Recognizing The Present Moment

First, we need to define the concept of the present moment. We have all experienced in our lives that when we do something with great focus and attention, when we completely immerse ourselves in any activity, an energy suddenly appears, a state that is difficult to describe in words. The most characteristic thing about it is that there is no mental noise, judgment, discrimination, doubt, or self-criticism. Only pure activity, the state itself exists.

We experience this state sometimes, but we do not stay in it long enough to be able to recognize it, to understand that it is another dimension of existence. Instead, we evaluate this wonderful, comfortable feeling as caused by something for which we are not responsible, and we suddenly find ourselves in this state.

For the mind to recognize and understand what is happening, we have to stay in this state intensively and for a long time, reliving the experience again and again. If this happens regularly as a result of guided exercises, such as meditation, movement meditation, spiritual exercises, then after a while the mind becomes able to recognize that this is a permanent state that we can tune into at any time. In fact, it is always there, and only the wandering of attention into the past or future, the noise of the mind, discrimination, criticism, prejudices, the conditioned mental and emotional patterns can break the presence.

Once the mind recognizes this state as the present moment, there is a greater chance that the mind will stay in it, consciously. Otherwise the experiences will remain scattered and random, without our influence, without an aware decision about the state which we operate from.