For any of you who attended Leonard Jacobson's recent one-day workshop at our Center, you already know the answer to this question. But, for those who weren't able to make it, here's the answer: Presence underlies everything in life, there is nothing to fear in the present moment and the only time you're truly alive is in the Present Moment. Everything else is a memory of the past or a projection of the past into the future, both of which are nothing but mental ruminations.
The Present Moment happens in each moment and then moves on to the next moment. In truth, there is only one Present Moment. It just repeats itself endlessly. Time after time, the Present Moment arises and then disappears.
It's only the mind that tries to hang on to the Present Moment. It does it through memory. Yet, the memory is flawed in that whatever it remembers is colored by all of our prior life experiences which leave those memories indelibly upon the mind's interpretation of each new experience. For instance, say you were frightened as a child when someone showed you a frog or a snake. They did it by pushing it into your face or dropping an insect down your shirt or dress. It may have traumatized you with fear. After that, every time you even saw an insect, frog or snake you reacted with fear or abject terror that the same emotion would arise within you as occurred that first time.
Can you imagine even trying to experience an insect, frog or even a snake without fear? Well, you could if you simply experienced it in the Present Moment - without all the background history of fear imposing its memory upon you.
When you are Present, you can appreciate each new experience as if it was brand new and you've never seen it before. That's because you haven't seen it before. It is in the Present Moment. When you're in fear due to the "unknown" you're about to experience, it's based upon your past bad experiences of "the unknown" being projected into the future. Again, in order to do that, you must be in your conscious mind projecting into the future instead of being Present.
However, if you were truly Present, then you could simply be with whatever arose in the Moment of Now and accept it for what it is - without any preconceived ideas of expectations coloring the event. THAT'S why we want to pay more attention to the Present Moment. In the Present Moment there is nothing to fear, nothing to think about and nothing to anticipate. It's very simple. You're just here now. Nothing more . . . And then there's this moment . . . and then there's this moment. And so on and so on.
By being in the Present Moment, you eliminate all or most of your mental processes and function better in life. Your thought process becomes clearer and you feel things better than ever before. That's another reason why you may want to pay closer attention to the Present Moment.
Take the time to pay attention to the Present Moment and watch how your life feels better and things go easier for you as you go through your life. Try it, you'll like it.
Blessings,
Ted
