Many Eastern spiritual
traditions teach the wisdom of being present in every moment of now. This
principle was brought to the attention of Westerners in the 1960s through Ram Dass’s classic Be Here Now, and more
recently with Eckhart Tolle’s bestseller The Power of Now.
Recently I was contemplating the
meaning of "present," and I realized it has three meanings: "here"
(when the teacher calls your name you reply, "present!"),
"now" (an event occurs in the present), and "gift" (“here’s
your birthday present!”).
What I like about this trinity
of meanings is that being present
means more than “being here now”; being
present also means embracing what is as a gift.
When I was in high school I used
to make a calendar in the last few months of school and took delight in
crossing off every day until the last day of school. One day I realized how
crazy this attitude was—I’m celebrating getting a day over with? As if a day is
something to endure? What is life except the collection of innumerable days
just like this one, filled with a mixture of positives and negatives?
A beloved cat, Fluffles, helped
me learn this lesson. At one point in my life she and I would wake up every
morning in bed together. Every day the first thing I would become aware of was
the sound of her purring, and it communicated to me, “I’m happy that we have
another day to live and to love each other.” Yes I finally realized, that’s the
way to live. Not seeing life as an endurance test but as a gift!
The gift of presence has another
meaning also. Werner Erhard (founder of est) once said, "The greatest gift
you can give another is just to be with them."
As I have learned to be more
present, I have seen how true Mr. Erhard’s insight is: when you are present
with another, they often open up like a flower. Presence is like a calming wave
flowing through you, and other people can relax in its wake.
