The Present Moment

I've been thinking about something that came up in a recent conversation regarding the present moment. As some of you know, I have been meditating for the past four and a half years and have been solidly dedicated to my daily meditation practice for the past year and a half, which has been absolutely transformative.

In the above-mentioned conversation, I explained that all the stress in our lives is a result of our not being in the present moment. This translates usually as a low-level sense of dissatisfaction with the way things are whether it is the house we live in, the job we have, the state of the world, where we are in our career, the relationships we're in, the way our parents are, the car we drive, etc. As a result there is a gap between the way things are and the way we think things should be--this gap is stress.

I went on to say that all these ideas of how things should be (or should have been) don't exist anywhere but in our minds. In other words, they are part of the network of thoughts that make up our story, our identity. But this isn't ultimately who we really are! There is this life story, which is some fanciful thing that we replay continuously in our minds, and then there is this very moment, which is our life. Realizing that we are not our life story is crucial to being free from dissatisfaction, which means being happy.

At this point, my friend posed a very important question: "If what you're saying is true, does that mean that our life lessons are not important? That the experiences that have made us who we are are irrelevant?" I tried to answer that they were important, but don't think I put it clearly.

Here's another attempt. Yes, our life lessons are important. It is important that I know how to drive so that I can commute to work and run errands; it is important that I learned math and science so that I can teach it to others; it is important that I know how to draw and paint so that I can make my art; it is important that I can play a musical instrument so that I can make music; it is important that I can speak a language so that words come to my mouth when I communicate with others; it is important that I learned how to design structures for people to live and work in so that I can make my living; it is important that I know about ships and engineering so that I can work on a ship. All these things are very important parts of our life, but they do not define who we are. If my ability to do math is taken away from me (and this will certainly happen with time!), am I then no longer me? If something happens so that I can no longer drive or play my musical instrument, am I no longer me? Of course not.

So, our knowledge and skills are relatively important, but they are not absolutely important. The problem is that most of us are continually replaying our life story, running through the inventory of all these life experiences, the successes and failures, and the lessons we have learned from them. We do so over and over and over to the point where we know only this and believe that this is who we are. Instead of being really present in the now, which is our true life, we are trapped in our mind's story of our life. Everything that happens to us is then put through this filter of "my story" and dressed up appropriately to fit into this fanciful identity of "who I am."

The point is that our life experience is valuable insofar as it does not impede our life. Being in the present moment is not the rejection of the past. It is the realization that only by being in the present are we truly ourselves. Everything that we experience, everything that happens unfolds in the present moment. Everything that we remember didn't happen in the past, it happens in the present. When you are in the now, you realize that there is nothing to fear and that you have everything that you need. And the amazing thing is that the present moment is kind.

Unfortunately, all that I've said are just words. I can repeat them over and over and you may sense some truth in these words, but without a solid meditation practice there is no way that what I've said can become true for you. Perhaps one day, some of you will make the time and effort to learn to meditate and experience what I am trying to express.