It’s something like “radical presenthood.” That’s the best I can do right now. I’ve touched on it in the last “daily” post, and if any of it sounds familiar, that’s probably because it is, although I’d like to think that I add a little of my own flavor in my expansion upon it. “The Power of Now” is a powerful book; that’s likely where the familiarity comes from. In “The Power of Now,” Mr. Tolle tells a story about Zen master Rinzai posing a question to his students: “What, at this moment, is lacking?” Great question. I asked this question to a couple of friends the other day, and they met the question the same way I did – with silence. Why have I never considered such a simple question? It’s always the simplest ideas that emerge the most profound, isn’t it?
This simple question proves to be an instant victory in battle in the War of the Mind; however, the mind never goes away without a fight. I hate to think of the mind as the enemy because it does not have to be that way, but as it stands, it is. Until I (or we) learn how to use the mind as it was designed, as a tool for us to use on specific occasions and for nothing else, it will be something we have to “fight against.” In something resembling panic mode, the mind urgently suggests to us “problems” that we have right now, but they are illusions. “You do not have the amount of money you desire in your bank account,” or “nobody wants to be with you,” alongside a plethora of other illusory submissions. The original question allows us to observe the lunacy of the mind, and you might find that we are able to laugh at the proposals set forth by it. Right now, at this very moment, I am writing the daily post for October 27th, 2022. Exactly what do I need money, a relationship, companionship, friendship, a job, kids, or whatever the mind has recommended to write this post? A simple answer, right? I don’t. If I am practicing “radical presenthood,” I know that these “problems” are fake. I have created problems on my own accord in realms that do not exist, past and future.
Ultimately, and as mentioned previously, the simplest ideas are the most profound. This idea of “radical presenthood” has already been condensed into something much more uncomplicated, with the phrase “stop and smell the roses.” The most beautiful thing is that the roses are available to us, right here and now, for us to stop and smell. Roses have not laid any prerequisites on us; they can be appreciated at any time we choose to do so if we are tapped into the present.
Smell a rose today.
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