One night humanity had a dream. It dreamed that it walked across the sands of time with God. Across the screen of its mind flashed by all of history. For each scene in the history of mankind, it saw two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to it's self, one belonging to God. When the final scene of mans history flashed across the screen, it noticed that there was only one set of footprints remaining; that being its own.

And mankind cried out "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And God replied "My Son, My Dearest Son, when you see only one set of footprints is when you have realized that there never was two of us."

And the light came, and mankind awoke.

I see Her across the room.
She is perfection.
I gaze at Her,
Intent.
I need Her
Attention.

Slowly (eternity), she turns her face toward me.
I meet with Her
(infinite)
Eyes.

INDESCRIBABLE... (bliss?)

It is too much.
My heart imexplodes.
I blush and turn away.

Only to look again...

Myself: No, you don't.

Me: Okay, I don't. But I have my doubts about this.

Myself: You can't expect to be a master right off the start. As with anything, when you start off learning something new, you're going to really suck at it.

Me: Jee, thanks for the words of encouragement!

Myself: Can you ride a bike?

Me: Everyone can ride a bike.

Myself: Everyone can realize their enlightenment. Just like learning to ride your bike took practice, so will learning to realize your enlightenment. Some children take longer than other children to learn to ride their bike, and some people will take longer to learn to realize their enlightenment. It just takes practice.

       A professional athlete has put in countless hours practicing his sport in order to get to that level, and continues to practice in order to play at his best. When we engage in Spiritual practice, we are practicing how to play our best at Life Itself, so when we look at it this way, Spiritual practice is not really apart from anything else that we do. We can't practice being Spiritual while living any more than we can practice being wet while swimming.

       None the less, as the saying goes "practice makes perfect," (maybe "with practice perfection is realized" works better here, but that's pretty long to be a catch phrase) so it is good to set aside a time each day to devote wholeheartedly the harmonizing of your body and mind. The easiest way in which to achieve this harmony is to simply sit in a comfortable manner in a quiet and still environment, close your eyes, and still your mind. A still body does not distract the mind and a still mind does not distract the body.

       Do not try to stop your thoughts, but rather just observe them and let them run their course. If you find yourself grabbing onto your thoughts and running with them, just let them go again. Keep doing this as many times as you find yourself losing focus. Remember that when you start thinking about things, you have lost focus. When you think on things, you are focused. When your focus is on your thoughts, you are dealing with your concepts about Reality. When you are focused on Reality and no thoughts arise, you are dealing with Reality. 

Me: How long should I do this for?

Myself: As long as you feel you should do it for. Just let your thoughts and actions happen without any attempt to control them or stop them. Quite often it is beneficial to focus on your breathing as a way to let go of your thoughts. When you feel that it is time to get up, it is time to get up. Do not fight against your thoughts or try to do anything with your thoughts. Just simply be and observe.  

       It is important to let your thoughts come and go of their own accord. Remember that all of existence is perfectly balanced and that any attempt to balance It is counter productive. If you drop a stone into a still lake, it will make waves. That's fine. The waves will become still of their own accord. Any attempt to "help" the waves become still will only cause more waves.

Me: If I "let my thoughts and actions happen without any attempt to control or stop them" all of the time, what the heck is going to stop me from doing terribly evil things?

Myself: What makes you think you would do terribly evil things?

Me: Well if there is nothing there to control my thoughts and actions, I could do anything I wanted.

Myself: That sounds like freedom to me. Wouldn't that be a good thing?

Me: What if I wanted to rape, steal, and murder?

Myself: Have you ever wanted to staple your eyelids to your eyes?

Me: Can't say as I have.

Myself: Why not?

Me: For some reason it's just never crossed my mind.

Myself: Would it be safe to say that if the thoughts of rape, stealing, and murder never crossed your mind, you'd never want to do those things either?

Me: I suppose so, but then wouldn't it also follow that if the thoughts of Love and compassion never crossed my mind, I'd never want to do those things either.

Myself: If all you want is to be present, Love and compassion will naturally and effortlessly flow from you. If all you want is to be present, you don't need anything other than what you have, so you can give it all away. When one is entirely focused on the experience of the present, one experience is just as wonderful (full of wonder) as the next. If not having sex is just as wonderful as having sex, why rape anyone? If not owning a fancy car is just as wonderful as owning a fancy car, why steal one? If my Life is as wonderful as his, and if his is as wonderful and as valuable as mine, why take his?

Me: If drinking kool-aid is just as wonderful as drinking a fine wine, why drink the fine wine? You can't tell me that kool-aid tastes just as good as fine wine.

Myself: Fine wine and kool-aid taste different. One may describe one as tasting better than the other, but to an enlightened person the experience of tasting the one is just as "good" as the experience of tasting the other one.

       When one focuses on the experience itself rather than the description of the experience, (the) All experience turns out to be "good." Seeing things as they are brings out the "best" of everything. For example, if you were to experience both the wine as it is and the kool-aid as it is, the experience of the kool-aid would be as "good" as the experience of the wine, as opposed to the experience of wine being as "poor" as the experience of the kool-aid.  If you were to see everyone as they truly are, without definition or bias, you would Love everyone equally. Your Love for the guy who just screwed you out of $10,000.00 in a business deal would equal the Love you have for your child or your spouse. The Love you feel for the crook would go "up" to the Love you feel for your child.

       When God created the universe, He described It as "good." "Good" is Reality's inherent nature. To experience Realty in its inherent state is to experience All as "good."

Me: If everything is just as good as everything else, why do we do one thing instead of another? If a pit bull chewing on my leg is just as good as it not chewing on my leg, why would I try to make it stop chewing on my leg?

Myself: We don't need a motivation to live our Life. The goal of Life is not to chase after pleasure and run from pain, the goal of Life is to just be happy.

       Pleasure and pain flow along one's Life as naturally as a river flows down a hill. A river flows around the boulder and wears away the sandy ground. It does this naturally. We could try to explain it's behaviour in terms such as "choice," or "force" or "better", but "naturally" seems to sit most comfortably.  

       It would be quite natural to try to make the pit bull stop chewing on your leg. It would be quite unnatural to worry about the possibility of pit bulls chewing on your leg, or to keep reliving the experience of the pit bull chewing on your leg. When we talk of enlightenment or of Spiritual Life, what we are talking about is simply doing what comes about naturally. When you walk, the act of walking comes naturally. There is no need to "think" about how to lift up your left leg, move it forward, and then put it down, then lift up your right leg, move it forward, and then put it down. When your body is in perfect harmony with the universe, there is no need to "think" about anything that you do in your Life any more than you have to "think" about walking. When you are operating from Spirit, your entire Life becomes as natural and effortless as walking.

Me: Aren't there times where one is required to think? In this day and age where so much information is being transferred, don't I need to be able to process this information in order to function on a day-to-day basis? If everybody just suddenly stopped thinking altogether, our entire society would fall into chaos.

Myself: Think when thinking is necessary. What one needs to think upon, one should think upon. What one does not need to think upon, one need not think upon. What we are doing when we pay attention and act from Spirit, is we are doing away with extraneous thought. That is all.

       Whatever you do, do it with attention. When you are doing your job, do your job with attention. When you are cooking supper (and while eating it), cook it (and eat it) with attention. When you are with your family, give your family your full attention.

       You will do your job better, and you will enjoy your job more. You will eat healthier suppers, and they will taste better. You will be a better father and husband, and your whole family will be healthier and happier.

Me: So we might as well all shrug our shoulders, sit down and just BE.

Myself: Sure.

Me: Sure?

Myself: If that's what you do, that's what you do.

Me: Once someone becomes enlightened, there's nothing else for her to do?

Myself: There's everything for her to do, but there's nothing else for her to do.

Me: I just love it when you talk like that!

Myself: There is nothing else for us to do other than what we do. People sit down and people walk. Enlightened people sit down and enlightened people walk. A person walking to get to the horizon is walking and an enlightened person walking is also walking. The difference is that the person who is walking to get to the horizon thinks that when he gets there, he will be happy, and the enlightened person is happy just walking.

Me: People can be happy no matter where they are?

Myself: I believe so, yes.

Me: A person who is dying of starvation can be happy? A person who is being molested by their father can be happy? How can a person who is experiencing physical or emotional torment possibly be in a state of continual happiness?

Myself: It is very difficult. Realizing your enlightenment in every situation is the hardest possible thing in Life to do. Given this fact, once accomplished, it is also the most rewarding thing you can possibly do.

        Perhaps "happiness" is not the best word here because "happiness" carries with it a strong emotional connotation. Perhaps the words "peace" or "contentment" would be better used here. Underlying everything that we think and feel, there is an eternal, ever-present state of peace and contentment. This state is realized when we realize our enlightenment.

       Learning to ride a bike is hard for a child to do, but once mastered, riding your bike is one of the greatest joys in a child's life. During the learning process, there will be the inevitable scrapes and bruises, but eventually the child will learn. If the child never lets go of her desire to learn to ride a bike, it will come to fruition. It doesn't matter if the child's parents tell her that she will never learn to ride it, or if the neighbor kid pushes her off every time he sees her. If her intention to ride her bike is unwavering, it will happen.

       If, on the other hand, her parents encourage, guide, and teach her along the way, she will learn to ride her bike much faster. If no one pushes her off the bike, she will be able to develop her skill unimpeded, and with fewer bumps and bruises.

       Enlightenment is much the same way. Certain conditions may make it easier for us to realize our enlightenment, but if our dedication to enlightenment is unwavering, the realization of our enlightenment is inevitable.

Me: Once enlightenment is achieved, all suffering ends?

Myself: I believe so, yes.

Me: You're not sure?

Myself: If I am speaking for my own experience, I can't honestly share with you what enlightenment is like because I haven't fully realized my enlightenment. What I can tell you from my own experience is that when I pay attention, I am repaid with goodness.

Me: When you pay attention, only good things happen to you? It sounds to me that you're paying attention only to the good things that happen in your Life and rejecting all of the bad things. Denying the existence of anything wrong in your Life doesn't mean that there actually is nothing wrong in your Life. How do you expect to become a better person if you don't accept and then change the things that are wrong in your Life?

Myself: Roy, I would like to thank you for providing me the opportunity to practice patience.

Me: Hey, if I'm not getting it, maybe you could do a better job of explaining it to me.

Myself: You're right, I could be doing a better job, but I am trying, and so are you. If we both keep cooperating, we can't fail.

       The changing of things that are wrong in your Life is a natural result of paying attention. There is no need to first distinguish what is wrong and then stop doing those things. Not only is there no need to do this, it is impossible to do this.

       We all know that change in the physical world requires energy. If we want to get up off the couch (usually a "good" idea), it's going to take some energy. If we want to change the momentum of an N.F.L. running back (usually a "bad" idea) it's going to take some (a lot of) energy. Let's say that change in the Spiritual world also takes energy; it certainly seems like a struggle at times. If we want to change the things that are wrong in our Life, it's going to take some energy. The most efficient way to change these things is to devote as much energy as possible directly to the process. When we label things "good" or "bad" and then try to do the "good" things, we use up some of the energy that could have gone directly into the change itself. The most effective way to do good things is to let go of trying to do them and just let your Life flow naturally through you.

Me: You said quite a while back that Spiritual practice is really about learning how to not change. Which is it?

Myself: Our Spirit IS as It observes change and sameness. Energy never changes, and yet is constantly changing form.

Me: "The more things change, the more they stay the same"?

Myself: Sort of like that. Like a sunset, a person on the Spiritual journey changes, but in such a way that it is imperceptible. The change takes place right in front of everybody's eyes, but be darned if anyone can point out how this change came about or what it is exactly that has changed.

       There is sameness; there is a sunset. There is change; the sunset changes. In the end, it doesn't matter if we understand what or why the sunset is, what matters is that it's there to experience.

Me: Well I'm glad you said that in the end it doesn't matter if we understand because I'm pretty sure that I don't. Listen to me! I'm not even sure that I don't understand!

Myself: You don't have to understand with your head, you just have to be willing in your heart.

Me: How do I start?

Myself: Remember when I got you to not think and look around?

Me: Yep.

Myself: That is what we are going to practice. We will learn to do away with extraneous thought. More specifically, we will learn to pay attention, and as a result of our attentiveness, extraneous thought will not occur.

Me: ...I quit.

Me: What do you mean by: "everything else will fall into place"?

Myself: You won't have any more problems.

Me: Everything will go my way?

Myself: More like you will be going everything's way. When you and everything are going the same way, you won't have to push against anything in order to get where you're going.

Me: That does sound easier, doesn't it? When I go everything's way, I will live a good Life?

Myself: When you and everything are in harmony, you will live a perfect Life. 

Me: Sounds like you're talking about Heaven.

Myself: If that's what you'd like to call it, sure.

Me: We get to Heaven through Love and acceptance?

Myself: Yes, and when we see people and things as they are, we will naturally Love and accept All.

Me: You're implying that we are already in Heaven.

Myself: Absolutely. 

Me: This is Heaven? I don't think so.

Myself: You don't think so, hey? Why not?

Me: Well, I don't know about you, but I can see a few problems here on earth.

Myself: What are some of these problems?

Me: War, starvation, repression of freedom of speech and religion, the damage being done to the environment, to name a few.

Myself: You're right, there are a lot of problems out there.

Me: So how can this be Heaven when all of these problems exist?

Myself: When you realize Nirvana, Heaven will be.

Me: What do you mean?

Myself: It does no good to live in Heaven without also possessing the correct state of mind. Even if we lived in a Heaven where everyone had plenty of food, were free from disease and death, and had freedom of speech, we still wouldn't be happy if we didn't possess the correct state of mind.

Me: Sounds pretty good to me. Why wouldn't I be happy in a place like that?

Myself: You already live in a place like that.

Me: No, I live in Canada.

Myself: Do you have enough to eat?

Me: Are you kidding, I have too much to eat!

Myself: Does anyone shoot at you?

Me: No.

Myself: Do you have the freedom to say what you want and practice whatever religion you want?

Me: Pretty much.

Myself: Sounds like Heaven to me. It would probably sound like Heaven to about 90% of the world's population too. So why aren't you in a state of constant bliss?

Me: Because I feel like there's more.

Myself: You're right, there is more. There's more pleasure to run to and there's more pain to run from. There are more things to possess and more things to do. Wanting "more" is possessing the incorrect state of mind.

       I'm going to tell you something that will be very hard to accept, but once you do, I mean really grasp the full meaning of what it implies, you will look at Life a lot differently.

       It is a scientific certainty that space is infinite. When I say that it is a certainty, I mean that science is about as certain that space is infinite as it is that the earth is round. This means that our universe of 100,000,000,000 galaxies, each made up of 100,000,000,000 stars, is only one of infinite universes. Space is infinite. Time is infinite.

WE HAVE AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF THINGS TO DO AND AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF TIME IN WHICH TO DO THEM.

       So where does this leave the concept of "more?" We already have infinity at our disposal, so where else is there to go? It is a lesson in futility to want more of infinity. Wanting more of what you already have, and what you can always have more of, is the very definition of unfulfillment. Again, this is very much like the person who longs to get to the horizon. Wanting more of what you already have and can always have more of is like wanting to walk to the horizon. The horizon extends for infinity in front of you, and yet is impossible to reach, so if you want something to chase, "more" should keep you busy for a while.

       An enlightened person doesn't want to get to the horizon because he realizes that he is already standing on the horizon. Everyone is standing on the horizon, we just have to realize that we are and stop chasing what we can't help but always have. We are all enlightened, we just have to realize that we are.

One T(w)o One

I think

(The answer lies)

Therefore I AM

(Beyond thought)

Me: And by missing out on it, we have lost contact with our Spirit, with God?

Myself: In the bible, hell is described as separation from God. I would describe it more as separation of God rather than separation from God. God is a process and when we are doing something and thinking about something else, we have lost our focus on the whole of the process. After that, quite literally, all hell breaks loose.

       When we lose our focus on the whole of the process, it appears as though the process itself is a bunch of separate pieces. We then try to take these separate pieces and put them back together in an attempt to once again create wholeness.  

       It's like we are taking the most exquisite painting ever created, cutting it up into a jigsaw puzzle and then trying to put it back together. The problem is that the jigsaw puzzle is only an illusion, the picture itself is whole and complete; it never actually split and therefore never needed to be put back together.

       This brings us back to the very start of the book. When I asked you to describe yourself according to the "how," "who," "what," "where," and "when," questions, I was asking you to tell me what piece of the puzzle you were. When we cut up the picture, we need to assign ourselves to a piece so that we fit in somewhere. This piece of the puzzle that we assign ourselves to is our ego. Our ego is this separate piece that we are trying to fit in with the rest of the puzzle.

       We don't want to be separate, we want to fit in, and from our ego's point of view, we have to either mold ourselves to fit the universe, or mold the universe to fit ourselves. Controllers are trying to fit in by moulding the universe to fit themselves, and controlees are trying to fit in by moulding themselves to fit the universe. We usually label flamboyant, outgoing, attention-seeking people as having big egos, but quiet, submissive, giving people may have just as many ego issues as the attention-seekers. Either way, neither of them are truly being themselves; they are trying to be who they tell themselves they should be, or they are trying to be who others tell them they should be.  

       It is impossible for the universe to mould itself into the shape you think It has to in order for you to fit in. It is impossible for you to mould yourself into the shape you think you have to in order to fit in to the universe. It's impossible to fit in at all because you're already in. You are in, you always were in, and you always will be in. The entire concept of an ego, of an identity separate from the rest of everything else is an illusion. God accepts you fully and totally as you are. When you find that quiet, peaceful centre within yourself; that is yourself, you will feel this acceptance.

Me: You're talking about forgiveness?

Myself: It goes even beyond forgiveness. It's pure Love. In the same way that wisdom transcends levels of intelligence, Love transcends levels of forgiveness. If forgiveness has conditions placed upon it (such as "I'll forgive you to a point"), then we must always be searching to attain the highest level of forgiveness (the "still forgived" section). But to place levels on forgiveness means that there is something beyond forgiveness itself. Love is beyond this forgiveness. It is forgiveness before forgiveness is even asked for. It transcends the concept of forgiveness altogether. True forgiveness has no bounds or limits. This true forgiveness of no bounds or limits is Love. 

Me: You haven't talked much about Love so far. Isn't Love the basic tenet of most religions? Where does Love fit in with the harmonizing of body and mind?

Myself: Love is the manifestation of enlightenment through our actions. Let's take Jesus as an example. Jesus was an enlightened being and His enlightenment was revealed through His actions. Jesus reacted to everyone He met with compassion and acceptance. It's important to see, however, that He also felt rage and sadness at times. Love itself is not a single emotion apart from other emotions like hatred, envy, fear, joy, and sadness. Love is the carrier of these emotions. In a way, Love is all emotions at once.

Me: Explain.

Myself: God has been described as Love. God has also been described as light. Light is not a certain colour, nor is it the lack of colour; light is the state of all colours existing harmoniously as one. Love is not a certain emotion, nor is it the lack of emotion; Love is the state of all emotions existing harmoniously as one.

       When we shine light through a prism, the colours within that light are revealed in the resulting spectrum. When we shine Love through a person, the emotions within that Love are revealed in the actions of that person. We have even assigned specific colours to represent different emotions, such as red for anger, green for envy, yellow for fear, and blue for sadness.

       Whenever we feel the different emotions that we experience throughout our Lives, we must realize that they are merely the many aspects of Love manifesting itself through us. Whenever we feel angry at someone or whenever we feel afraid, we can look at it as just one of the many beautiful aspects of Love. When we act from our emotions, we are focusing on just one part of the whole, which is Love. When we see these emotions as parts of the whole, when they arise, we can look at them, feel them, and then act from a state of wholeness; we can act out of Love. When we act out of Love we can accept people as they are because we see them as pure light, pure love, rather than the individual colours or emotions that may manifest at times.

       When we accept people as they are, they no longer need to try to fit in through the projection of the ego. When one no longer feels as though they need to project an ego, the energy that went into the projection of that ego can go directly into Life itself. When we Love and accept people for who they are, they won't feel any pressure to be anything but who they really are.

       The same principle applies to yourself. When you see your whole self, who you really are, you will no longer feel the need to try to fit in because you will see that you never did not fit in. To exist is to fit in. It is so utterly and blatantly obvious that you fit in. If the universe didn't accept you, how could you exist?

       Other peoples' thoughts about you are not you. Everything that you are and everything that you do in your Life is an expression of the total and complete acceptance of you by the universe. Be who you are and do what you do, there is nothing other than this.  

       The most important thing in Life is to experience everything to its fullest. Look directly upon the majesty and wonder of everything. Feel each and every emotion to its very core. Turn your eyes from nothing and open your heart to everyone. Your highest calling in this Life is to experience All that is given to you. Once you learn to Love and accept everything and everyone in your Life, everything else will fall into place.

Me: This goes back to what you were saying earlier about Spiritual practice?

Myself: Exactly. The various Spiritual practices taught by different religions throughout the world all are ways in which the follower learns to harmonize mind and body. This is done by focusing one's attention directly on what you are doing to the point where thinking about what you are doing is no longer necessary. Whether it be reciting prayers, performing prostrations, beating yourself with a whip, or sitting peacefully in the lotus position, all of these rituals are designed to bring the participant to a place where mind and body have reached perfect harmony. From this state of perfect harmony one is free to focus directly upon the experience itself. The body is sort of put on automatic pilot where one no longer needs to tend to the flying of the plane and can simply sit back and enjoy the scenery.

       This is why nearly all of the martial arts practiced on the planet today have Spiritual roots. Learning how to kick someone's ass can be just as Spiritual as saying your "Hail Marys" if you devote your total concentration to it. 

       The important part to realize is that it doesn't matter what you do. You could start up a religion with the main tenet being that the way to God was by standing on one leg while balancing a crystal on your head and chanting "wonka, wonka, wonka," and you'd be right.

Me: How on earth is standing on one leg while balancing a crystal on my head and chanting "wonka, wonka, wonka," going to help me contact God?

Myself: You don't really have to contact God, you just have to realize that you are in contact with God. God is not a being that requires accessing, God is the state of being itself. Since we are always in a state of being, we are always in contact with God. What matters is whether or not we are paying attention.

       If you stood on one leg while balancing a crystal on your head and chanted "wonka, wonka, wonka," and did so with perfect attention, you would be in contact with God; you would be one with your Spirit.

Me: You keep talking about attention, but I'm not really sure what you mean by it.

Myself: Have you ever been reading a book when suddenly you noticed that you couldn't remember anything about the last paragraph, and then you had to go back and read that part over again?

Me: Sure, lots of times.

Myself: That's attention. You could have sworn that you read every word in that paragraph, but when you try to recall what you just read, it comes up a blank. That's sort of what most of us are doing on a constant basis with our lives. It seems as though we are present and engaged in Life, but when we stop and take an honest look at ourselves, it feels like we're missing out on something.

Me: And what are we missing out on?

Me: Okay, I get it. I can't say that I understand it, but I think (or don't think) I get it. Now that I get it, what do I do? I'm supposed to harmonize my body and mind, but exactly how do I do that? I know you've said things like "let go" and "pay attention," but what do those things mean in practical terms? How do I actually "let go" and "pay attention"?

Myself: Okay, I'll show you now. I'll show you now. Don't think about anything and just look around.

Me: Okay... Now what?

Myself: Why did you stop?

Me: I don't know. How long did you want me to do it for?

Myself: For as long as you could do it for.

Me: Well I didn't know that. Do you want me to do it again? I could definitely do it for longer if I tried.

Myself: Okay, sure.

Me: Okay, here I go... Well, how was that?

Myself: Fine.

Me: I did it for longer than the first time, didn't I?

Myself: Ya, I'm pretty sure you did.

Me: Well that was easy, but I didn't get much out of it.

Myself: What did you get out of it?

Me: Let's see... Nothing, really.

Myself: Perfect! Now you just have to learn to do that all the time.

Me: First of all, I don't think it's possible to live totally devoid of thoughts, and second of all, why would I even want to when I don't get anything out of it?

Myself: What did you expect to get out of it?

Me: I don't know. How about peace and happiness?

Myself: Try it again and then describe to me what you felt.

Me: Okay... Well I guess it was peaceful, but I'm not sure if I was exactly happy.

Myself: You were in that state for 11 seconds. Maybe if you were able to stay in that state longer and more often, you would experience more peace in your life. Maybe once you found your peace, you could realize your happiness.

Me: It's possible. But it's pretty hard to stay in that state. It doesn't seem to me that it would even be possible to remain like that all of the time. I think that there are times where we have to think.

Myself: You may be right. I'm certainly not at the place to say exactly what enlightenment is. What I have found though, is that the less I think about things and the more I think on things, the more peace I find, and the more peace I find, the more happy I am.

       As far as being hard; ya, it's hard. In fact, enlightenment, being present, being Spiritual, whatever you want to call it, is the hardest possible thing to do. And yet, paradoxically, it is also the easiest thing to do.

Me: What do you mean?

Myself: Being present is the easiest thing to do right now, and it's the hardest thing to do all the time. At any given moment you can see things as they are without filtering them through your thoughts. However, to keep that focus without sliding back into your old programmed way of thinking is very difficult. It's kind of like climbing Mount Everest. Each individual step is very easy to take, but when you look at the whole journey, it looks very difficult.

       It takes dedication and it takes practice. You may only be able to remain present for a short period of time when you start, but as you progress, that period of time will get longer and longer until, one day, you will always be present.