Peace Is This Moment: Letting Go Of Time Pressure

We spend so much of our lives feeling like we need to get somewhere - like we’ll finally be okay when we arrive somewhere other than where we are.

In this dharma talk, we look at where that pressure comes from, and what begins to shift when we start to see it clearly.

This track is from a Live Event on Insight Timer.

Transcript

So we are going to be bringing in two more mantras to add on to the five mantras that we introduced earlier this year. And just as a refresher, And for anyone that might be new, The mantras, The five mantras that we came up with, Were to really help us see the different ways in which our mind wanders. So there's a network in our brain, The default bud network, That's the mind-wandering part of our brain. We're all thinking in the same types of ways. And mind-wandering actually is a helpful activity for us. Sometimes it's good to just let our thoughts kind of wander, And something might come to the surface then, Something that needed our attention that we weren't aware of. So it can actually be a very helpful thing for us to do. But what we have found is that we spend way too much time mind-wandering, Lost in our thoughts, Just thinking constantly about ourselves in ways that really bring a lot of unease, A lot of unhappiness, A lot of suffering. So by using the mantras in our meditation, They really leave an imprint in our mind of the most common ways that we're taking ourselves out of the present moment, So that we can catch it real time. So they're really helpful aids in our mindfulness practice, Helping us to see it when it's happening, Because we're either lost in the thoughts or we're seeing them. So all of the mantras, And I posted them up there a moment ago, The peace is not chasing, Peace is not resisting, Peace is not comparing, Peace is not judging, Peace is not narrating, All of these mantras are based on this mind movement. I'll be happy when I get over there, Or I'll be unhappy, Like I'll be happy if I get the good conditions when I get over there, Or I'll be unhappy if I get the unpleasant conditions, The conditions I don't want. So there's a little image that we can see there that we create of ourselves in our minds of me either being happy or being unhappy. And this is where so much of the suffering is coming from, Because we are identifying with this thought created me that is either getting what it wants or is not or is getting what it doesn't want, And therefore it is unhappy. And this is what we are trying to see. This is the wisdom teachings, The Buddhist wisdom teachings are saying our suffering is because we have mistaken who we are, That we give all our attention to the thought created me and our perception of what's happening to the thought created me, The ego, The separate self, At the expense of the reality of me that's right here. So the moment we start thinking about ourselves in relationship to something else, What I want, What I don't want, There is this immediate sense that something has to happen. Something needs to change. Something needs to be different. And it is time that is the way that we get there. And I'm not even talking so much about clock time, Time that is used to organize, Time that is used that we have all agreed. Yes, There is this time that we all know what time it is, The clock time. But it is the psychological pressure of time, This constant sense of this urgency to always move faster, To get over there sooner, To get over this obstacle more quickly. And if I do that, The reward will be that I, Me, The little thought created me will feel okay. Finally, I will be okay. So while the root of the thought created me of the ego is identity, What it feeds on, What it thrives on, What it sustains itself on, Is the psychological pressure of time to always be somewhere else other than where I currently am. So it's always cracking the whip that we've got to rush through everything that we are doing, Whatever it is we are doing, We've always got to get to the other side, Because we believe the only way to release this pressure that's here, The psychological pressure of time, Is to get over there. That's when I will finally feel okay. But we know it's not where we feel okay, Not for more than a fleeting moment. Do we feel okay? We get to that next moment. And for a fleeting moment, The pressure is gone. All of a sudden, It's released. But it only takes one more moment before the mind is moving on to the next thing. And then we get there, And then it's moving on to the next thing. And it is endless. It is incessant. And so while we can notice that chasing of the good conditions, The chasing, I want to be over there, There's the me that wants to be over there, And all the suffering that is in that, The psychological pressure of time adds on an additional weight, An additional pressure that we don't recognize so much, Because we're so lost in the story that, No, If I were just to get over there, I really need to get over there. So this pressure is valid. We don't even question it. And I can remember when I used to work in the financial industry, I mean, I worked there for 25 years. It's what drove me to meditation. And I can remember when I worked at Merrill Lynch, I would be driving to work, And I would, Oh, There was this sense of pressure. In fact, The moment I woke up, The sense of pressure was there. And I would be imagining, Well, The pressure will be released once I get to my office, Once I can see what the markets are doing, Once I can see what the news is, Once I can assess what's going to be happening, Then the pressure will be released, Then I will feel okay. So all this pressure, All the way driving to work. And then I'd get there, And I'd be looking at the news, Looking at the markets, And that the pressure would go away for a moment only to build right back up again, To fixate on something else. Well, Now I've got to get to my email. Maybe there's something there I need to know about. And so again, This kind of pull to just get to the next thing. And then once I'm in the email, The pull to the next thing, Oh, I've got a client meeting. I've got to prepare for that, Right? And always this belief that I was finally going to feel okay if I could just get to the next thing, If I could just get over there. But it was an endless race. There was no finish line to the race, And all that ever happened was that I would end up feeling exhausted. And so this is very common. This is how we spend almost our entire lives, Believing that we are finally going to be okay in the next moment. But when we get to that next moment, What we find is it's the present moment, And we do not know how to live in the present moment. Because our whole lives, We have been telling ourselves that I'm going to be okay in the next moment. And then every time that that moment arrives, And it's the present moment, We don't know what to do with it. And so our sixth mantra, And this is the only mantra that is in the affirmative, Is peace is this moment. Peace is this moment. So when we say the mantra repeatedly in our meditation, Peace is this moment, We feel in that moment as we're breathing mindfully and we're saying the mantra, We can feel the release of the pressure of time and the identity that it is attached to. And we can open up to the present moment, And we can feel the sense of peace that is always here in the present moment. So we realize that yes, Peace was not an obstacle, Excuse me, Peace was not a destination. It was not something to get to. It was simply to see all of the obstacles that prevented us from knowing the peace that is always here. So when we say the mantra, Peace is this moment, In our meditation, It's leaving an imprint in our mind. It's leaving an imprint on our mind to remind us to be mindful of the psychological pressure of time, Because it is taking us away from the present moment, And we need to catch it in the real time. So when we're going about our day, And that just that habit of that urgency that I need to get over there, I'll be okay when I'm over there, Maybe for no particular reason, But just simply the habit of doing this over and over again. It's been under the radar for so long, Such a normal part of our experience. We never thought it was really a problem, Because we believe the story that I needed to get over there. So the urgency, The psychological pressure of time felt valid. But because we say the mantra again and again, Now we notice it real time. Ah, This is what's going on. This is what's happening in this moment. The psychological pressure of time is here. And as we breathe mindfully, And the recognition of the obstacle, And we can say the mantra, Peace is this moment, Peace is this moment, Again, Feeling the release of the pressure and the identity that's associated with it, And feeling the sense of ease and the sense of peace, That's always right here. And so now, Whatever it is that we're doing, Whatever it is, We're walking the dog, You're unpacking the groceries, You're doing the dishes, You're driving the car, Whatever it is that you're doing, Instead of rushing and just doing a half-baked effort on whatever it is that we are doing, We start to slow down a little bit. And we start to do our best at what it is that we're doing. And I do find adding in that attention once we've identified the obstacle, And then just bringing in to do our best in this moment, It also helps to open our interest into what's going on right now, Engaging us in what's happening right now, Noticing what's here, And noticing in that, No matter what we are doing, No matter how mundane the activity, That the more engaged we are in it, The more at ease we feel, The more spaciousness we feel, The more peace that we feel. And what we start to see for ourselves was that also there was no sense of me in the doing of the activity. That's the lightness that comes. And the more that we see this for ourselves, The more that we see it, And we recognize, I feel good in the present moment, I feel good when I'm paying attention to what's here, I feel okay, I feel safe. The more that we do this, The more that we naturally want to spend more time being present. And so now we are training in how to be here. We're actually doing the training. We have to notice the obstacles. That's so important. We have to see the obstacles. And so all of the mantras, And that I hope that everyone here is using the mantras in your meditation, So you're seeing the chasing of the good conditions, The resisting of the bad conditions, Or the unpleasant conditions, Or the neutral condition. You're seeing the judging, The comparing, The narrating. You're seeing the psychological pressure of time. And any one of those that you can see, If you can pull the thread on one of them, You can pull the thread out of the whole story, Out of the whole story of me, The identity. And that is a moment of awakening, Of seeing what you are not, Of realizing what you are not. Not to then turn around and become something else, But to directly experience what it is that's here, Engaging in what it is that's here, Being present with what's here, Seeing and hearing and feeling and smelling and tasting, Engaged in whatever it is that we're doing and doing our best. So when we do our best and we're here, We're enjoying the peace that is always here in this moment. We're enjoying the openness, We're enjoying the spaciousness that's here. We're enjoying the freedom of not needing to become something in the future, But simply the being in this moment. It's enough. It is more than enough. And so the more that we use the mantras to really help us see all the obstacles, What's taking us out of the present moment, And then allowing that so we come out of the thought created me, The ego, The separate self, Right? We come out of that and coming into the present moment to do our best, Starting to trust this more than we trust our thoughts. Not that we throw all of our thoughts out, But that we can be more discerning of our thoughts, That we can be more wise and compassionate with our thoughts, Still thinking when we need to think, Just no thinker behind the thinking, Still doing, No doer behind the doing, Still planning, Right? But no idea that, No belief that, Oh, I'm going to be so happy when I get over there, Planning, But not getting caught up in the idea that there's an independent, Separate me that's going to feel so happy when I get over there. Make the plan, See what happens. So really using the mantras in a way to help us break out of the habit of living in the thought created me, Getting attached to the thought created me, And really seeing how much of the thought created me, The ego, Thrives in the psychological pressure of time to be able to identify that more. Sometimes the images of what it is that we want to become, They're not as clear but we recognize that psychological pressure of time once we're more aware of it. Once we're more aware, We recognize, Oh, Here it is. You pull the thread out of one, You pull the thread out of the whole story, Any aspect of it. So our mantra for today, And that I would ask you to use in your meditation for the next week, And we will have a new mantra next week, Is peace is this moment. Peace is this moment. And is there anyone new here that doesn't know how to count the mantras on your hand? Because the counting of your mantras also is incredibly helpful. It brings in another part of our brain to help us remember, To really leave that imprint. So is there anyone that doesn't know how to count the mantras on your hand? I'll just ask that first. I think everyone that I'm seeing go across, I recognize. Oh, Carol. Okay. I was just looking. Yes. So Carol, I'll go through this. So, And just as a reminder for everyone, You bring the top of your pinky and the top of your thumb together for the first count. And then you do a full inhale and exhale for each mantra. So peace is this moment. So maybe peace is on the inhale, This moment on the exhale. And then you go to the middle of your pinky, Peace is this moment, And then the crease. So there's three points for each finger. So we have a total of 12 times that we say the mantra. And as you're saying the mantra, We can also use it as, It's like we're using it to try and catch also real time in the meditation when we feel that contraction, That tension, That wanting the meditation to be over, That wanting to get to the next thing, Right? And oh, Peace is this moment, Right? So we break out of the psychological pressure of time. And again, Just kind of holding our attention here in a more softer way, In a more gentle way, As the words keep guiding us, It's peace is this moment, Peace is this moment. Remember, We have been telling ourselves our whole lives that peace is in the next moment. So now we're finally saying something that's true. Yeah, Peace is in this moment. Doesn't mean we can't think in this moment, Doesn't mean that we can't act in this moment, Doesn't mean we can't plan in this moment. Of course, We can do all of these things, But without this monkey on our back, That's always getting us to rush through this moment into the next moment, Believing that our happiness is over there. So not forsaking this moment for the next moment, Because there is nothing on the other side of this moment. It will just be the present moment again. And if we're always training for the next moment, Then we will never know how to live in the present moment. We will never know the peace that is here in the present moment. We won't live our lives. It's just always being lived in the future or in the past, Or just that narrating always what's going on, Creating all this drama in our minds about things that aren't happening or probably never going to happen, Aren't happening definitely not the way that we're interpreting them happening. And using all of our practices, Of course, Mindfulness, Using the RAIN acronym, Using self-compassion so that we can be more discerning. But really using the mantras in a way to help us see what the obstacles are. And so even though this mantra, Peace is This Moment, Is in the affirmative, What I've tried to tie together with it in this talk is the psychological pressure of time that takes us away from this moment, That is continuously taking us away from this moment. Okay. And Ruth, Oh, I'm so glad that this is what you needed to hear today, Struggling trying to find some solid ground, Which you know doesn't exist, Right? This is the thing, We are looking for a place to land, Right? This is the idea. There's a me, A solid, Separate, Independent me. And if it can just get over there, It can land, And then it will finally be okay. Forever. I'll finally be peaceful forever. But you won't, Because there is nowhere to land. The conditions are always changing. We're experiencing good conditions sometimes, We're experiencing unpleasant conditions sometimes. Most of the time, We're just experiencing neutral conditions, Neither pleasant nor unpleasant. And there's nothing unpleasant about the neutral conditions. But we tend to impute that because we think we shouldn't be having them. And so the more that we are here for what's here without layering on the story of needing to get somewhere or needing to push back on something, The more that we can breathe, The more that we can trust the peace of the present moment, The peace that is our true nature, The peace that is the absence of the chasing and the resisting, Of the desire and the aversion, The wanting, The not wanting. Not that it's okay to say you want to do something, You want to progress in your job, You want to go on a holiday, Like no problem. But the moment that we start thinking, And I will be so happy when I get over there, The moment we start attaching this identity of a me over there, That's going to be happier, More at ease than the me that's actually here right now. That is when the suffering comes in. And all we are doing is continuously training ourselves how to be out of the present moment. And so we wonder why is it so hard to be present? That's what we've been training for our whole lives, How to be out of the present moment. So every time we say peace is this moment, Right, And we're saying the mantra in our meditation, You can also be saying it as you're going about your day, You just notice that little, Oh, It comes in, Peace is this moment, Peace is this moment, And kind of breaks you out of the trance, Right, Of the thought created me, Of the ego, And you start to see what's here. And you find this reality is far more interesting than our boring repetitive thoughts, Far more interesting. But it does take some time, It takes a lot of going back and forth, It takes a lot of beginning again, Particularly in the beginning, A lot of starting again, Those thoughts are really believable, That thought created me is really believable. The pressure of time, The psychological pressure of time is really believable. So that's why we use the mantras in our meditation, Leaving those imprints so that each of us can see for ourselves in real time, Keep breaking out of it in real time, Gathering the evidence for yourself to see that actually this feels better. It feels much better to live with that monkey off my back, It wasn't giving me good advice, It wasn't giving me good advice. So, Cassandra, I'll just address your question real quick before we meditate. And hi, Pamela, Good to see you and Kathy. So, You're saying that you need to learn to not be so hard on yourself, And you tend to imagine things in the future at work that may not happen, Also to learn that how to let go and be happy again in your professional life. Yeah, And it's one moment at a time, So don't add an additional pressure by this, Don't take this talk to be like, Oh, I've got to do this. We're just doing it in this moment. You just catch it in this moment, Don't make this some big mountain thing, Something else to do in kind of a big, Overwhelming way. It's just in this moment. You catch yourself doing it, Maybe it's the chasing, So you're saying on your work, Maybe it's the chasing the, Oh, I'm going to be successful, I'm chasing the promotion, I'm chasing the next bonus, I'm chasing, Or I'm resisting the problem that I think is going to happen, And if I can just get to the other side, I'll be happy. So, Each time you notice it, No matter where you notice it, Whether it's the chasing, The resisting, The judging, The psychological pressure of time, Because remember, There's a lot of overlap with the mantras, Right? We can be resisting something that's happening while judging ourselves at the same times, While narrating it at the same time, And feeling the psychological pressure at the same time. But all you need to do is catch one thread, Whatever thread comes up, And you can pull the thread out of the whole story, And in that moment, You're here. And now, Oh, I was, You were lost, And now you're here. Okay, Wow, What's here? What's happening right now? There's a problem, There's something to be taken care of, Maybe at work, Okay, And you're doing it, But not with this, Oh my God, I'm going to be so happy when this is over, It's just, This needs to be taken care of. Not with, Oh, How is this going to reflect back on me? Just, Oh, Keep noticing it, Yeah, Breathe, Be mindful, Be here, And then you get a little lost again, And just begin again, And begin again, And begin again, And begin again. So, Use the mantras. Cassandra, I really do encourage, Use the mantras. They are so incredibly helpful at leaving that imprint, So that we catch it real time, So that we catch it real time, And we gain the evidence for ourselves. So, This isn't something monumental to think about, That this is some other race to get somewhere. It's just in the moment that you catch it, Right? So, We do our practice, We do our daily practice, We leave the imprints, We're catching it real time, In that moment, No beating ourselves up, No judging ourselves for it, Because these are simply the conditions. We're all doing it. You're not alone, Cassandra. We're all doing it. We're all doing it. These are the conditions of our culture, Of our time, Of our society. We're all doing it. So, It's not to berate ourselves because we're doing it, It's just simply to catch it. Ah, There, There was the judging, There was. Peace is not judging, Right? And then the class from peace is not judging comes back, Right? And the mantra. So, As we've been doing these, And as I said at the end of the class with the fifth mantra, Peace is not narrating, To then just do one mantra each day. But as we do this class, I am going to say to do this mantra for the next week in your meditation. But then, Once we've gotten through the next two mantras too, Again, Just it's one mantra each day to keep doing it. And you can just spend, I mean, Three, Four minutes in the beginning of your meditation, Just counting out the mantras. Maybe you just do two rounds, 24 times of saying it, And then your attention is on the breath, Or you're doing more open awareness, Whatever your foundation meditation practice is. And I hope that everyone is doing a foundation practice, That we're not just flip-flopping all over the place. But whatever it is that your foundation practice, You can just add in a couple rounds of the mantra beforehand, Leave that imprint, See how that has an effect on your meditation, On helping you to catch the obstacles, The hindrances in your meditation. Okay? So Cassandra, It's not some big thing to get to, It's just in this moment to catch it. And then we begin again. And when we begin again, It's with a clean slate. Always with a clean slate. Okay?

Reviews

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these mantras have been wonderfully helpful 🙏✨😊🙏✨😊🙏✨😊