Let's close our eyes.
There is no one else here,
So any attempt to think about someone else is only an imagination.
But one thing that is not imagination is your presence.
And the more fully you're present,
The more the presence shines.
A very loose comparison would be waking up in the morning,
Barely waking up in the morning,
Feeling groggy versus springing out of bed,
Being fully awake,
Ready to go.
That's the quality of the presence.
And the more we are thinking,
Lost in imagination,
The more dulled down presence feels.
And by thinking,
I mean unconscious thinking.
If we are consciously thinking,
Then that thinking has the same presence and the same quality.
But if it is all unconscious,
The light of presence is just dimmed down.
One of the main reasons we engage in unconscious thinking is because we believe that the thoughts or the content of those thoughts,
Whatever is being seen and heard in our minds,
Is real.
We treat it as if it's happening right now.
But there is a marked difference between an event that is happening right now,
Like my words being spoken,
They being heard,
Has a very different texture than if you repeated my words in your mind.
Same words,
But the texture,
The quality of the experience is quite dim.
That's what we do with most events.
We repeat them as if they are real.
And then we get used to this dimmed down version of experience,
Ignoring the full scope of experience that happens right in front of our eyes all the time,
Most of the time.
And before I tell you that the thoughts and the replay of the events in your mind is not real,
Or at least the content of it is not real,
I want you to verify that.
And I want you to decide,
Does it have the same texture of presence as a current experience does?
And what is even the point of replaying the event?
It's a demand and supply equation.
Because there is demand for replay,
There is replay.
At best,
It's a stick figure representation of what reality is.
And once we withdraw this demand,
We withdraw this belief that the content of our thoughts is true.
The content of our unconscious thinking is true.
Our presence starts shining brighter,
If you may.
We might even hear things differently,
See them differently.
We might even see ourselves differently.
If you go to watch an animated movie,
And given the technology where we are at right now,
The animation can look as real as it can get.
Yet,
We know it so clearly that it's not real.
It's an animation.
At times,
We would still prefer the real actors in place of animation,
Despite being so close to what the real characters would and could look like.
And yet we are okay,
And we tolerate this 1960s animation in our mind,
And think of it as real.
Why would we do that?
Maybe if we were getting some entertainment,
Maybe some nostalgia,
Sentimental value.
But we all know that this unconscious thinking only leads to fear,
Insecurity.
At times,
We might feel a little sweet.
But most of the times,
It is ridden with anxiety.
Different amplitudes of it,
Of course.
Anger,
Sadness,
Regret.
Of course,
No one ever told us.
Everyone does it.
But no one ever tells us that we should do this.
Both.
No one ever tells us to start believing this stick figure representation as real.
And no one ever tells us that this is a stick figure representation which might not be real.
So all of us suffer in our own ways,
Based on our own tendencies and proclivities.
And this is like an addictive habit.
Even if you decide today that this is it,
The habit has its own momentum,
And it might continue for a little while.
Every time we forget,
We forget what is real and what is not.
We can come back to what is real and what is not.
We can come back to what is real and leave what is not real.
And the more we do it,
The more we erode this habit.
So this is not a function of willpower as much as intelligence.
If you will yourself,
Then you're only counting days until you give in to this habit again.
But if you become wiser,
Then even if the lure comes up once in a while,
You're not enamored by it.
You're not tempted.
But you have to see it clearly,
That it's not real.
And more importantly,
It's not good for me.
Like if we are having fun,
Then sure.
But if we are suffering,
Then what's the point?
Whether we like it or not,
Whether we accept it or not,
Our natural tendency is always to gravitate towards what's real.
Given an option,
You would always prefer real flowers versus fake,
Freshly cooked food versus pre-made food.
We might decide to choose fake flowers or pre-made food out of convenience.
But given an option,
We would choose the more real counterpart.
We would choose meeting someone in person than over Zoom or FaceTime.
The experience,
The texture of that meeting is so different.
Something magical happens when we start trusting our natural tendency of being present.
The reliance on memory drastically reduces.
The reliance on old drastically reduces.
Whatever problems we face at work or outside,
We don't look for solutions in the past.
Just like in nature,
If there is a poisonous plant,
The antidote to that plant is right next to it.
You might start experiencing the same,
Even in your experience,
Where the solution will be right next to the problem.
Not in our memories,
But right next to the problem itself.
Only if we are truly present to the problem and truly present,
Period.
And if there is no problem,
Then the same energy,
If you may,
Can be directed towards creating something new.
Creativity and innovation naturally blossoms because you have tapped into the fountain of new,
Of fresh,
Of now.
Of course,
You can't go and grab it.
It's a natural unfolding.
It comes to you.
You can't go to it.
How to be present cannot be taught,
But it can be rekindled.
And in times of danger,
In times of awe or grief,
We are fully present.
Even in times of beauty,
When we are struck with something,
There's an inbuilt mechanism to be fully present when we are doing something dangerous.
That's what entices a lot of extreme sports,
But it doesn't have to be extreme all the time.
It can be simple and mundane,
Just like being present when we brush our teeth,
Sip our tea or coffee,
Drive our car.
It's astonishing how many times we are lost in the untruth while doing something as important as driving.
What do you think would happen if you were fully present to a conversation with your friend,
And what do you think is going to happen to your suffering when you withdraw this belief from the untruth?
Thoughts are not a problem.
Believing them to be true is what causes our suffering.
Something bad might happen is a neutral thought.
The moment we believe it,
We release all kinds of hormones in our body that trigger the fear.
Believing it or not is our freedom.
Nobody forces us to believe our thoughts.
And just like belief comes from freedom,
The withdrawal of belief also comes from freedom.
Although it comes from the habit,
But this habit is renewed and reinforced every time we exercise it.
So the stopping of habit is not in the past in the root cause analysis,
But in the now.
Withdrawing from it now,
Every time,
Now.
Now,
Every time,
Now.
Thank you.
