When Are We Living?

If we want to gain sanity in this insane world, if we want to experience the ever-expanding peace, the peace that passes human understanding, we need to, first of all, become aware of where we are hanging out. Are we hanging out in time, past, present, and future? Or are we hanging out in the nowness of this moment? If it is the peace we want, we need to find a way to ground and center ourselves in the now as much as possible. To step out of time, into the eternal.

Transcript

Blessings and welcome to the path to freedom,

This beautiful path where we get to set ourselves free from fear and worry and doubt,

A sense of not being enough,

A sense of lack,

Scarcity,

Separation,

Where we get to set ourselves free to forever allow for greater and grander expressions of who and what we are,

And where we get to set ourselves free to be in ever expanding love and joy and harmony and wholeness and abundance and beauty and creativity and bliss and progression and trust and intelligence and all these beautiful qualities.

But it's the truth and essence of who and what we are so we get to wake up to that,

Realize that we are not these limited bodies,

We are not these finite minds,

But we are something much vaster than that.

Much of this work that we get to do along this path is work.

This is not about us studying,

Intellectualizing,

Gathering information as we perhaps may have been taught in school to remember as much facts and information as possible so that we can pass whatever test or whatever final or whatever the case may be.

But this is about practice,

This is about putting into practice that which we catch in insights and realizations.

And one of the most profound practices there are is for us to,

To the best of our ability and to the greatest extent possible,

Come back to the nowness of this moment,

To center ourselves,

To ground ourselves,

To live from the nowness of this moment,

Which is not past,

Which is not present,

Which is not the future.

So there's time,

Past,

Present,

Future,

And there's the nowness of this moment,

The eternal moment,

That which is beyond past,

Present,

And future.

A few days ago I was with a group of individuals that I've just recently started to work with.

And we were having a conversation,

It was a beautiful conversation,

But it was also,

I became very aware,

It was like a ping pong match.

We began,

Before we started our actual work,

We began by having just,

You know,

A space of getting to know each other,

A space of just hanging out.

So there were about five or six of us in this group,

And these individuals,

They were talking about this and that,

And you know,

Just socializing.

And as I was sitting there,

Mostly silent,

Mostly observing,

I became very aware that it was like a ping pong match.

So these individuals,

And I have no judgment about it,

It was merely an observation,

These individuals,

They were moving very quickly from past,

Things that have happened,

Things that they remember,

It might have been something that happened yesterday,

It might have been something that happened ten years ago,

Things that they had done,

Things that someone else had done or not done.

So they were moving back and forth between the past and future.

So they were articulating and they were describing what they mostly feared was going to happen in some future moment.

It was most about fear,

Not so much affirmative visions,

Not so much high visions,

But mostly fear.

So they were tossed and we all were tossed.

It was a challenge for me to stay grounded,

To stay centered in the nowness of this moment,

In this whirlpool of being tossed back and forth between the three tenses of time.

There's not much peace in the past.

There's not much for most individuals,

For most of us.

There's not much peace in the future.

And especially at this time in human history when there is so much,

We're moving through a very turbulent space right now.

It's a beautiful space.

There's a lot of things coming up to the surface,

A lot of structures that have been sustained for a long,

Long time,

That have seemingly worked for a long,

Long time.

Now it is becoming more and more obvious that they are not working.

So a lot of structures are crumbling.

And a lot of the things that these individuals were talking about when they were projecting into the future were about money,

With an underlying fear of running out of money,

With an underlying fear of not having enough money.

So there were a lot of complaints around how expensive things are and how much more expensive it's going to get.

So the practice for us to stay sane in this global transformation that is happening for us to stay sane,

We need to ask ourselves,

When are we living?

Are we living in the past?

Are we regurgitating?

Are we ruminating?

That's the word,

Ruminating.

Are we repeating that which has been,

That is long,

Long,

Long since past?

Are we future tripping or venturing into the future,

Projecting into the future,

Actually rehearsing what we're calling into our experience,

Be it good or be it bad,

Be it positive,

Be it negative?

Or are we centered in the nowness of this moment?

And we want to be here and now.

We want to be grounded,

Centered in the nowness of this moment to the very best of our ability because it is only when we are fully present,

And I'm not speaking about being in the present moment,

Because that's not it.

The present moment and the nowness of this moment,

These are not the same.

The present moment,

Like as I was sitting with this group of people,

When I was in the present moment,

Let's say that I said something and I was very concerned about how they were receiving what I said.

Or as another way of illustrating it that I've been using,

Let's say that I was sitting in with this group of people and I had a pimple on my forehead,

And I was,

Much of my attention was just going to,

Trying to figure out or trying to,

You know,

Observe how they were responding or reacting to my pimple.

A sense of embarrassment within me.

That's being in the present moment.

But the nowness of this moment,

This is when we're not attached,

When we're not identified with anything.

Yes,

There are thought forms.

Yes,

There are opinions.

Yes,

There are judgments.

But we are not attached to them.

We have set ourselves free.

We have broken free from that attachment so that we can observe them,

So that we can witness them.

And this is where the freedom arises.

This is where the freedom arises.

When we're not being pulled into drama,

Be it past drama,

Be it present drama,

Be it future drama.

When we're not pulled into it,

But we get to take sort of a step back,

We get to allow for the space between us and the consciousness that we are and the content that flows through the consciousness.

When we get to allow for that space to open up,

When we get to realize that,

Hey,

I am not my thoughts.

I am not these thoughts.

I am not these judgments.

I am not these emotions or experiences.

But I'm the one,

I'm the experiencer that is experiencing these thoughts.

I am the consciousness that is becoming aware of these thoughts.

And that is,

That awareness only arises in the nowness of this moment.

So when are we living?

Where are we habitually turning our attention?

Past,

Future,

Present.

More than now.

More than now.

So a beautiful practice,

This is a practice that I learned from Eckhart Tolle,

It's,

I don't know,

20 years ago.

A beautiful practice to stay centered in the nowness of this moment,

Which does not mean that we need to be in formal meditation all of the time.

That's not what we're talking about.

It's a beautiful practice to allow,

To train ourselves to be that witness,

Observant of our thoughts.

But most of us do have a life where it is not possible for us to stay in meditation 24-7.

But we can still be centered,

Grounded in the nowness of this moment.

So a beautiful tool that Mr.

Tolle offers,

Or at least offered,

Was to have part of our attention turn toward our breath.

So in having a conversation with someone,

Or when driving,

Or when cooking,

Or when doing anything,

A part of our attention can be with the breath.

Just being slightly aware of the breath happening in our bodies,

Slightly aware of the air flowing in and out.

So we have,

We're now grounded in the nowness of this moment.

We're centered,

We have an anchor into this profound,

Beautiful now moment.

And another part of our attention can be turned toward the external,

Toward the cooking,

Toward the driving,

Or even toward people speaking.

So that was the challenge for me as I was sitting there today,

Or it wasn't today,

A few days ago,

Having this conversation,

Participating in this interaction,

A part of my attention was with my breath.

And a part of my attention was just being tossed back and forth between past and present and future.

But as I was grounded in the nowness of this moment,

Even though it was hard work,

It was a challenge,

But even so,

I was able to be,

To stay grounded.

And so whatever they were speaking about,

Wherever they turned their attention,

I was not pulled into it.

I was not attaching myself to it,

I was not attached to it,

I was not identified with it.

But there was a space of observing,

A space of witnessing what was going on in their consciousness,

As well as in my own consciousness.

And so we want to have the practice,

Create a practice of coming back to the nowness of this moment,

Because yes,

Where are we living?

Past,

Present,

Future,

Or the nowness of this moment?

And the follow-up question is,

How can we bring ourselves back to the nowness of this moment,

To the very best of our ability,

Constantly,

Regularly,

Consistently?

And a beautiful answer to that question is the breath,

Becoming aware of the breath,

Turning our attention toward the breath,

And just being with it.

Just being with it.

And with that breath,

When we come back to the nowness of this moment,

The release,

The releasing of the attachment that happens,

Brings such peace.

It is a,

It is for me,

And I know that this is so for other individuals as well,

I'm not going to speak for all individuals,

But there is a kinesthetic sensation when I come back to the nowness of this moment,

When that peace,

When the tether to my stories,

Not my,

To the mind's stories and beliefs and perceptions and judgments and opinions and all of that,

When that tether is broken,

There is a physical sensation.

Such stillness arises.

Such peace arises.

And the fears and the worries and the doubts and the sense of lack and separation,

Scarcity,

The ego sense of not being enough,

Of not having enough,

They may still be present,

But as we're not attached to them,

They have,

I was going to say they have no power over us,

And with work,

With practice,

That's where we end up,

But initially,

The power lessens.

The power begins to dissolve,

So that we can be aware of them but not run by them.

But we want to ask ourselves continuously,

Where am I living?

Am I living in time,

Or am I living in the nowness of this moment?

Am I hanging out in past,

Present,

Future,

Or am I hanging out in this now beautiful holy moment?

And we want to.

We want to.

Hang out as much as possible in the nowness of this moment.

Still in the world,

Still doing whatever we need to do,

Still participating,

Still contributing,

Still being of service,

But not of the world.

Not of the world,

But of a higher frequency,

A higher vibration.

And this is where we can truly be of service to the world,

In terms of how we serve consciousness,

In terms of how we serve the human evolution,

In a beautiful way.

So the invitation is to ask these questions,

Where am I living?

How can I find my way back to the nowness of this moment?

And obviously the follow-up question is.

.

.

No,

There are no follow-up questions.

Those are the questions.

Where am I living?

And how can I find my way back to the nowness of this moment?

Over and over and over again.

Thank you so so much for tuning in to this beautiful now moment.

Until we meet again,

Much love,

Many blessings.

Namaste.