HOW TO BE NOW

Parent Page : The Benefits / Being Here and Now

I used to think the "here and now" was just a cliché until i realised i was experiencing it.

To be in the present moment, it's not our state of mind that's important, it's how we use the senses.

Panoramic sensing evolved to notice changes and movements happening here in the immediate environment; and now in the present moment. It's perfect for being in the present moment, here and now. It's built for that purpose.

Throughout evolution, panoramic perception has been the natural way to switch off, stop doing everything and be actively and purely receptive, wide awake and aware of anything which might happen.

Even more than that, it's built to be ready to respond or react spontaneously, at an instants' notice.

It can only be done here and now, because that's the only time movements and changes are actually happening. Even its passive use when dozing is about what's happening now.

Panoramic sensing reverses some of our normal ideas on meditation. Being attached to it, expecting it to work, even wanting and trying to be now, all encourage nowness to happen. It's reliable, because it has to be. Animals rely on it to survive and have done for billions of years.

Instead of trying to be here and now, go panoramic and do it. Instead of thinking about how to stop all the abstract thoughts so you can be here and now, go panoramic and sense what's happening – that stops the thoughts and gets you now.

Focusing on the present moment

Focusing on the Present Moment explains how exercises such as focusing on the taste of food, on every footstep, or on the breathing, can be very stimulating. And focusing, when used in concentration exercises, is essential.

But focusing is essentially not entirely here and now, it's built that way, it's going somewhere which is not here, doing something which hasn't happened yet.

Focusing is always selective. Focusing on one thing, always closes off our general awareness of all the other things which are happening in this present moment. It always limits the full panorama.

Focusing on a beautific image, a new lover, anything awesome, is easy and natural. At those moments, even though we are experiencing only a limited reality, we are intensely here and now.

But this experience will normally bind us to a future remembering the event, and wanting it again; binding us to both a past and a future.

Focusing is very clever. Most of the time we focus on and even do something, and think about something else all at the same time. Focusing is almost always about coordination and the challenge is to concentrate.

When we concentrate and coordinate our senses, bodies, and minds, focusing often has the semblance of being here and now, because it is so involving. And as part of a creative process – with music and the arts, architecture and innovation – focusing can be awesome and produce amazing results. But it is always only a limited part of the here and now.

So when we say focus on the present moment, we are asking for concentration or an intensive coordination of the senses and mind.

It's a lot of work and effort compared to the feeling of presence in this moment with panoramic sensing.

Getting the Timing Right

Mystical experiences of oneness are reported as being both here and now – and at the same – eternal and everywhere.

And most methods of finding eternity, focus on eternal principles – and specific methods.

Most never change. And methods of continuous repetition, like prayer or mantra are either ritualised to specific times, or they can be done at any time. So, most methods of finding eternity are themselves unchanging and eternal. And they always seem to take years to achieve their goals.

I don't know to what extent full awareness with all our potential senses, is a door to eternity.

But if we want to be here and now, and do that here and now, (i.e. immediately and without hesitation or years of practice) we have to empathise with animals, they are the experts, and they are the best gurus in this time-zone.