'With greater Stillness,
the mind becomes Clear.
Now, the quieter the mind becomes,
the more you will hear . . .
. . . the more you will see,
and then simply be,
pure;
Originality!'
Remember my last post on this blog, it was an exercise in 'Presence', yes? Well presence is a state of being, in fact it is the original state, and it does not move; it is perfectly still or one could say it is quiet and at peace.
Go back to that place of presence within yourself now:
- Switch off the radio and TV etc.
- Sit on a chair or sofa with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor.
- Breathe regularly with slow deep breaths.
- Hear your breathing. Be as still as you can.
- If thoughts arise observe them non-judgmentally and then let them go; breathe thoughts away.
- Gaze at what is around you. Do not label things, or think about them, just accept their shape, form, colour and 'presence'.
- Let what you are gazing at absorb you. Accept each object and acknowledge that you are experiencing all this moment by moment.
- After five to ten minutes, reflect on your experience; are you aware of your 'presence' in the here and now?
. . . You are now in a state of Present Moment Awareness, which I call PMA. The alternative PMA is a Positive Mental Attitude . . . there is nothing wrong with having such an attitude, obviously ;-), but present moment awareness actually transcends all attitudes and enters what I call:
I say that the natural state of being is Present Moment Awareness, and that this state is in perfect equilibrium; it is not positive or negative, it isn't up one moment and down the next . . it is in a perfect state of balance and harmony; a state which is beyond all attitudes of the mind.
Now, the only way you'll know if what I've just written is correct or incorrect is to enter the state of presence yourself, and hold it!
You have to hold your attention in this moment,
or put another way,
you have to be centered in this moment.
When your attention becomes lost in aimless and problematic thinking, which it does tend to do, you lose your natural state of present moment awareness. This happens because discursive thought (thought with a will of its own) takes your attention out of this moment. You can't be in two places at once, don't kid yourself that you can! You, your attention, is either in a the original state of present moment awareness or it is lost within, and masked by, your thinking processes.
To be centered in PMA is to have your attention at your centre; which is perfectly still, your centre does not move, whereas discursive thought does move. That is what thought is, it is quite simply movement in the mind. Thought is a regurgitation of your conditioned past, all your life experiences playing over and over again (a loop of thoughts) in its playground; your mind. Listen to it often enough and you'll soon discover just what a noisy playground your mind has become . . .
. . . you'll also notice that the thinking mind is never fresh and new like the state of presence is.
So, thought is simply the past you've experienced in your life, resurrecting itself within your mind & psyche. It becomes a constant stream of internal dialogue within the fore brain; all of which is normal. Everyone of us experiences this conditioning process and the consequences; a conditioned mind. But it isn't natural, it is not the Original State of Being.
The state of presence is one where your intelligence is fully present in this moment but your thinking mind is simultaneously perfectly still; I call this the state of:
The mind goes perfectly still, present in this moment, but your intelligence is fully alert and ready to be put to use. Now, that is the Natural state, the Original state, and it is already perfect just as it is, so don't go adding any thought to it!
1yogi2many
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