The Moment And The Mind: The Secret To Becoming Present

There is only one place where the mind cannot exist: In This Moment.

I recently came upon the blog of Nicole Schwab. She wrote a post titled, Are We Losing Our Grip On Reality?

She concludes with the following:

So that we may come back to our center. So that we may go back up-stream – as my friend Lama Dominique would say – against the currents of our conditioning. Experience life beyond the blurred boundaries of the virtual and the real…

And become truly present.

The truth is that man lost his grip on reality long ago.

And to give him a way back to reality is to make an ambitious assumption: That reality is in fact what he truly seeks.

There is the moment, and then there is the mind.

There is reality, and then there is the mind.

There is truth, and then there is the mind.

If you truly wish to Become Present, there is something you will have to sacrifice.

If you wish to See as nature sees, there is something you will have to abandon.

If you wish to experience life as a Master, there is something you will have to leave behind.

The world of the mind.

Dear friend, the problem is not that the mind projects the world that man sees. The problem is not even that he believes the projections to be real.

The problem is that he has fallen in love with them.

He is horrified by the turmoil of the world. But he thrives upon it.

He complains incessantly about the dramas of his life. But he cannot imagine his life without them.

Though he is sinking in quicksand, he wouldn’t dare reach out for the vine that lies beside him. For he cannot sacrifice the joy of crying out for help.

A journey is nothing if not Authentic.

And the authentic journey to Becoming Present is the journey of emerging from the mind.

But there is a real sacrifice here. You will have to sacrifice the pomp and the show. You will have to sacrifice the fireworks and the roller coaster existence. You will have to sacrifice the delicacy of emotional outbursts and the luxuries of anxiety and depression.

And yes, you will even have to abandon the oh-so-clever methodologies. From mindfulness to meditation to breathing to pooja to surya namashkar to communing with the spirits.

Come now, my friend. Who are you fooling?

If you wish to talk meditation, we can do so now. But I warn you that I will only speak in terms of The Ultimate. No half-way. No cleverness. No orange-colored robes. No addiction to form.

Are you ready?

If you wish to explore meditation, then drop the twenty-minutes-a-day silliness and make it your entire life. From the moment you set your feet upon the floor as you awake, let yourself drop into a meditative state.

Let every single thing you do become an entranced meditation. Live your life unburdened by thoughts. Be completely thought-less. And employ thought only when absolutely necessary.

In doing so, you will begin to drop the mind. You will have begun to enter the state of Atmamun. 

Understand this:

When the enchantments of the world no longer have the power to move you . . .

When the musings of the mind no longer have the power to affect you . . .

When your personality no longer has a hold upon you . . .

When hope or expectation hold nothing for you . . .

When your mind is no longer attractive to you . . .

When you so completely dissolve into whatever it is that you are doing . . .

You will live as the God that you were created to be.

Each of your steps, though they may not cause rose petals to bloom, will indent the Earth so that others will find their way.

Each minor incident in your life will become an opportunity to be blessed with your wisdom.

You will see and feel every sway and twirl of the leaf as it falls onto a bed of soft earth.

My friend, the mind has all the power and the cinematic drama to keep you engaged for lifetimes.

And once you begin to understand that this engagement with the mind is your imprisonment, you will begin to turn the other way.

When you free yourself from the mind, the mind becomes your tool.

And you discover your ultimate freedom.

And though you may have gained the world and all the grand luxuries it can provide . . .

If you have not Freedom, what do you really have?