EXPERIENCING THE ETERNAL NOW

Or: Cracking the Glass Darkly and Living Clearly

Right off the top, I would like you to read this paragraph, perform the exercise and then answer the question. Whatever you are doing right now, presumably reading this on your computer screen, close your eyes and mentally observe yourself breathing in. Count to ten while you do this. Now, be conscious of your body. Imagine your mind is a scanner, and you are scanning your body. Do it from the top of the head to your toe. Note how your body feels. Do any chronic discomforts disappear? Can you feel or sense your heart beating? Once you have completed the scan, take a deep breath and as you breathe out, say “Wide awake” and open your eyes. Whatever happens, resist judging.

Chances are, if you did it properly, you spent a brief space of time living in the “Here and Now,” the mode that is known as the Eternal Present.

Many people like to think or believe that the Eternal Present is a fixed point in time. Far from it. The Eternal Present is moving through space and time just like your life. However, you may have noticed that during the exercise you felt very relaxed and may not have had a care in the world. Once you have experienced that feeling of the “Here and Now” you can, with practice, develop this form of consciousness. It is freedom.

Benefits that accrue from this include letting go of “Mind Chatter” and being able to sleep better at night, having the ability to decide what you wish to think, consider, remember or plan in your life. It is mental and psychological freedom.

People involved in action sports live in the Eternal Present—while they are active. A good downhill skier, a mountain climber, a tennis player, a cross-country runner, all must live in the Here and Now to achieve. A skier I knew at Whistler Mountain had arthritis in his legs, but the moment he was on the downhill run, the discomfort disappeared, only to return when he reached the bottom. There is great richness for the person trained to live in the Here and Now. Why? Because the Eternal Present pulls the consciousness into the Now and it is alive.

The Eternal Present is like a river. It is water on the move. If it stops, it is no longer a living river, it becomes a stagnant pond, going nowhere. You watch beautiful, rich cloud formations sailing peacefully across a perfectly blue sky. That beauty is alive. You paint a picture of those clouds, and it becomes an image frozen in time. Beautiful, but without the life and energy of the Eternal Now. Remember, the Eternal Now moves from moment to moment.

Let’s take another look. For instance, you have a memorable, ecstatic time with your loved one. It lasts perhaps a few minutes, perhaps a few hours, or even longer. The whole experience is different. You forget the outside world. You live in a different dimension, the Here and Now.

However, if during the engagement, you set up a camera and took a photo of the two of you, it would be a moment frozen in time. It might resurrect some pleasant memories, but the life, the force of the experience would be lost.

Memories are illusions, illusions frozen in time. They do not exist except in our Subconscious Minds, and yet most people live with these illusions.

“Do you remember that wonderful time we had a Lake Placid?” she might say. “You don’t make love like that anymore.”

It is a proven fact that when one holds a past memory as a standard for life, it will haunt that person forever. This is one of the benefits of living in the Here and Now because Judging simply does not exist. The reason is simple. The act of any judging must be based on an existing memory or memories, otherwise you cannot judge. The Eternal Present has no place for memories. The next time you judge someone or something, check with your Inner Self to discover the basis of that judgment. You will find it based on a memory.

Another example: You stand on a train platform. An express train comes hurtling by and you feel and witness the power of the train and the railway cars hurtling by. But, if you take a picture, the photograph is simply a train frozen in time. It is devoid of the emotions, the energies you felt as it passed you.

Spend a few moments each day, observing yourself as you live. Start to do it when you are alone. Observe how you are sitting, walking, performing some action. In addition, mentally observe your feelings. How is your body moving? Run a scan on your body. But above all, resist the inclination to judge, and if you do find yourself judging, do not feel guilty, simply observe yourself judging and it will fall away.

When you feel confident, mentally observe yourself as you meet and talk with people you work or live with. Do it silently and deliberately. Do not share this action with others. This is called Impartial Self Observation. It cannot be done in the past; it can only be performed in the Here and Now.

Now when a negative memory surfaces and prompts a negative action, observe it without judging and watch what happens. Upon reflection you may be pleasantly surprised.

My book “Cracking the Glass Darkly” explains this process in much greater depth and as you pursue the Eternal Now and start to make it part of your life, you will find you are free from the chains and burdens of negative traits, habits and memories – which are, as I said, Illusions. You can see through them because you have cracked the glass darkly and can witness the reality of seeing clearly.

“Cracking the Glass Darkly” is available from various good booksellers and Amazon or by visiting the author’s website at www.threemilepointpublishing.com.