breathing, heart rate, muscle tension, pain, etc….
and let them go one by one as you do during meditation
Meditation is a perfect example of being in the moment even intermittently
When, where, and how long should I practice “Being in the moment?
Anywhere, anytime, and as long as possible, according to your various daily activities and schedule duties. A few min., several times during the day is fine.
Remember this: when you are applying one of the 3 tips mentioned, even for a short period, you are in control of your mind: no daydreaming, no day sleepwalking.
This is Awakening, allowing you to discover your genuine self that we call True Nature. This is why we call it “The miracle of Now”.
Finally: we always make time for our priorities; if you cannot make time for meditation you should question your interest, and motivation to pursue this activity. Thanks
