Cultivating Presence

Presence is one of the fundamental characteristics of our true nature. When we drop below the fluctuations of the mind, we experience the felt sense of presence-a connection between ourselves and everything else in existence. To cultivate presence requires patience, purity of intention, and self-compassion. Moments of presence are extraordinary and mystical, wherein we experience the beauty that is always, already right here. This is a 20 minute talk followed by a 20 minute guided meditation.

Transcript

So in the last few classes,

I've been talking a bit more about the concept of the natural state and our true nature.

In Sunday's class,

I talked a bit about unconditional love,

Which is one of the characteristics of the natural state.

For today,

I thought I would continue in that theme and talk about the concept of presence,

As presence is also one of the fundamental characteristics of the natural state and our true nature.

So I'll start with a quote from Paulo Coelho from The Alchemist.

We are travelers on a cosmic journey.

Stardust swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity.

Life is eternal.

We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other,

To meet,

To love,

To share.

This is a precious moment,

A little parenthesis in eternity.

This is a beautifully poetic expression of our true nature.

It's something that we all have within us as an innate potential.

We simply forget being human,

Experiencing the challenges and difficulties of our human lives.

And yet it's always there,

Waiting for us.

As we return to this sense of our natural state,

We naturally enter a felt experience of presence.

I've talked before about how there's the paradox of life and of being human,

That we're simultaneously existing in a world of seeming duality,

Of self and other.

And yet,

Even as we experience that sense of duality,

We are always inherently connected to and grounded in an underlying oneness that connects everything that we see and experience.

When we're able to drop below the fluctuations of the mind that tend to keep us in a state of a felt sense of separation.

When we can drop below that mind and the movements into that connection to the oneness below,

We naturally experience a greater sense of presence.

This is a sense of connection within ourselves and between ourselves and everything around us and everyone around us.

Some would refer to this as the presence of God,

The God being the all,

And when we are fully immersed in the all,

We are fully present.

We experience life as it is and ourselves as we are,

And our innate nature of love,

Compassion and wisdom naturally arises and comes forth.

As I said,

It's the fluctuations of the mind with its judgments,

With its aversions and its desires,

Wanting things to be different than they are,

That keep us more in a felt sense of separation.

And I should state at the outset that this is not an either or.

It's not that we are either present or we are not.

It's kind of a large gradation that we can move more towards being fully present or more towards the experience of separation and less presence.

When we have moments of more complete presence,

They can feel like gifts that simply arise and we just feel this deep connection that brings purpose and meaning to our lives.

Moments of felt presence are extraordinary.

They're mystical.

They take us beyond our mundane experience of the world and into the magic and the beauty that is always already right here.

In Hindu philosophy,

They sometimes refer to the state of separation as the maya,

Which means illusion.

This is the illusion that occurs when we mistake the fundamental nature of ourselves and reality and we get caught up in duality.

It's a categorical error of the mind when we mistake duality as the one true reality.

And this is quite natural in being human,

To get caught in the illusion.

They often liken it to a dream.

And when we're in a dream,

We can get caught by it and we can believe that it's truly real.

You know,

Whether it's a nightmare or a wonderful dream,

It's easy to get caught by it and mistake it for reality until we wake up.

And then we realize,

Oh,

That was a dream.

And this is often used as an example of what life can be like when we get caught by the illusion of maya.

So how do we cultivate presence?

There's many different ways.

Some might be healthier than others,

Because,

As I said,

It's when we come to that point of single pointed awareness,

When we are beyond the fluctuations of the mind,

That we experience that felt sense of presence.

So one way that we sometimes try to achieve this is through things that get our adrenaline going.

You know,

Some of you may know or may have been at some point in your lives or still be adrenaline junkies.

When I was younger and I lived in Portland,

Oregon,

It was probably 14,

15 years ago,

I would go several times a week to my favorite trail,

Which was Multnomah Falls.

And you hike up a mile on asphalt and then you get to this gorgeous trail that continues up to Larch Mountain.

And you're just following stream and waterfall after waterfall.

And there's this green mist hanging in the air.

And it's so magical.

And I'd go up there and I would do Qigong and meditations and I would hike up several miles.

And then after I'd done all that,

I would sprint down at breakneck speed on this rocky path with drop offs on the edge.

And everything.

And it was thrilling on the one hand.

But the reason I loved it so much is because when I was running down the trail,

I couldn't think about anything other than the next foot placement.

It brought me so completely into the present moment that I could not think about what I was going to be doing later that day or the homework that I had to do or relationship concerns or what was happening in the world.

I had no choice but to be fully experientially present.

I experienced a similar feeling earlier in my life when I was skydiving.

And so there's these things that can bring us into it.

Some people will turn to recreational drugs,

Things like ecstasy or mushrooms.

That's why people will gravitate towards them because they make you feel so completely connected within yourself into the experience of the moment.

But what I eventually learned is that we don't need to have experiences of adrenaline or drugs or anything else.

This is actually the purpose of meditative practice.

And as we cultivate our ability to ground deeply in that connection to the underlying oneness,

This experience of presence is something that is always here for us.

We don't need to take anything.

We don't need to do anything to have that.

It's always here.

It's really just a matter of switching our intention to focus on that true reality,

Our true nature that we have within,

And to let go of the fluctuations of the mind as they arise.

As I said,

Sometimes these moments of presence can feel like a gift that just suddenly come about and we don't realize that it's something we can actively cultivate.

And to me,

This is part of the meaning of life and the purpose of life,

Is to get to know ourselves more deeply as we are and accept ourselves as we are and our experience and the world as it is so that we can move more and more towards the state of our true nature.

To cultivate this sense of presence,

We have to cultivate an ability for greater patience,

Purity of intention,

And self-compassion.

Those of you that have been in these classes with me before know that I talk a lot about patience.

And I really think that it's the root of all of the other virtues,

And it bestows so many gifts for us.

And it is a skill and an ability that we have the ability to increase and grow over time.

And it's another paradox.

How do we cultivate patience?

By being patient.

And to be patient means to calmly endure the suffering that we are experiencing in every moment.

Because being human,

We're always going to have aches and pains and discomforts,

Likes and dislikes.

There's always going to be things that the mind will want to change.

It's the nature of the mind.

Based as it is in duality,

The mind wants to believe that there's some certain way that things are supposed to be.

But to cultivate patience,

We have to let go of those desires of the mind and simply experience ourselves as we are.

And as we make space to experience the difficulties inherent in living a human life,

Our ability to be patient grows.

And as we are more and more patient with each experience,

We become more present.

Because it's the desire to change things,

To have things be different than they are,

That takes us out of the present moment.

And it's not necessarily easy.

But I find that few worthwhile things in life are easy.

As I said,

We also need to cultivate purity of intention.

And that is the ability to allow things to be as they are and to find that stillness within so that we can act from a place of virtue and wholeness and connection within ourselves,

Working with things as they are,

Rather than wanting things to be different.

And as we do so,

We become more present.

And lastly,

We need a great deal of self-compassion.

Because it can be really hard being human.

And we need to have the ability to be compassionate with ourselves and gentle with ourselves.

To allow ourselves to be as we are,

In all of our complexity,

In all of our inconsistencies,

In all of our wants and desires of the mind.

To allow all of that to be as it is.

So that we can be present to ourselves as we are.

As multidimensional,

Continually changing works in progress.

To know that there's no way that we're supposed to be other than how we are right now.

And to trust the natural unfolding of our true nature,

Which occurs as we allow ourselves to be as we are in each moment.

It will unfold.

All of our beauty,

All of our complexity,

Naturally manifests as we allow it to be.

As we allow ourselves to be multidimensional individuals that have all sorts of different experiences.

Some pleasant,

Some unpleasant.

You know,

I've shared this once before that a teacher of mine once said that,

He was talking about death,

And said,

Death is like a bee sting.

Life is like being stung by a thousand bees every moment.

It's challenging being human.

Especially as we become more present.

There will be magic and beauty that unfolds as we become more present.

But to experience that,

We have to allow for all of the manifold experiences of life.

And as we are patient with those moments of difficulty and suffering,

Our ability to be patient and to be present will grow.

As we are more present,

We find that there is an entire universe within us.

You know,

A favorite quote of mine is from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

We all have this incredible universe within us.

And so often we get caught in the mind that pulls us into the outer reality and wanting to change things out there to try to make us feel better.

But we're never going to be free.

We're never going to find the happiness that we want through trying to change others or the world around us.

The happiness and freedom that we truly desire is always within us.

It's right there just waiting for us.

And all we have to do is shift our intention and turn the gaze within to experience ourselves as we are.

And that will come forward and we'll experience all that we desire.

To cultivate presence,

As I said,

It takes patience,

Purity of intention and self-compassion.

But there are techniques that we can use to help us move towards a greater state of presence.

And being that these things tend to be circular,

As we consciously cultivate greater presence,

It will simultaneously cultivate greater patience,

Purity of intention and self-compassion.

And they feed each other.

So to consciously become more present,

It can help if we allow ourselves to slow down in anything that we're doing.

We can slow down in our words,

In our actions and movements.

And as we slow down,

We become more aware of everything that's happening in each moment.

And this can apply to anything.

You know,

As I mentioned at the beginning,

Most meditative practices are geared towards cultivating greater presence.

Because as we focus on the breath and possibly slow down the breath,

As we slow down our movements by becoming still in the body,

It will naturally start to slow down the mind.

And as the mind begins to slow,

We'll naturally begin to experience ourselves as we are.

One of the challenges in modern life is that it can be easy to get caught up in doing.

We get caught up by thinking there's so many things we should be doing or must do in each moment.

And that activity of doing keeps us from simply being.

And this is not to say that we shouldn't ever do anything.

There is a place for doing.

But there should be a balance between activity and repose,

Between movement and rest,

Yin and yang.

And as we begin to slow down,

We allow ourselves to simply be and experience life as it is.

So I'll put in one more quote for everyone before we go into the meditation.

A fount of great wisdom who you all know,

Winnie the Pooh.

Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing,

Of just going along,

Listening to all the things you can't hear and not bothering.

There's a lot of wisdom in that.

In making space for not doing and just letting ourselves be.

And as we do,

Our innate beauty and wisdom will come forth.

And we'll find that we have the ability to respond as we need to in each moment.

That we don't have to plan ahead as much because the right action in each moment will naturally arise from within.

So if you will,

Please find a comfortable posture for meditation.

It can be laying down or sitting,

Whatever allows you to let go of any unnecessary tension in the body.

If you're sitting,

Please make sure that your knees are below your hips so that the fronts of the hips stay open.

Make sure that you have a stable base so that the torso and spine can rise with their natural curves up towards heaven.

Allow the shoulders to relax back and down.

And check that the head is situated over the torso and neck.

Whether you are seated or lying down,

Gently scan the body and release any unnecessary tension.

Begin to observe the natural movement of the breath,

Allowing it to be as it is in this moment.

Whether it's long or short,

Choppy or smooth,

Simply relax into observing the natural movement of the breath.

As you observe the natural movement of the breath,

Continue to observe the felt sense of the body as a whole,

Noticing if there's areas of tension that start to release.

Now,

Begin to consciously work with the breath,

Not forcing it,

But seeing if it's accessible to allow each inhalation and exhalation to become a little deeper,

A little slower.

As you breathe,

Become more interested in the movement of the breath,

Noticing the start of each inhalation,

Following it closely for the duration,

Moment by moment,

Until the moment that the inhalation ends,

Noticing the pause and the very start of the exhalation,

Following closely,

Moment by moment,

The duration of the exhalation,

Until the moment the exhalation ends,

There's a pause.

If thoughts come in,

If you lose focus on the breath,

Simply let the thoughts go and return your intention to following the breath even more closely.

Good.

.

Checking in with the felt sense of the body as you continue breathing.

If any unnecessary tension has arisen,

Use the exhalation to let it go.

Allow the awareness to move through your body.

From the top of the head,

Cascading like a waterfall,

Down through the neck,

Torso,

To the space in the lower abdomen,

Two to three inches below the umbilicus,

In the center of the lower abdomen.

Focus the awareness within this space of the lower abdomen,

Simply observing any sensations that might occur.

.

If the mind wanders,

Use your intention to gently guide the awareness back to the space in the lower abdomen.

It might be a fullness,

A tension,

A warmth,

Or an emptiness.

Simply observe any sensations that arise and relax your awareness into them.

.

Now,

Guide your awareness to the space of the heart center,

In the center of the chest behind the sternum.

Observe any sensations in this area of your physical body.

Use your breath to consciously relax your awareness into this space,

Softening into it,

Surrendering to it.

You may become aware of your heart beating.

If so,

Soften into your heartbeat.

.

.

.

As you continue to soften,

You may become aware of a stillness that underlies all sensation,

Stillness beneath even the movement of the heartbeat.

If so,

Soften into the stillness.

.

.

Allow the stillness to open.

Experience the light beneath the stillness.

Allow this light to grow,

Spreading throughout your chest,

Torso,

Throughout your entire body.

Experiencing yourself as light.

.

.

.

Allow the breath to become a little deeper.

Become aware of the felt sense of your body as a whole.

Experience the solidity beneath you,

Supporting you and holding you up,

And the air around you,

In which you are immersed,

Like a fish in water.

And when you are ready,

Maintain a connection to the sense of stillness,

Light,

And presence.

As you gently and slowly begin to open your eyes,

Taking in the world around you,

Letting the colors flow through you,

The textures,

The sense of connection between inside and out.

As we cultivate stillness and presence,

We gravitate towards our true nature and experience ourselves more fully as we are,

And the world as it is.

In attuning to the felt sense of presence,

We are simultaneously more aware of the experiences of each moment,

As well as how each of our actions and words may potentially impact ourselves,

Others,

And our environment.

It can be easy to think that if the outer circumstances or the world were some certain way,

That there would be less suffering and greater happiness.

Yet fundamentally,

This is a misunderstanding of the nature of reality.

Happiness comes as we relax into relating to ourselves and the world as we are and as it is,

As we become more present and experientially realize the perfection that is already and always right here,

Right now.

Try to keep this connection to the presence as you go throughout your day,

And if you find yourself getting caught in the vacillations of the mind,

Of wanting things to be different,

Of judgments,

Simply take a moment to come back to the breath and experience the true nature and beauty of who you are right now.

Thank you all for joining me today.

Reviews

Brilliant talk before the meditation always on what it is to be human...With all our flaws and positive attributes with so much insight and understanding..Always Thomas. Thankyou once again for your knowledge and wisdom. Beautiful..✨💖✨🙏

This is an amazing treasure chest of teachings, dear Thomas- one to be repeated often. Thank you so much for sharing the wisdom of your beautiful Heart.

Inspiring, Divine guidance thank you for your wisdom & gentle pace of these teachings. Much gratitude 🙏🏻