Now

Living in the Now. Living in the present moment. Being present. These are all statements I have come across about the concept of the now, and what it means to be in the present moment. In this session, I explore that concept.

Transcript

Hello,

It's me,

Joe,

The Autistic Buddhist,

And in this session I would like to talk about something called the now.

When I first started to study Buddhism,

I came across this notion of living in the present moment or living in the now.

I also found the same idea while reading books and works of other modern day spiritual leaders.

I became fascinated by this concept and decided to learn more.

This notion also has other names as well,

Such as being in the now,

Or living in the moment,

Or just being present.

Before I speak further,

It would be useful to have a definition of the concept itself.

The definition that works for me is this one.

Being in a mental state where there are no thoughts of the future or the past.

A condition where there is no thought occurring,

Only a complete awareness of what is happening around you in your current space.

As I have learned,

There are many modern day and ancient spiritual practices that emphasize this idea,

And it is seen as a consistent goal and or achievement for many people.

Before proceeding,

I would like to discuss something I refer to as the present moment question.

For me,

The present moment question is the notion that one should live in the present moment all the time.

I have been made aware that there are several practices that express this idea.

Even my own spiritual practice,

Zen Buddhism,

Places a great emphasis on seeking and living in the present moment as a way of life.

And though it is something that I certainly would want to work towards,

I also recognize that it is something that is difficult to achieve.

And I have seen people,

Whether pursuing this notion or another spiritual ideal or practice,

Struggle with getting it right.

We tend to be overly critical of ourselves when working towards something and not achieving it.

And it is important for us all to remember that if we want something and work towards it,

We will eventually get there.

Trying to be in the present moment right now,

Or on demand,

Can be self-defeating and it is helpful to be patient with ourselves.

At this point in my life,

I haven't reached a place where I am living in the now all the time.

To be honest,

I find it a bit challenging,

Because sometimes I need to live in the past or in the future for a while.

What I mean by this is,

If I am planning something,

I need to put my mind into the future.

For example,

If I need to run three errands,

I need to plan how and when I am going to complete those tasks.

I need to place my mind into the future.

The same applies for the past.

If I need to remember something in detail in order to gain information that is useful now,

I need to take my mind back to the past,

Which again,

I can't do while focused on the present moment.

Now back to the idea of living in the present moment.

When I started to think of living in the now and what it means,

I became surprised that I do that quite often without even knowing it.

I also noted that we are in the now more often than we think.

Here is an example.

If you have watched a movie and found yourself engrossed in the story,

Paying close attention,

Listening purposefully to the dialogue and what each character is saying and how the plot and subplots evolve,

When you are that absorbed in the film,

Where all your attention is on what is evolving in the movie,

You are not thinking about the past or the future or your current life circumstances.

Given your concentration,

What is happening right in front of you,

You find yourself in the now.

It is the same situation as when you are reading a book.

Absorbed in the story,

Focused on what you are reading,

You tend to ignore sounds and perhaps mild disturbances around you.

Very little affects you because you are in the present moment.

This happens all the time.

Some find the present moment while walking through a forest or working on something with their hands.

So being in the now is not something new to you.

You have been in the now many times.

But there is a difference.

In reading a book or watching a film,

You are being drawn into the now.

You are experiencing the now because an external stimulus has invited you there.

And that's fine.

The movie or the book takes you by the hand and leads you to the present moment.

But perhaps what you may want is to get there on your own.

So how do you do that?

I can only share with you information based on my own experience.

Therefore the following suggestions that have worked for me may help you ease your way into the present moment.

Here they are.

The first I call Stop and See.

When you can stop what you are doing and just observe what is around you,

You may be able to enter the present moment.

If you are in a room,

Look around you and label what you see.

There is a table.

It has a book on it and a chair next to it.

I can see a doorway and window.

Sunlight is coming through it.

I am here,

Nowhere else,

Just here.

I have found this small exercise useful to bring my mind into the now.

I would like to add a little warning here before I move on to my next suggestion.

And that is about our consistent companion,

The ego.

Something you should know is that the ego does not like the present moment,

At all.

The ego doesn't like the present moment to the extent where it will try to bring you out of it.

It may start trying to disrupt your experience by distracting you,

Trying to remind you when you see the chair in that room that you may need to buy a new chair.

Or perhaps you may need to buy two chairs.

How much will they cost?

Do you really need two chairs?

Where are you going to buy it?

At this point,

The ego has pushed you away from the now and into one of its favorite places,

The future.

My second suggestion is,

Wait.

This is another small exercise that may help you.

Waiting is an exercise where you stop what you are doing and wait to see what happens next.

In this exercise,

You are not anticipating or thinking about what will happen next.

You're just waiting.

Here is an example from work.

I was on my way to a meeting,

Which I was going to arrive early at,

And I just stopped at the hallway and waited.

I was not expecting or anticipating anything to happen.

A co-worker who was just walking by said,

Hey,

What are you doing here?

And I replied,

I'm waiting.

My co-worker then said,

Okay,

See you later,

And kept walking.

Then I continued waiting without expectation,

And after a while I proceeded to my meeting feeling a little bit more relaxed.

I have heard a wonderful story about a person who when it is just about to rain,

They will go outside and look to the sky and wait for it to start raining.

Another suggestion,

Be amazed.

One thing I enjoy in working with small children is that they still have a sense of wonder,

That they are still able to be amazed.

Once when speaking to a small boy in his parents' backyard,

He suddenly looked up towards the sky and pointed and said enthusiastically,

A plane!

I looked up and saw a jetliner flying across the sky leaving one of those vapor trails behind it.

So me and this boy just looked at that jetliner as it flew across the sky.

That boy seeing the jetliner instantly entered the present moment,

And his attention and being was entirely focused on that plane.

His statement,

A plane,

Was an invitation for me to enter the now,

And I did.

There are many things around you that if you pay attention will amaze you.

If you are not driving or doing some other important task that requires your attention and concentration,

But only listening to this session,

Seated or standing,

And focus on this session and my voice,

We can do a small exercise for the next 10 seconds.

So when I say start,

I'm going to stay silent for 10 seconds,

Then I will come back and you just stay there doing nothing.

Okay,

Ready?

Let's start.

We're back.

How was that?

Were you able to experience the now for 10 seconds,

Or maybe 5 seconds?

If you experienced the present moment for 10 seconds,

That's great,

And if not,

That's okay too,

Because you are working towards it.

If you experienced the now even for a few seconds,

What a wonderful experience that must have been.

Remember,

There is no failure here,

Absolutely none,

But be careful.

Your ego might be in the background trying to convince you that you did fail,

That you couldn't do something for even a few seconds.

If the ego is there trying to do that,

Then tell the ego to mind its own business.

Ego,

I don't need you and you're not helping me right now,

So just go away.

Lastly,

In working towards being in the present moment,

I remain mindful that I won't push myself into the present moment.

If it happens,

It does,

And if not,

It doesn't.

If you try to force yourself into the present moment,

Then you're trying to push yourself into the future,

And our friend,

The ego,

Is waiting for us there.

So let the present moment happen,

And if it doesn't,

That's fine.

You haven't lost an opportunity.

The beautiful thing about the now is that it's always there waiting for you to experience.

Always.

Thank you very much for listening to this session.

I hope you found it useful and of benefit.

Goodbye.

Reviews

I really enjoy your little talks Joe. Nice to listen to last thing before sleep and at those times in the day when I’m looking for a restful moment between activities. They’re just long enough and focused enough for me to ponder as I go on with my day. Thank you.

This is a really good explanation of the now. Thank you Joe
Love and blessings to you

So helpful and so simple. I find that I’m getting simpler with age and it’s such a relief! Thank you