The Art of LIving in the Present

Some two weeks ago, I attended a week-long seminar on reducing stress in my life. The seminar was conducted by a group for whom “Existence is a fact, living is an art.” Thus they call their organization “The Art of Living”, a foundation started by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (www.artofliving.org.ph).

The seminar basically was divided in two main components. One dealt with guided interactive processes such as yoga, stretching, relaxation exercises, and proper breathing that is centered on a powerful breathing practice called Sudarshan Kriya which is unique to this group. The other is all about practical teachings on dealing with the daily challenges of life.

Since then I have been faithfully practicing the breathing exercises I had learned and reaping benefits from it. This post, however, is not about my breathing exercises, but about my reflections on the teachings I learned from the seminar.

Among other practical guides for living I had learned, what struck me most is the teaching on the present moment: “The present is inevitable. Live in the present. Only the present matters, that is why it is called a ‘present’. The past is gone while the future is yet to come. Focus on what you are doing right now, give it your 100%, then no regret is possible.”

My worries and me

Ever since I can remember, I have always been a worrier about the future, anxious about what would happen next, thinking of the “what ifs” and forgetting the present moment.

I remember getting very tensed days before and even on my wedding day thinking of all the possible worst scenarios that could happen. The wedding went on smoothly, but my worries did not end. After the wedding, I found myself worrying again about the people we had forgotten to invite and whether the people who came were satisfied with the food! In the process, I missed relishing the honeymoon period of my very young married life!

I remember too our trip to Europe in the year 2000 on the Eurail. It started well with Thelma and I having been upgraded to the Business Class because the airline clerk thought we were on our second honeymoon. That should have settled me down but it did not! I kept worrying over the children who were left behind and forgot to enjoy all the amenities of the business class that we had been extended to us. During the Eurail tour and while taking in the sights all over Western Europe, I would worry whether we would be able to catch our train to the next destination and whether we could find a good lodging place for the night! Thus, I missed enjoying and appreciating what I was seeing and experiencing only for the first and maybe the last time. What a jerk I have been. I salute my long–suffering wife for having to bear with me and all my stupidities all these years!

My life-threatening experience

They say our health and our lives must be radically threatened before we realize how rich these already are in fact. Then everything suddenly becomes very rich; everything gets precious, gets piercingly important. One gets awakened by things, by flowers and by babies and by beautiful things - just the very act of living, of walking and breathing and eating and having friends and chatting. My life-threatening experience last year from my open-heart surgery must have done all that to me.

Today, I have mellowed. I worry less and people say I seem to enjoy life a little bit more than before. I have started to accept “the present as inevitable”, I have learned to let go and not to worry. In my walks in the park, I literally stop and smell the flowers while I listen to the singing of the birds. While in traffic, I wait patiently for the lights to change and not to curse the driver ahead of me for moving too slowly. Instead, I silently pray and thank God for having my family with me, and for being able to move around in the comfort of my car. Today, I can say that I have become sufficiently alert to what is ordinary.

The Spirituality of the Present Moment

“Living in the present” and such phrases have recently become buzzwords in pop culture and some are even afraid of their New Age character as represented by Echart Tolle’s book “The Power of Now”. I am happy to note, however, that my favorite spirituality author, Fr. Ron Rohheiser, OMI, (www.ronrolheiser.com) has raised it into the realm of Christian spirituality.

In a column, “Being Present to God and Life”, Fr. Rolheiser first lays down as foundation the truth that God is within us not outside of us. The problem is that we are not aware of this and so we seek Him outside of us. Fr. Ron goes on to say: “Sadly, this is also true for our presence to the richness of our own lives. Too often we are not present to the beauty, love, and grace that brim within the ordinary moments of our lives. Bounty is there, but we aren't.

Because of restlessness, tiredness, distraction, anger, obsession, wounds, haste, whatever, too often we are not enough inside ourselves to appreciate what the moments of our own lives hold. We think of our lives as impoverished, dull, small-time, not worth putting our full hearts into, but, as with prayer, the fault of non-presence is on our side. Our lives come laden with richness, but we aren't sufficiently present to what is there - a curious statement; unfortunately true.”

Finally, Fr. Ron links it to prayer: “The secret to prayer is not to try to make God present, but to make ourselves present to God. The secret to finding beauty and love in life is basically the same. Like God, they are already present. The trick is to make ourselves present to them. Rarely are we enough inside of our own skins, present enough to the moment, and sensitive enough to the richness that is already present in our lives. Our experience comes brimming with riches, but too often we are not enough inside of it.”

Enough said about the present while I enjoy the moment now.