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If we are with what is in each moment, everything is always perfect.
Transcript:
Greetings!
Here is a little bit about being in the now. From my perspective, it’s very, very practical, but in the accepted sense, it’s going to seem very impractical, ridiculous. And I’m going to share it anyway.
When we talk about being in the now, the mind isn’t capable of being in the now. It’s its job to refer to the past, to see that you are safe in the future. So, when we’re saying being in the now, the now is gone, and gone, and gone.
Another thing the mind does, it says, “So Paul says, ‘Be in the now, and everything will be alright.'” And then you’re looking for everything being alright. And the fact is, just take this as a hypothesis, everything is alright. You are getting exactly what you need in this very moment. And if you look at it in another way, it doesn’t matter whether it is exactly what you need anyway, ’cause you’re getting it. So … be … with … what … is.
Now, the part that doesn’t seem very practical goes like this. There is a strong theory about the placebo effect, and there’s a lot of science around it now, and the one that jumps to my mind straight away is, that people that have surgery on their knee, and there’s been studies where people have got a bad knee to the effect that they can’t walk. They’re given knee surgery, and they can walk. But some of the people that were given knee surgery, weren’t given knee surgery. All they had was something stuck in, so they thought they were getting knee surgery, and then they could walk. Now by our standards, that’s ridiculous, isn’t it? They can’t walk. They have a needle stuck in, it doesn’t go anywhere, it doesn’t do anything, just goes in and out, and they can walk. The placebo effect.
Now, what if a placebo effect is universal, all the time? What we think is going to happen, what we put our energy into, what we think is going to happen, somehow, we make it happen, or it seems as though it happens.
So, it could be that if we were … just … in … this moment, just as it is, as neutral as we know how. Now, of course the mind goes here and there. It goes positive and negative. So, we just disconnect, “Yes, the mind is doing that, and we’re here, now, and we’re open for whatever we need.” So, there we run into a snag, don’t we?
What we need. We don’t really want what we need. What we want is what we want, and what we want, might not be what we need. We need to be open for what we need. And if we’re as neutral as we know how as Sosan says, “The great way is not difficult for those that have no preferences.” And except for short periods, I haven’t been in the state of no preferences. I suppose my no preference is, not having a preference, but it’s still there. And listen, that’s okay. Everything is okay, if you’re with it consciously, neutrally … here … now … here … now.
And then, what I’m suggesting, and you can experiment with, what you need, will come. Now, I haven’t completely got this. Even although I keep getting illustrations there we say, “Oh, how we’re going to manage the property now that so-and-so is gone away.” And somebody else comes. “How are we going to….” And my whole life has been like that. Things just happened, they turn up. And sometimes they don’t seem as though they’re convenient, but over time, when I look back, perfect. That was perfect, happening then. Even although it seemed like a tragedy at the time. Perfect, if we allow. That’s it … allow … be … with … what is. The operative word is … be … be … here now … be … here … now.
Being … here … now. I have heard that some people get a feeling of flatness with that. If I’m here with what is, and I don’t like what is. Now, there’s the key, you see. If you’re here, now with what is, what needs to unfold for you will becomes obvious. It’s, are you ready to let that in? Are you ready to stop holding the things that you think are convenient for you? Are you ready to stop holding them, so they can move on, if it’s appropriate? So, if you’re feeling flat, it means you’re resisting. In fact, most people are resisting something most of the time, you know.
So, when I’m talking about being here now, I’m talking about expanding, not contracting, “Oh, we’re here now and this is the way it is.” No, the opposite, expanding, “Oh, so this is the way it is now. Now, I can see things more clearly. Now, I can see where I need to move, what I need to do, what I need to stop holding. I can see it more clearly.” And then say, “And am I prepared to do that?”
And if you don’t, then you resist. And that’s all that pain is. Pain is resisting. No resistance, no pain. And I’m talking even physically, even toothache. If you sit with a toothache, and just find a deeper depth of yes, yes, yes, you’ll find the pain doesn’t go away, but you don’t feel it anymore. It just slips into the background, and then you might say, “Oh, it’s gone.” [finger snap] It’s back [laughs] ’cause suddenly you’re back. Just disconnect, disconnect. Be with what is. Be with what is. You’ll get a new perspective. Then, it’s up to you. Are you ready to be with this new perspective, and allow what needs to happen?
If you’re here, now, and you feel flat in some way, it means you’re resisting. You’ve contracted. When I’m talking about being here now, I’m talking about an expansion, an opening, an allowing, letting everything in, so you can see the picture more clearly. Even if it’s not convenient, which often it isn’t, let yourself see things more clearly.
Here’s a bit more about being in the here and now. As I’ve suggested, often there’s a contraction about that, “I don’t like the way my life is or some aspect of it.” So that’s a contraction.
With an expansion there’s, “Yes, that’s the way my life is now and….” With this ‘and’ comes a new level of, well we’ll call it ‘sensitivity’; a new perspective as though we’ve been seeing things through a very … in a very narrow way.
And when we’re present as unconditionally as we know how, and if there are conditions, we just recognize them, and become unconditional about not being unconditional. Just being there, just here, just now. It’s as though something expands, and everything seems to be a bit more of whatever it was. And sometimes that’s the unpleasantness as well. We start to feel, to sense, and with that sensing something else happens.
And now, we get a little abstract. So we’re…. Just see if you can feel into this. As you allow, as you say yes, to be with whatever is in your life now. You’ll feel less separate from everything. You suddenly feel as though you’re part of something. And in that part, this isn’t an expectation, but you have a role. You have a part to play in this, and you can feel this whole. And suddenly it’s as though there’s a harmony.
Heraclites called it ‘the hidden harmony.’ There’s a harmony in everything. And because you’d been so self-centered and wanted things your way, wanted what you wanted, or didn’t want, what you don’t want, as you expanded, you feel, “Oh, I’m part of this, and things aren’t against me. Whatever comes, even although it seems against me, it’s not against me. It’s helping me to see something.” And as you expand and open, you feel included. You become more available … to yourself and to others.
And then you start to realize, it is impossible to live in isolation, even if you’re living in the most remote part of anywhere. It’s not a matter of the physical. There is something else: frequency, vibration. And that is universal, and we’re all part of it.
And when you’re present, and sensitive, and yes, you feel that. And then, there’s a sort of – don’t get addicted to it – but there’s a little ecstasy that comes with that. It’s almost as though you’re on something. You feel elated, “Yes, yes. In a way, I’m part of everything. So everything is for me, and I’m for everything.”
And you can experiment with this. So, the way to experiment is just to sit. Disconnect from whatever’s going on in your life. Don’t fight it. Just disconnect. Be in the moment and see if you can sense this new sensitivity, this expansion, this vibration, this frequency, in which you are included, and you include. You include everything, and everything includes you.
And the practical side to this. As you’re in touch with this, as much as you can, in every moment, as much as you can, you’ll find, you’ll recognize it, everything is for you, and your whole life will change. It will become a harmony. Almost impossible things suddenly start to happen for you. And you will feel your natural state which is, you are blessed. And in return, you are blessing everything.
If you sit and spend some time getting in touch with what I’m talking about, this frequency. When I say you’ve become a blessing, I mean that. As I say that, I think of my mother. She had reached a state of love. She loved and cared for everybody.
And when I used to wheel her in a wheelchair through the supermarket, I could feel it. She would smile at people, and they would change, right there and then. They’d be busy doing whatever they were doing, and then they would look and see her. And it isn’t just the smile. It was…. She was a blessing, because she was there. She was present. She would see a mother struggling with their children and in frustration. And she’d just go over and say something to this woman. And suddenly, everything…, even the children would change. The children would look at her.
Now, you can do this. You see, if you are present, present to yourself, you become present to everything, and you become a blessing as you walk down the street. Even if they don’t see you smile, your energy is a blessing. And what is the blessing? The blessing is, “Yes, yes, this is it. This is it. Yes, there’s noise, there’s this, yes.” And then, you become a different frequency, a different vibration which simultaneously is for everybody. But there’s a main thing at the moment, it’s for you. You will feel it. Haven’t you noticed this?
Let’s say you buy a present for somebody, and you see the pleasure they get from the present. Do you get it? You get pleasure from their pleasure.
So, the more you’re available, the more you get back. And as I keep saying, try it, experiment with it. When you’re out, just stop for a moment to come back into yourself, and then look out. And you’ll find caring is natural.
When I’m talking about you being out and caring for people, this may not be too obvious to you. When a person feels seen, they have a change, just seeing seen. So instead of you, seeing this person behind the counter as a counter assistant, if you see them as a person, something changes for them, because we keep seeing each other as mother and father and brother and sister and work person and police person and …, and we’re not those. Those are roles, that isn’t who we are.
We’re people. And if you see people as people who are doing their job, just then being seen, often something happens for them. And often they don’t even know it’s happened for them. Often you just say, “Thank you for being so helpful. Thank you for taking the trouble. Thank you for doing that.” Something happens for them.
And a reminder, when it happens for them, you’ll feel it happened for you, because we are all one. We are all connected.
Try it!