Friday 9 March 2012

Simple isn't easy

It is the simplest thing in life: to focus on the present moment.  But it's not easy.  Too often we are lost in the past or dreaming of the future.  The quality we bring to the present moment is the very quality that influences both the past and the present.

In healing the present, we redeem the past.  By being conscious, gentle and forgiving towards ourselves and others, we reach beyond the confines of the ego and dip into the soul.  It is there, in the soul, that transformation occurs.  It is our soul that touches the quantum potential of the divine, allowing us to heal this moment, to lose our objections to 'what is' and slip into acceptance.  This is the past to healing and freedom.

In focusing our energy on the present, we create a future aligned with our highest good, with our soul.  This is a future that because it springs not from the limitations of the ego - the doing, having, wanting of the mind - but the subtler voice of intuition, it surpasses our expectations. 

The key is a gentle awareness of the present.  I find my ego gets carried away, even in simple conversations, but applying the Buddhist principle of Second Attention, I've become calmer in the present moment.  Second Attention is where we slip below the physical world - what we are doing in any moment - and focus on the space between ourselves and the physical world. 

In a practical application, I've been experimenting with this principle with James.  When I have to uphold boundaries ('no, you can't do that because...'), he doesn't understand or care.  But I have found that holding some awareness on the space between us reveals a silent, still, peacefulness.  When my words pass through this peace, James' behaviour changes.  He moves off to play with something else. As I come from a greater space of peace, he meets me there.  Or perhaps he leads me there!

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