Frame By Frame

I was rereading Byron Katie's book, A Thousand Names for Joy, recently (I've read it a number of times and Katie is one of all time favorite teachers) and I ran across a great pointer. She said that her experience is like viewing what's happening one frame at a time. I decided to explore this view of life from a frame by frame perspective, and I understood why the awakened mind experiences life this way. It is what it is to be fully present, no thought of past or future (until the need arises to think). It's like taking a snapshot in time of each moment when your gaze pauses on an object.

This is one of several present moment pointers that I recommend. If you want to do it yourself, consider this approach:

Look around at your surroundings. Pause for just a second on any object to take a mental picture. You don't need to know anything about what you're looking at it, you're just pausing to take it in. If you stop too long on any one thing the mind may decide to analyze it or describe it, so just a second or two is plenty. 

Continue to glance around with a sense of curiosity. You actually don't know where you are going to look next, and you're too present to care about where your attention will land next, much less what you just saw. What you have just looked at is irrelevant. There is just this magical unfolding moment that is constantly changing shapes. Moment.. by.. moment... Now... Now... Now... Though each moment may seem to stand alone, there is really only one moment. This is what the present moment looks like -- a never ending, seamless experience of what is. There is no room for judgment in a constant state of present moment awareness, which is why it is so peaceful.

As you practice this you will likely experience an increased level of excitement about what you will experience next. There is no time to speculate about it, only experience it as it comes.

InJoy Your Downtime

Do you ever get the feeling that you could/should be doing better at what you're doing or not doing? Like you could/should be doing more than what you're doing? Then, feel guilty when the opportunity to do nothing arises? Give it up! It's all ego. It's all conditioning handed down from our parents, our peers, and it's complete bullshit. Our projection on what we think other people think shapes our insecurities, our feelings of not being good enough. All of that is built on a foundation of lies that you have been feeding yourself all of your life.

You have permission to enjoy downtime and just do nothing. You also have the opportunity to use your downtime to do some inner exploration. Just the act of directing attention inward has a very calming effect. Couple that with an unconditional acceptance to what comes to you and you have a winning combination for inner peace.

InJoy your quiet time when the opportunity arises, and create some inner silence periodically throughout the day. Every second counts, and all there ever is is this second. It's always this second, so what is a second? What evidence is there that seconds exist? A number on a clock changing. There was a land before time not that long ago, where the only evidence of passing time was the movement of the earth. But I digress.

This Is It

There is one singular, inarguable truth, with which we all must agree. Like it or not, this moment has already happened. What is, is as it is. There is no escaping that one simple fact. In my experience, realizing and accepting this basic truth is the only sane way to live.