be here now

I think I am rather good at this now. I’m happy to think of the future or the past, but when either worries me, I have a new-found ability to live in the present and see what’s important.

Something I picked up from The Convent although it was just a throw-away comment there.

A good way I’ve found to relax and ‘be here now’ is to consciously say to yourself “I really don’t need to be anywhere else just now”. It helps if that’s true, of course! But for example at bedtime, if you have things on your mind, just tell yourself “I really don’t need to be anywhere else just now”, and you can settle down and feel the warmth of the bedclothes and relax.

It works for me…

Tonight we’re having a party. The weather is miserable and it’s back to work after four days off. So I went to the 24-hour garage to get fuel for next week and came back with a bottle of diet coke and a tube of pringles. Just a little party, but it’s good.

I had a fascinating experience with this last night. It was the night before returning to work after a week off. My mind was wandering to all sorts of stressful places about what I would find on my return. So I consciously decided to ‘be here now’. I used all my brain power to think how nice and soft the bedcovers were, and how I was nice and warm, and lucky to have a house and a warm bed. Didn’t take long to drop off after that.

It was this passage which led me to understand ‘be here now’:

“Where shall I look for Enlightenment?” the disciple asked.
“Here,” the elder said.
“When will it happen?” the disciple wanted to know.
“It is happening right now,” the elder said.
“Then why don’t I experience it?” the disciple asked.
And the elder answered, “Because you do not look.”
“But what should I look for?” the disciple wanted to know.
And the elder smiled and answered, “Nothing. Just look.”
“But at what?” the disciple insisted.
“Anything your eyes alight upon,” the elder continued.
“Well, then, must I look in a special kind of way? the disciple said.
“No,” the elder said.
“Why ever not?” the disciple persisted.
And the elder said quietly, “Because to look you must be here. The problem is that you are mostly somewhere else.”

I so often miss the wonder of the moment because I’m planning my future, or my mind is off somewhere exotic. I will attempt to ‘be here now’ more often.