THE PROCESS OF AWAKENING can only be accomplished in the present moment. We can think about and plan an awakening, but awakening itself is an action that involves will, skill and grace. Will involves attention and focus. The skill is not a technique, but an art, to be learned and practiced across our entire lives, for every moment is new. And grace enables us to go beyond our present level of skill, to expand our awareness into realms previously unrecognized.
What is the present moment? Clearly, the basic idea is that the present moment is distinguishable from the future and the past. So, focusing in the present means setting aside thought or concern about the future or the past. One interpretation would de-emphasize thought entirely, putting emphasis on perceptual input of our senses and our spontaneous responses to that input. This interpretation has its clearest application in activities like playing sports, where practice and habit lead to success, while thought gets in the way.
Yet, such a restrictive interpretation would seem to take out of the present moment our critical human activities of envisioning and planning for creation processes, or reflection for learning from the past. So perhaps rather than eliminating thought, we could instead emphasize awareness and choice. When we choose to envision or reflect, then we envision or reflect. We do not worry about the future or regret the past.
Then we can emphasize also the breadth and depth of our perception. What is it that one is to find in the present moment? Perhaps it is the full perceptual capabilities of our multidimensional selves, and the fulfillment of the evolving perfection of our soul purpose.
Love and relationship are the foundations through which we are able to relate in every realm of our multidimensional self. Love and relationship occur only in the present moment.
Oneness in the Divine is the foundation of all love and relationship. Consider that in each moment we exist in the oneness of the Divine. Then in each moment we can hold the awareness of the beauty and perfection of the transforming whole. And in each moment we also can perceive, feel and know the ever flowing giving and receiving of love, learning and wisdom in the unending process of creation.
How then is one to achieve such perception? In loving relationship, ask the Divine for the grace.
Another way is by aligning ourselves with the highest within us. That highest would include such states as unshakable peace, unconditional love, aware existence, and inseparable oneness of all in a benign universe. If we accept the possibility that such states are within us, we can choose to align with them. By choosing, we can simply step into these states and the actions which follow from them.
Are we then naively taking on foolishness, an unreal view of the world that will lead us into trusting others and the world without discernment? Perhaps, if we only understand these things superficially.
Is death an insurmountable challenge to unshakable peace? Could illness be part of a benign universe? When we see people who seek power and wealth to the detriment of others, is it possible to hold them in a field of unconditional love? These are all difficult tasks, but we gain these abilities through experience and wisdom.
Trauma and tragedy may overwhelm and destroy people, yet we also see people gaining strength through them. With faith, hope, and eternal life, we can foresee ultimate triumph.
Then is there a tie between the present moment and eternal life? Indeed, the connection is those same states of love, peace, oneness and benign existence. These states are beyond time and space, for they are not disturbed by any factors within time and space. They align us with the Divine, as well as that part of ourselves that is beyond time and space.
Can we simply step into these states, and maintain them without facing our shadow selves? As we step into these states, our shadow selves will come forward. And, indeed, if we then own them, and greet them with the same peace, love, and oneness, we will integrate their perspectives into our lives while maintaining our core values.
