Living an awakened life

To be awake in the truth of life is to be fully present in the moment of now. It is profoundly peaceful and blissful. You are so fully present with everything around you that separation largely dissolves and you experience Oneness. A deep inner knowing arises and yet you are in silence. You come to know yourself as love. You are accepting, compassionate. You are empowered from within. Profound insights and revelations sometimes emerge out of the silence. Spontaneous healings can occur. At the deepest levels of Presence, you can feel and sense the Presence of God or the Divine within you and within everything around you.

This awakened state is the natural state of your Being. It is the truth of who you are. It is ever present within you. It is just that most of the time, we are so involved in the world of the thinking mind and the past and future that we are largely unaware of it.

The goal of the spiritual path is simple. It is to awaken out of the illusory world of the thinking human mind into the truth and reality of life lived in the present moment. The world of the mind is a world of the remembered past and imagined future. It is a world of illusion and yet almost everyone on this planet believes this illusory world to be the truth of life. The simple truth is that there is no life outside of the present moment. It is impossible to live life outside of the present moment. We must come to terms with this simple truth.

I do not mean to imply that life at the level of mind should cease. That is not possible, nor desirable. What is possible however is that we become so awake and deeply grounded in the present moment and the awakened state of Being that we never lose our connection with the present moment, even when we do venture into the world of the mind. In other words, we no longer believe in our thoughts, memories, ideas, beliefs and opinions as the truth. We know that only this moment is the truth and everything else is a kind of play within time.

To be present is as simple as being present with whatever is before you, moment to moment. It does not matter what you are present with. Just notice when you are day dreaming or drifting off into thought and then come back to the present moment. Bring yourself very present with something that is here in the moment with you. If you can see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, touch it or smell it, in this moment, then you can be present with it. And the moment you are truly present with something that is here in the moment with you, thoughts will stop. You will emerge out of the past and future world of the mind. Now you are awake in the truth of life, revealed through the present moment. As you deepen into Presence, you will begin to feel the Oneness.

There are so many ways to be present and so much to be present with. As you have a shower, be present with the warmth of the water and the fragrance of the soap. As you eat your breakfast, be present with the taste and smell of the food. Be present as you raise the fork to your mouth. Be present as you chew your food.

Be present as you wash the dishes. If you are truly present as you wash the dishes, it will be a sacred and loving experience. Be present as you walk in the garden. Be present with what you see and hear, moment to moment. Be present with your body breathing.

Be present whenever it is easy to be present. Be present whenever there is no need to think. The more you remember to be present, the more that dimension of Presence will awaken within you.

Of course, there are many times during the day when thinking is appropriate, particularly within the context of work or when you have to plan for something in your future. At such times, do not be concerned with being present. Think when you need to think, but be sure to return to Presence when you no longer need to think. And do not go so far into the world of thought that you get lost there.

Eventually, you become so grounded in Presence that it is very easy to remain present, and there is an easy flow between Presence and silence and the movement in and out of thought. It becomes effortless and you spontaneously return to Presence as soon as the thinking process is completed.

October 16-18: Living an Awakened Life
Leonard Jacobson returns to the Twin Cities in mid-October, following two sold-out events last July. For the first time in Minnesota, he will offer a weekend workshop entitled “Living an Awakened Life.” Leonard is an awakened spiritual teacher and a Master of Presence who will share a way of awakening that not only leads us into the deepest level of Presence and Oneness, but also to the mastery of the mind and ego. The October events are: An Introductory Evening, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 ($20); Weekend Workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, and from 1-5 p.m. Sunday ($195 for all 3 days). All events are at Lake Harriet Spiritual Community, 4401 Upton Ave. S. in Minneapolis. For more info., contact Jonathan at 651.330.5658 or [email protected]. To purchase tickets online, go to www.leonardjacobson.com and click on “store,” and then “event tickets.” For more information on Leonard Jacobson, two Edge interviews with him are available here at SouloftheCities.net. Just search for “Leonard Jacobson.”