Tuesday, May 19, 2009

An Endless Stream of Immediate Moments

I've long since come to the conclusion that living in the present moment fully and completely on a consistent basis is one of the most difficult things most human beings encounter . . . We give this "be here now" concept so much lip service and hype, but we don't often get any further than that . . .

The past is gone, and the future doesn't exist . . . We've all heard this cliche, but as with most cliches, there is truth to it, and we just don't seem to do a good job of taking it to heart . . . Regrets about the past, or reliving glories from the past over and over in our minds . . . these things can pull us out of the present moment . . . Or, concerns about the future, or perhaps spending too much of our time over-planning for the future . . . You get the point I know . . .

It IS true that the only moment we have is THIS moment . . . So, I'm going to suggest a subtle shift in thinking about past, present, and future . . . a shift in consciousness that may begin to change and improve our ability to live the moment we're in . . .

The suggestion is this . . . Stop clinging to the concept of past, present, and future, but begin to think of living our lives as a succession of immediate moments . . . We pass from one moment to the next, so that in a subtle sense, time takes on less significance . . . It is about NOW, not yesterday, or tomorrow . . . If tomorrow comes for us, we will still be living in immediate moments . . .

Also, something which allows for more effectively thinking in this way is a regular meditative practice . . . Over time, many subtle shifts in our consciousness occur without our really being aware of them . . . Meditation has the power to take us closer to the Oneness, or the Macrocosm, which is timeless in nature . . . And, as that happens, we can begin to gain a sense of timelessness, which will allow for a greater understanding of the "immediate moment" approach . . .

Until next time . . . Ciao!!

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