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Presence
Presence
Presence involves a full awareness of the essence of our existence. As the French philosopher and priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin profoundly put it, “we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” This notion underscores the idea that there is more to us than the mere sum of our physical parts.
What we refer to as the spirit or soul is the wellspring of our deepest desires. It yearns for happiness, peace, understanding, and purpose. Meditating on higher emotions, like love and gratitude, allows us to connect with our inner sanctuary, nurturing it with the care it deserves.
The conditions of our inner world profoundly impact our external reality. Just as we tend to our physical surroundings, we must ensure that our inner landscape is conducive to well-being. Our insides should be replete with joy, virtue, intention, and truth. We should strive to clear away the clutter of negativity and false beliefs that can obscure the radiant light of our being.
Spirit is a reservoir of pure consciousness and pure energy, and when we connect with it, we tap into a boundless source of wisdom and love. Within this internal repository, we find the strength to overcome adversity, the will to pursue our dreams, and the compassion to connect with others on a meaningful level.
Life’s journey is a delicate dance between the external and internal worlds. To truly thrive, we must endeavor to remain conscious of both. Through presence, we not only improve our own lives, but we radiate our light outward, enriching the world around us.
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Conscious awareness is the essence of life. No practice or discipline can replace the need for constant vigilance.
Based on the teachings of Henry David Thoreau
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Art
Genuine wisdom is about collecting the precious moments in each day as they unfold. Ultimately, it’s the small and pure joys of life that are the most real.
Based on the teachings of E.S. Bouton
The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear, and suspicion, while love and compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.
Dalai Lama
“I shall take the heart,” returned the Tin Woodsman; “for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”
L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The soul finds great joy in meditation because it connects with the Spirit. If you encounter mental resistance when meditating, understand that this resistance is a product of the ego, not the soul.
Based on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.
Our fears and disturbances are not caused by events themselves, but by our thoughts about those events.
Epictetus
All of our problems arise from dwelling in the past or projecting into the future. Feelings such as unease, anxiety, and stress arise from excessive focus on what’s ahead, while emotions like guilt, resentment, and depression stem from over-focusing on the past. To find peace, it’s essential to be fully present.
Based on the teachings of Eckhart Tolle
“Happiness does not really depend on objective conditions of either wealth, health or even community. Rather, it depends on the correlation between objective conditions and subjective expectations.”
Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens
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Our happiness is not determined by our external circumstances, but rather by our perception of those circumstances.
We can travel a long way and do many things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. It is born from letting go of what is unnecessary, and knowing ourselves to be always at home.
Sharon Salzberg
“You are a conductor of light.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
“Personal Identity depends on Consciousness not on Substance.”
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
So many people undergo numerous changes in the quest to “find themselves.” They seek to determine which inner voices and facets of their personality truly represent their authentic self. The answer is straightforward: none of them do.
Based on the teachings of Michael Singer
Your life is the creation of your mind. You’re built upon your thoughts and composed of your thoughts.
Based on the teachings of Buddha
“To give your positive or negative attention to something is a way of giving energy. The most damaging form of behavior is withholding your attention.”
Masaru Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water
Our most effective defense against stress lies in our capacity to select one thought over another.
Based on the teachings of William James
“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it.”
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
It is in our darkest moments that we must focus on the light.
Aristotle
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust
“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.”
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
“Our acts can be no wiser than our thoughts.”
George Clason, The Richest Man in Babylon
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Etymological explanation for Spirit:
mid-13c., “life, the animating or vital principle in man and animals.”
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The essence of Spirit is a metaphysical mystery. Although intangible and unseen, its influence is palpable. Spirit is the vital force that breathes life into us.
The quality of our lives is not determined by our circumstances, but by our attitude towards them. If we choose to focus on the negative, we will find misery everywhere. But if we choose to focus on the positive, we will find happiness even amid adversity.
Based on the teachings of Boethius
“Everybody in the world is seeking happiness— and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn’t depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.”
Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
“Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself…”
Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi
Peace exists in the present moment, within us and in all our actions and observations. Every breath and every step have the potential for peace, happiness, and tranquility. The key is our awareness and connection to it. We only need to be mindful and fully present in the current moment.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
“To perceive the world through other senses is to find splendor in familiarity, and the sacred in the mundane.”
Ed Yong, An Immense World
We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to it. By changing our perspective and focusing on what we can control, we can discover contentment and joy in any circumstance.
Based on the teachings of Epictetus
“Inside us there is something that has no name, that something is what we are.”
José Saramago, Blindness
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Jen Hitze 