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This Monday, Camille will facilitate and you can join us online or in person.
Being in the present moment for me is to be in touch with everything around me. Whether being in touch with my body, my breath, the earth and all living beings, or even the "mud" as our teacher Thay would say - it is recognizing reality in the present moment. For me this is one of the true teachings of this practice of mindfulness and what I work towards in my personal practice, and can often be very difficult for me.
My understanding of reality lately is focused too much on worrying about the future and not enough being in the present moment. I have often lost touch with my body in the present moment in my busyness of thinking about the future. My worry becomes my suffering and I am caught in that suffering and I am not helping myself and I am not available to others. My partner, who had a bad accident at the beginning of this year, together with a failing business, is lately often caught in the past with regret and anger, and has a hard time enjoying the present. So together - as a pair, we can often be caught in sort of a "prison" as Thay suggests, where one of us suffers from anxiety and the other from worry or fear. Thay says we may "sacrifice the present for the sake of the future" or in our case the past as well. That seems to be my reality currently. I often have little space to find freedom and true happiness.
Sometimes my thoughts of the future include worrying that my kids stay happy and safe, that my husband may not recover fully from his accident, that my 91 year old parents may not heal from falls, wondering when the next person of color will be shot and killed by police, thinking about families at the border waiting for help as they come from deplorable conditions, or families in detention centers waiting for food and help and hope for a brighter future, incarcerated people who suffer loss of human dignity while enduring horrific conditions in prisons, and dehumanizing conditions for migrant workers. I can go on and on - these are often ideas that ruminate in my mind and sometimes hold me hostage so that I feel like I have no where to go. When I become lost in the troubles of the world - I try to hear that bell of mindfulness in my head to return to the calm and peace in the present moment that I know is there.
Practices that help me include coming to my sangha where I have a community that will listen deeply to me, allow me to be me without judgement, and breathe with me. When I read Thay's words in one of my favorite books, "Peace is Every Step" I find solace and comfort. He says "While we practice conscious breathing, our thinking will slow down, and we can give ourselves a real rest. Most of the time, we think too much, and mindful breathing helps us to be calm, relaxed, and peaceful. It helps us stop thinking so much and stop being possessed by sorrows of the past and worries about the future. It enables us to be in touch with life, which is wonderful in the present moment."
I have included in this sharing a short teaching video of Thay's right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICA2gjhwqa8&t=57s called "Touching Reality as It Is". This is a lovely video that reminds me that I can find freedom by coming back to the joy and happiness of the present moment and not be bound by regrets of the past and worries of the future.
I hope you enjoy the video and if you don't have a chance to watch it - I will share most of it at our gathering on Monday night.
You might think about what practices allow you to come back to the present moment to find that freedom or reality that Thay talks about. Or feel free to share any thoughts or ideas that have come up in this sharing or in your life. We look forward to listening.
Look forward to sharing with you on Monday night, and feel free to come in person at the studio or join us online on zoom.
much love,
Camille