Basic Pursuits

One of the greatest benefits to any meditation practice it the abilility to experience presence.

Presence is merely the state of your mind being present in the space and time that you are currently in. Sounds simple and it is. But it's really hard.

The mind usually churns out thoughts about the past, the future and what could be happening somewhere else. Being able to bring the mind to the present surely has advantages. We all pursue these advantages every night in the state of dreamless sleep.

Often these thoughts about hither, thither and yon are irritating and unproductive. They distort our view of reality. We become what we are thinking rather than who we are and what we do. Thoughts rather than reality become the prime determinants of our emotions. It gets messy.

The first step in getting out of the mess is to recognize your thoughts for what they are: simple little manifestations of energy. Like raindrops on a hot day, they hit  the hot pavement, spread out and disappear. Again. Again. And again. Unlike raindrops, thoughts are contradictory and capricious.They do everything they can to get your attention and engage your emotions.

Some people find it helpful to consider that thought is like the telephone ringing. You don't have to answer. You can always address the thought at the appropirate time. You can always say to the thought, "I'll deal with you later. I prefere to be present now."

But how do you achieve presence? A great starting place is by using your senses. Ask yourself questions like: What is my skin feeling right now? What can I see? What is different about what I see? What can I hear? What is different about what I can hear right now? What do you feel inside? What do you feel inside your mouth?

Almost anything that brings you to the present time and place.

I'm starting a list of activities to bring the mind to the present. Feel free to contribute!

1. Relax the eyes and see whatever is there with your eyelids open or shut without looking at anything in particular. Releaseing the eyes relaxes the mind
2. Do the same with your ears. Hear every sound without listening to any in particular.  
3. Feel whatever your skin is feeling.
4. ??