Dive Deeper into the Present
We spend our days hurriedly getting through chores and errands, meetings and emails, duties and messages, until the end of the day finally arrives and we begin the cycle all over again the following day.
This is the standard manner in which we live our lives; we rush through things in the hopes of finishing them off as quickly as possible.
The chance to go deeper is inside all of this, and it presents itself in every single instant.
This is the essence of what it means to deepen in each moment, which is at the core of Zen practice. To get started, one must first become aware of the here and now.
To paraphrase the teachings of the Zen master Suzuki Roshi, when our attention is focused on our own ideas, we are unable to hear the birds chirping nearby.
We are sleeping on life, but we have the ability to become aware of what is there in front of us.
We may go even deeper by cultivating a healthy curiosity about what it is that we are now able to see. What is so fresh about it that none of us have ever seen it before?
What do you think we may find if we look a little bit more closely? What is the minute aspect of the current moment that the majority of the time we fail to notice or register?
And we can keep going deeper by finding awe in every moment and allowing the flow of the experience we’re having right now to become a source of magic, wonder, and profound gratitude for what we have.
And even go further: we may awaken to our feelings and how we wish to escape them, or freeze them, rather than simply witnessing the flow of the emotions as a stream of experience by themselves.
This can help us go even deeper. We are able to approach this emotional energy with an attitude of both inquiry and kindness.
And to go even deeper, we have the ability to allow the experience of the present, as well as the feelings it evokes, to link us to the softness and expansiveness of our hearts.
Is it possible for us to allow the feelings of irritation and sorrow to link us to the authentic part of our hearts that also experiences rage and grief?
Is it possible for us to connect with the limitless compassion that resides in our hearts and the tremendous openness that is in our larger minds?
And going even further, are we able to let ourselves become aware of the transience of each moment, the reality of impermanence, and the manner in which the experience of the present is only the experience of the movement of change?
When we become more aware of the transient nature of reality, we might begin to understand that there is nothing to cling to and that the source of our suffering is the belief that we can hold on to the clouds.
When we take all of this into consideration, we may begin to appreciate the sanctity of each and every moment. the presence of love and amazement in the natural progression of experience. The blessing of both being alive and conscious
What would it be like to carry this purpose into each moment so that you could practice going deeper? How are we going to keep in mind that we need to practice?
