Profundity of Presence

Jan 6, 2020 | Blog

This moment. This very moment that our whole lives led up to. Oh my, such an amazing realization every single time! I’m writing this and you’re reading this in THIS moment.

I confess I notice a little self-consciousness that accompanies this desire to speak to the profound truth of presence. It’s the voice in my head that says, “Everybody knows that, Jesua. It’s the most basic teaching of all time. Why are you talking about that?” But I’ll tell you why: I’m continuously astounded by this exquisite revelation of presence. Aren’t you??

I mean truly—what a miracle… that this NOW, this holy instant, is all we get, forever. Isn’t it a breathtaking reality? So simple, so obvious, and yet forever bearing the possibility of an entirely fresh and deeper revealing.

It’s why Ram Das told us to “Be Here Now.” It’s why the celebratory call to presence is at the heart of every spiritual tradition. It’s why my teacher Gangaji asks us, “Where is your attention in this moment?” It’s why my dear shamanic elder Tom Pinkson invites us to “Live Love Now.”

Inherent in presence is an intimacy with death, with the precariousness of our aliveness, the precious fleetingness of life. To be fully present in life is to be fully present to the undeniable truth of death. Maybe that’s why so many people do everything possible to avoid being present?

Inherent in presence is our willingness to BE with whatever is present… even if that is extreme discomfort, or fear, or confusion, or grief, or fury, or shame.

If we put down all our distractions, all our scrolling, our shopping, our striving, our avoiding, our processing, our relating, our fantasizing, our scheming, our gossiping, our wishing, our hating, our whining, even our intending, and just be here with ourselves in this moment, there’s a chance for a fresh start.

A fresh beginning of life again. A fresh moment, this moment: our only moment of life, to live.

This is the only moment we ever get—to be vigilant; to be kind; to feel what’s arising; to respond with patience; to tell the truth; to say I’m sorry; to love ourselves.

Our presence is one and the same with our open, holy heart. It’s a chance for our hearts to meet the world, just as it is.

To meet LIFE just as it is, and our own selves just as we are, for the first time, for the only time.

As we attend continuously to presence, then we get to live in a world that is present to itself, open to itself, awake to itself, alive as love in itself.

And this, it seems to me, is the most potent medicine we could ever ask for.

I love you. xo

Facebook Comments

More Blog Posts

Praising Angels

One of the many gifts that came from my early childhood intimacy with traumatizing illness, was the way in which it opened my psychic centers to be able to “see” and “hear” energetic realities that remain elusive for most. While it took me a couple of decades to work...

Stewarding a New Way

As I witness all this outrageous trauma playing out on the global stage between man and woman, one of the most poignant components it illuminates for me is the power we hold in how we choose to steward our daughters and sons in these times. What is our part to play in...

Smoky Grateful Boredom Breakthroughs

My son Ezra and I had a glorious breakthrough about boredom a few days ago, and I’m inspired to share it with you, in case it just might be contagious. (And no, it wasn’t about boredom breeding creativity or genius or whatever it was someone wise once said, though I’m...

A Year of Leaning In

A couple of weeks ago Orionne and I celebrated our one year anniversary! What a meaningful threshold for us to cross. And what a profound year of leaning in it has been. We met (re-met) one year ago in July and immediately bowed in to a most extraordinary love. We...

“Free of Mom”~ Attachment & Surrender

The other morning I was sitting at my desk writing, when suddenly my son Ezra was beside me, tapping me on the shoulder in his fluffy red bathrobe. As I turned to greet his morning brightness, he surprised me by tumbling completely into my arms, so I had to move fast...

“But either way, isn’t Love always the answer?”

“But either way, isn’t Love always the answer?”

“But any way you look at it, isn’t Love always the answer?” That’s what my beloved partner said to me yesterday with fierce truth pouring from moist eyes, devotedly calling me back, in a moment when defense had gotten the better of me, to the common ground of our...

Graduation from a Life Chapter; The Endless Changing of Form

I’ve got some big news to share~ about a large life change in the works for my sweet family. One night, about 6 weeks ago, as I closed my eyes to go to sleep, I was suddenly struck with an unexpected lightning bolt of revelation. It went something like this: “And Now You will Move With The Children Back To Ashland.” It truly felt more like an announcement from my soul, than any kind of choice I was being offered to contemplate. I was shocked, confused, and somewhat triggered. I […]

Being Single~ Yearning, Prayer, Surrender and Fulfillment

Garethrockliffe.com I’m inspired to tell you a story from a recent bedtime conversation I had with my son, on the topic of being single, and the prayer for partnership. It’s a tender topic to personally speak and write about, but one that so many of us share in common. And so I humbly offer my voice to the collective conversation.I’ve been contemplating my own single womanhood and single motherhood a lot lately, in a particularly focused way. It’s interesting to consider the stigm […]

Nurturing Self-Love as Healthy Self-Image~ A Clothes-Shopping Story

Due to the vulnerable nature of this writing, this piece is published with explicit permission and blessings from my brave and generous daughter Arayla, who after reading it shared her hope that our story might serve in some small way~ especially other mothers and daughters, in navigating the steep challenge of healthy self- image and radical self-love in our culture. One of my most treasured delights as the mother of my beloved daughter Arayla, (newly 12 years old,) is the incredibly swee […]

Our World, Our Mirror~ Rupture, Projection, Responsibility & Repair

Our World, Our Mirror~ Rupture, Projection, Responsibility & Repair

It's difficult to know what to say in these times, but I'll give it a try.  While this horrifying drama is playing out on the world stage, I’m finding it useful to notice how this translates in my own privileged life. For it to get this crazy on the outer stage of our...