One of my favorite stories from the Bible is Moses appearing before the Burning Bush. You’ve heard it before, I’m sure, and maybe even seen it enacted in “The Prince of Egypt” movie, or by Charlton Heston in “The Ten Commandments.” Moses was tending a flock of sheep and saw a bush burning, but it was not consumed. He decided to examine it more closely, and when he approached, a voice called out to him, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” (Ex. 3: 1-4). God tells Moses he is on holy ground, and they go on to have a discussion about liberating the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

Moses’ response, “here I am,” is of critical importance in this story. It can surely be taken as a conversational courtesy, but I think it implies something more. “Here I am,” in this case, can also mean “I am here.” Because Moses was attentive to life, he noticed the burning bush, and was then able to be open to entering into its mystery. Throughout the rest of his life, he continued to manifest this sense of presence, through which, at times, the glory of God shone so brightly that he had to put a veil over his face.

The Present Moment

To be here now means to be present to what is happening in this moment within yourself and in the world around you. The reason why this is important is because life is happening to you now, and only now. What has happened in the past is done (although its residues might be present in your memory), and what will happen in the future does not yet exist (except in your imagination). If you miss this moment, then you miss your life, and if you miss your life, what a tragedy!

Most people don’t live in the now. Their consciousness is partly stuck in the past, and projecting into the future. This generates a never-ending stream of preoccupying thought, concerns, anxieties, and plans, draining them of energy while producing a sense of alienation from God, others and creation. The present moment comes and goes like a blurred light, and is only fully entered into during extraordinary happenings or intensely demanding circumstances. In order to maintain a “sense of life,” they spend a lot of time and energy thinking about how to create or avoid such stimulating circumstances. All the while, life is presenting itself to them in each moment, but they are missing it.

Living in the now is also important because this is the moment of God. It is true that God can be present to us through our memory or imagination, but the intersection between eternity (God’s time) and historical time is this present moment. God wants to break into human history now through every creature, but we must consent to its happening for this incarnation to take place in us.

Clarifying the Practice

Although being present to the moment might seem a simple enough practice, there are many misconceptions about what it means. What follows are a few I have had to deal with in my own life.

To be present to the moment means you must concentrate hard on what’s happening now.
Far from it! Effortful concentration actually isolates you from the present moment and exhausts your mental and volitional resources. What is called for instead is a more relaxed and open attentiveness. Some have called this “looking softly,” or “just-looking.” In such attentiveness, you’re simply observing what is happening. The fruit of this “seeing” is clarity of perception.

To be present to the moment means you must analyze what it happening here and now.
Not at all. This, too, will exhaust your resources, and will actually take you out of the present moment. Analysis draws attention into the operations of the intellect, which are one or more removes from the present moment. This is not to say that life does not sometimes call for such intellectual activity: it does, and when this happens, we have to use the intellect to solve problems or to critically examine options. But 95% of the things we do each day don’t call for analytical activity.

Another distorted idea is that living in the present moment means forgetting the past and making no plans for the future.
Again, there are times for doing both, but this constitutes only a small percentage of time. My experience is that when living attentively, the lessons of the past are still there, and arise to serve the needs of the moment when appropriate. This happens quite effectively--much mores than when I am living in a state of analytical or emotional preoccupation. The same sort of process happens with regard to the future. While living attentively, I see how what’s happening now has ramifications for the future, or how I need to prepare for the future in this now moment. This is quite different from living in the past or in the future, which is generally an escape of some kind. But if focused remembering needs to happen, or deliberate planning, that’s fine, too.

Only certain personality types can live in the present moment.
This is a misunderstanding of both personality types and of attentiveness. It is true that sensate personality types (a la Myers Briggs/Jungian types) are more naturally focused on the here and now details of life, but attentiveness to the moment is much more than this. Sensate types can be unconsciously absorbed in details without being very attentive to themselves and to life. The same holds for any personality type. Present moment living calls for a kind of relaxed, global attentiveness which encompasses all the activities of your mind and senses. When attention is operating primarily through one or two functions (thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition), then the other functions and more subtle levels of intelligence are deprived of informing your responsiveness to the moment.

If I am present to the moment without analyzing it or exerting myself with my will, how will I know what to do?
You already possess within yourself the skills needed to do thousands of tasks without thinking about them. In fact, it would probably do you great good to do a few things each day without thinking much. Once learned through attention, study, and practice, skills-intelligence is stored in the memory, and will be available to you when you need it. This kind of “doing” is not in any way irresponsible or unconscious if you are living attentively as you do it. “Do what you’re doing” is a good affirmation to use to bring yourself to this kind of presence. If however, you choose to do one thing (say, drive your car) while thinking about another (a forthcoming meeting at work), that’s OK--just know that you’re doing that, and take responsibility for it.

If I’m not critically analyzing what’s happening in the present moment, how will I know what to do? And doesn’t this open the door to immoral behavior?
These questions have more to do with your responsiveness in the moment, rather than with what attentive living per se, and so I will take them up at length in our next chapter. For now, however, I do want to emphasize that if one is not living in the present moment, then responsiveness to the needs of the moment is a moot point.

The Practice

Nothing complicated, here. Keep it simple. Just let your attention be gently, globally present to what’s going on within and around you. Just look. See. Observe. I’ve made this point in our two previous chapters, only now you know more about what it means and does not mean.

Here’s an important key: the physical body! The body is always in the right place at the right time: here and now. When our attention is caught up in mental and emotional preoccupation, however, we lose touch with the body. To return to the present moment can thus be enhanced by attending to the fact of the body and its sensations, and even its wisdom.

Be aware of what it’s like to be here now in the body. What does that feel like for you? Notice, especially your breathing. Is it shallow, deep, choppy, smooth? Allowing your awareness to become more open and global, just follow your breathing for awhile. If preoccupations persist, try 10 by 10 breathing: inhale deeply for a count of 10; hold the breath 10 seconds; exhale to the count of 10. Do this 10 times, and you will feel more clear in your awareness and less preoccupied.

Related Reading

Mindfulness web site.
Living in the Present Moment
Mindfulness practice
Mindfulness in plain English

Reflection and Discussion

1. Share some of your experiences of living in the present moment . . . or trying to do so.

2. What makes it difficult for you to live in the present moment?

3. What helps you to live more fully in awareness?