the present moment and I are one and the same

I have talked about observing the breath and about observing our thoughts in order to create spaces between our thoughts.

Another way to quickly reach this state of calm is by becoming aware of the present moment.

Again there are two universes: the universe around you and the inner universe. 

We become aware of the outer universe by simply deciding so. We stop thinking about what we are going to do in five minutes, in an hour and in a year. We also drop thinking about the past. Instead we look around, hear, smell, feel....this moment. This moment cannot be bad. Suffering only exists in the past and in the future. This very moment is always okay. Strange but true. If very occasionally something awful happens, an accident, sudden pain... we do not think about the past or the future, we are in the moment, and we make sure we get out of the bad situation as soon as possible. Once we become aware again the bad moment has passed. If we are otherwise distressed we are always in the past or in the future with our thoughts.

It is so very soothing to take a deep breath and return to the present; to the simple pleasures of being alive in this moment.

There is an inner universe too. To pay attention to the inner body, to feel the aliveness there (Eckhard Tolle) makes that we connect with the present moment. Our thoughts slow down or even stop for a while. 

Try it: close your eyes and hold your hands somewhere near you in the air. Can you feel your hands? Although you are not looking at your hands, can you sense them? Can you feel the aliveness in them? If you can you have created a space between thoughts. Extend the awareness to the whole inner body and a great sense of calm is likely to descent. It is not difficult at all. 

This sensing of the aliveness inside the body is one of the best ways to stop the mad train of thoughts that captures all of us almost all the time.

We are now an observer instead of a participant. We are not our thoughts. Let's now observe the observer. Where is the observer? Who is the observer? The observer is that what is aware, what is conscious. When I strip myself from who I am in the world and become aware of the present moment I become that moment. This very moment can not exist without me being conscious of it. In fact: we are the same: the present moment and I.

This in itself is a mysterious miracle! To realize it is deeply relaxing and soothing.

Try it. It is better then any drugs you or I have ever taken (and I have taken a lot of them, I'm from Amsterdam after all).