Are you in the present moment when you are concentrating on something? What does it mean to be in the present moment?

Being in the present moment is a meeting of totalities. Your totality meeting with the totality of creation. Your body, mind, and heart are part of creation. Being in the present moment implies a communion with the whole. Connecting to a small part of the whole, which is forever changing, is not being in the present moment. Being in the present moment requires a state of acceptance and receptivity that allows you to step beyond your attachment to a particular part of the whole. As long as you cling to a small part of the whole, you will not be aware of the whole. The whole is available only in the present moment. So, it is not about concentration. Meditation is a different skill that has to be learned. It is about expanding, about letting go of the small to acquire the perspective of the whole.

We are so used to concentrating that even our forms of relaxation require concentration. We are merely swapping one form of concentration for a more pleasant one. Watching your favorite show requires concentration as does reading your favorite book. This is not being in the present moment.

Suppose you are sitting in a movie theater watching a show, but you can only see the lower left hand corner of the screen. How will ever appreciate the context of what you are seeing if that is all you are aware of? And yet this is what we do in life. We are not aware of the whole. We observe life through a keyhole, unaware of the context of what we are seeing. We are so busy concentrating on that small part of life that we are identified with, that we don’t even know where it fits in the grander scheme of things.

Can you watch a soccer or basketball game without picking a side? This is very difficult for us, even when we have no vested interest. Watch your heart. Before too long you will be rooting for one of the sides. Why is this? Why can’t we just enjoy the game? It is the nature of the ego to identify with a side, to make a stand, to limit itself, because it wants the transient to have meaning, when in fact it has no meaning at all. The ego searches for meaning in the world, but true meaning comes from a higher level.

We want to touch the horse projected onto the screen in the movie theater, but there is no horse there. All you are touching with the mind is the screen and its reflection of the horse.

The present moment is a dance between you and the whole. Many techniques start off with concentration, only to lead you to a state of relaxation, which is fine. But realize that unless you become aware of the whole, you are not in the present moment.” Excerpt from The Perennial Truth – Awakening of the Soul

Self Awareness is about moving through life in expanded union with the present moment. Learn more about Maha Khala and The Art of Being in the Present Moment.