Comments on Living in the nowTypePad2006-06-26T04:23:34ZBrian Hineshttps://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2006/06/living_in_the_n/comments/atom.xml/Matthew Cromer commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d834e4d92469e22006-09-08T19:41:02Z2007-08-18T00:11:57ZMatthew Cromerhttp://releasetheillusion.blogspot.com/"Some would say, quite reasonably, that everything is BITN, and that it isn't possible to not be in the now....<p>"Some would say, quite reasonably, that everything is BITN, and that it isn't possible to not be in the now. Thus worrying about whether or now we are is senseless. Though such worrying also would be BITN.</p>
<p>Well, now I have no idea what is being in the now and what isn't. That's progress toward being in the now, I hope. Unless there's no such thing as progress in the now. Which means...I have no idea."</p>
<p>I like the formulation from the Islamic Hadith: </p>
<p>"A servant is drawn to Me in prayer until I answer him ; and when I have answered him, I become the ear wherewith he heareth"</p>
<p>To me, that captures perfectly that we start out as "selves" on a spiritual journey and then it is seen that there is no personal, individual self and no journey, that it was all, always, just a story being experienced by "no one".</p>
<p>In the same way, there never was a moment of not being present.</p>Edward commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d8349bbebe53ef2006-06-28T01:48:16Z2007-08-19T19:43:48ZEdwardI think it took a while for me to negotiate the useful tricks we use in "public life" or "polite...<p>I think it took a while for me to negotiate the useful tricks we use in "public life" or "polite society". Growing past the protective ego takes doing. Past the parlance of the vox populi is peaceful.</p>
<p>Shifting perspective to where I see that the vast majority of my life is present... that takes away the dictum that I am bad-and-wrong for not being in some intellectual construct that is "the now".</p>
<p>My ego loves the game of "let's escape ego." The truth of the matter is that I am regularly present, enjoying all the faculties that go along with this organism: memory, forecasting, daydreaming, math.</p>
<p>"Everything is present" is sort of tautological. What would I be like if I weren't present? Nameable, but unimaginable.</p>Brian commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d8349bb75c53ef2006-06-28T01:18:31Z2007-08-19T19:42:14ZBrianhttp://hinessight.blogs.com/Edward, you've got me thinking about "now." I feel like I'm genuinely thinking about now, now. So I guess this...<p>Edward, you've got me thinking about "now." I feel like I'm genuinely thinking about now, now. So I guess this counts as a Living in the Now moment. Or rather, succession of moments. </p>
<p>So long as an experience is here now, it is. Here. Now. Trying to be in the now, now, strikes me as being in the now (BITN). Now, if I thought, "tomorrow I'll go to work on being in the now," I'd call that a second order BITN.</p>
<p>What I'm trying to get at, assuming there's anything to get, is the difference between being in touch with reality as a whole, vs. being in touch with reality as the part that is me. </p>
<p>Maybe this isn't a useful distinction. But I feel like I'm BITN when I'm aware of both what's inside and outside of me in essentially equal measure. There's a back and forth flow between the world out there and the world in here. </p>
<p>That keeps me more or less connected to what is happening, now. But I also have the ability to separate myself from the world and envision a completely separate reality.</p>
<p>"In an hour I need to take the dog for a walk around the lake." As a passing intention, there's no problem with this thought. However, if I stop focusing on writing this comment and give most of my attention to imagining what I'll be doing in an hour, that seems un-BITN. </p>
<p>I'm sitting on a chair in my office typing on my laptop. I'm not walking around the lake. Of course, often when I'm walking around the lake I'll be thinking of what I'm going to type on my laptop. More un-BITN, I'd say.</p>
<p>Some would say, quite reasonably, that everything is BITN, and that it isn't possible to not be in the now. Thus worrying about whether or now we are is senseless. Though such worrying also would be BITN.</p>
<p>Well, now I have no idea what is being in the now and what isn't. That's progress toward being in the now, I hope. Unless there's no such thing as progress in the now. Which means...I have no idea.</p>Edward commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d834d1134169e22006-06-27T22:44:31Z2007-08-19T19:39:19ZEdwardThis might be frightening. The first question that comes to the mind of the newly existentially present is: What if...<p>This might be frightening. The first question that comes to the mind of the newly existentially present is: What if I am not present tomorrow? Do I lose? Have I missed?</p>
<p>What about dreams - if I remember them, are they now, or past? When I do something out of habit, am I there? Using the front entrance to my office building, I pass the giant red Calder installation, and touch it, like a mezuzah, because, well... I thought to, and now I just do. Is that in the now?</p>
<p>What about the drive to think about now? Is that present, or escapist? Those new to the now will wonder how to plan a wedding.</p>
<p>The amount of work you've done prepares you for the amount of work required to be so very now. It is a wonderful and awesome happiness. It is great to be flexible enough to swat the curious natterings, and still be available to thisness.</p>
<p>I agree with you on "The Power of Now". My friend is reading it because her therapist recommended it, and I wondered if the therapist said when she would be done scanning the text, so she could enjoy the scanner. </p>
<p>Once the spiritual experience occurs, it doesn't split into quanta. There is no "then" to say "that is when it happened, and that is when it stopped." In and out of daily life, the spiritual awakening into now is, oh, how to put it? Now.<br />
</p>Brian commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d8349b5ff553ef2006-06-26T22:33:16Z2007-08-19T20:18:40ZBrianhttp://hinessight.blogs.com/Roger, glad to oblige. Here are some more belly dancing photos: http://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2006/06/belly_dancing_o.html<p>Roger, glad to oblige. Here are some more belly dancing photos:<br />
<a href="http://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2006/06/belly_dancing_o.html" rel="nofollow">http://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2006/06/belly_dancing_o.html</a><br />
</p>Roger commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d8349b51b553ef2006-06-26T19:15:43Z2007-08-19T20:14:11ZRogerDear Bob; I liked your post. You stated that; "within the physical lies the spiritual", as well as; "only the...<p>Dear Bob;<br />
I liked your post. You stated that; "within the physical lies the spiritual", as well as; "only the need to recognize what's already there". How does one go about recognizing the Spiritual that lies within? Have you personally done this?<br />
Is there some technique or method that you could share? Thanks for any non-ambiguous response. </p>Bob commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d8349b3b5e53ef2006-06-26T14:35:32Z2007-08-19T19:01:12ZBobI like to think that there is no real gap between the physical and spiritual. In other words, within the...<p>I like to think that there is no real gap between the physical and spiritual. In other words, within the physical lies the spiritual, so there is no need to die or go anywhere to get it..only the need to recognize what's already there.</p>
<p>Kinda like what Meister Eckhart says about the inherent divinity in all Life.</p>
<p> “All things are contained in the One, by virtue of the fact that it is one. For all multiplicity is one, and is one thing, and is in and through the One. . . The One is not distinct from all things. Therefore all things in the fullness of being are in the One by virtue of its indistinction and unity. [Sermon LW XXIX]</p>Roger commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d834d09ce569e22006-06-26T12:54:45Z2007-08-19T18:58:41ZRogerBrian; I'm still single. Feel free to post as many Belly dancing photos as you like.<p>Brian;<br />
I'm still single. Feel free to post as many Belly dancing photos as you like. </p>Edward commented on 'Living in the now'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e200d834d096cf69e22006-06-26T10:57:16Z2007-08-19T18:56:53ZEdwardja love<p>ja love</p>