Let's close our eyes.
Let's become aware of our presence.
Throughout the day,
We are aware of the presence of something or someone.
It's not that we cannot become aware of our own presence amidst people and things.
It's just harder to notice our own presence,
Which is softer and quieter than the presence of everything and everyone else.
Let's become aware of our presence.
Let's become aware of our presence.
The analogy that I'm thinking of right now for this exercise is imagining ourselves to be a wildlife photographer.
We are at the site of the shoot,
Which is a dense forest.
We have all the gear that we need,
A big lens attached to our camera,
And our eyes are piercing.
One of the eyes is piercing through the camera lens and focusing on an exotic animal zoomed in.
Without the camera,
The entire forest is calling out to us sensorially.
So much to take in that naturally it's hard for us to find this exotic animal and stay with it.
But with the camera and the lens and the disinterest in everything else,
The only thing we are interested in is capturing or even not even capturing just viewing that exotic animal through our lens.
All the potential noise is ignored.
And we are present,
Completely locked in with our subject.
Today's exercise is the same.
With our eyes closed.
All the sensorial inputs,
Most of the sensorial inputs are eliminated.
Not that anything is wrong with the inputs.
But we're just not interested in anything else right now.
So a big portion of our sensorial experience is just eliminated for time being.
And when I suggest to become aware of our own presence,
The subject comes into focus in front of our lens,
So to speak.
And presence is something that is self explanatory.
If I tell you,
Become aware of your left knee.
You know where to direct your attention.
But when I say become aware of your presence,
Your own presence,
It's a very vague suggestion,
Not as clear as your left knee.
But you're not lost.
You know your own presence.
It's right here.
Maybe we cannot pinpoint or point our finger on where it is.
But that's okay.
We don't have to prove our presence or show our presence to someone else.
We don't need proof of our own presence because we know it.
It's like me asking you,
Are you alive?
You know you're alive.
You don't have to touch your heart or check your pulse to prove that you're alive.
You know you're alive.
That's how intimate this recognition of presence is.
I know I'm present.
I know my presence and I am present.
That's how intimate this recognition is.
That's how intimate this recognition is.
That's how intimate this recognition is.
You and just like that wildlife photographer analogy in that analogy the aim is to click photos of that animal but what if our camera did not have this facility of clicking a photo we are just interested in watching that animal same is true about our experiment right now we don't want to do anything with our presence as boring as it sounds we just want to spend some time by ourselves with ourselves without doing anything or without wanting to do anything you you you it's like letting ourselves shine initially in the confines of a distraction-free zone but eventually in the midst of chaos you we are present equally now and we are present equally when there is chaos or our everyday mundane life you you you you you just asking a simple question or a simple suggestion become aware of your own presence you you this is enough to let ourselves shine you emphasizing our own presence you apartment And like our habits.
Our behaviors,
Our thoughts,
Our expectations,
The way we look.
There is something to like,
Something to dislike.
About all those things.
Check if there is anything like that about your own presence.
Is your presence partially absent?
Or a little overweight?
Or a little angry or sad?
Or is your presence fully present?
Perfectly present.
Thank you.
