Can the true nature of presence be fully understood by the mind?
Hey there friend,
My name is Anthony and thanks for hitting play today.
I want to share with you a little mind experiment on understanding presence and if that's really possible.
We can't escape the word presence when talking about meditation,
Mindfulness,
Or any spiritual growth modality.
You hear it bandied about throughout the self-development world,
To the point where it may seem like becoming present is the simple answer to every single one of our problems.
But what exactly is presence?
Can it be truly understood?
I mean the mere act of trying to understand presence intellectually is paradoxical because the moment you try to think about or conceptualize presence,
You fall out of the present moment.
So let's find out.
Here are two simple thought experiments designed to help us explore and quote-unquote understand these elusive concepts like presence,
Mindfulness,
And the nature of thought itself.
The first comes from Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now,
Where he offers a little experiment to understand presence.
You close your eyes and you say to yourself,
I wonder what my next thought is going to be.
I wonder what my next thought is going to be.
And as soon as you make that inquiry,
You become extremely alert and wait for that next thought and just observe.
So let's give it a try if you're in a position to do so.
Close your eyes and say to yourself,
I wonder what my next thought is going to be.
I wonder what my next thought is going to be.
And just watch and wait for that next thought.
I'll give you about 15 seconds.
Can you even put into words what that experience was like?
Can you even put into words what that experience was like?
When doing this experiment,
Eckhart Tolle says,
Be like a cat watching a mouse hole.
What thought is going to come out of that mouse hole?
The other experiment comes from Pema Chodron in her book Taking the Leap,
Where she talks about the gap,
The space in between thoughts,
As quote,
The most important thing in the world.
She says,
All spiritual teachings come from that place of not being caught up in yourself.
When you get out of the way,
That is the gap of experience,
The pause experience,
The stillness experience.
It's the experience of strong,
Direct communication with the world.
And that's when all real communication happens,
End quote.
So in the spirit of Pema's wisdom,
We can remix Eckhart Tolle's experiment that we just did.
So when we close our eyes and ask,
I wonder what my next thought is going to be,
This time,
As the steady stream of thoughts come in,
Focus your attention on the tiny space in between each thought.
Put your full awareness on the gap,
Like Pema says,
The gap in between thoughts.
Let's give it a try.
Once again,
Close your eyes if it's safe to do so.
You can ask again,
I wonder what my next thought is going to be.
As the thoughts begin,
Put all your attention on that tiny space in between them.
Can you rest into that?
Can you put your awareness solely on that space?
And of course,
When a new thought arrives,
Give yourself full permission to acknowledge the thought.
But can you become extremely interested in seeing if you can notice those few precious seconds of empty space that will be right behind it?
What resides there?
Is it beyond concept and labels?
Great job.
See if you can play with this and just be curious about what this thing called presence that everyone talks about is truly all about.
This work we do for our own growth and awakening and the spiritual path we are on is really about exploring consciousness and playing with these ideas and concepts that we call our true nature or our higher self and seeing how we can play with these ideas and concepts and play with these concepts that we call our true nature or our higher self and seeing how we can experience them viscerally beyond intellect.
And by the way,
These little experiments we did could also be used as your anchor in meditation to help you navigate recent thoughts and distractions.
So instead of focusing on your breath or trying to clear your mind during your practice,
You can utilize these as tools to ground yourself in the present moment.
Give it a try the next time you meditate.
Thanks for being here with me today.
Be well and enjoy yourself.
Much love.
