Meditation: "Presence"

I’ve been meditating this morning on the idea of “presence”, and it is beginning to seem like a vastly important and powerful idea. It actually appears to encompass all the might in the universe, as if the idea itself is a force a zillion times more powerful than the strongest physical force. After all, the first definition of “present” given in the American Heritage dictionary is “existing or happening now; current” – and that takes in absolutely everything. One of the most astonishing truths of reality is that only the present exists. When we analyze reality carefully, we see that there is never any past or future, but only the living and overwhelmingly forceful present. All of reality – all power – is right here, right now. I’ve been thinking about that this morning, as I sit at my desk at 4:34 a.m. and listen to the first birds starting their songs. It’s really an overpowering idea. I feel almost crushed (in a good way) by the enormity of it. If only the present moment exists, then all the power in the universe is in this very moment, right here, right now. What’s even more awe-inspiring is that– because it does not exist through time (past to present to future), but only in the present, right now – this power has no corporeality whatsoever. It’s not a not a physical or material force in any way, and therefore has no limits, no boundaries, no beginnings or endings.

And I am part of it. I’m not a separate physical entity, but am simply part of this endlessly powerful present moment. All power is here and now, and I am one with it.

That is, indeed, an important and powerful idea to meditate on as the sun rises on a May morning.