BEing in the present moment.

[James123]

Can you explain, exactly, what being in the present moment represents to you?

Either a sentence or 2 or even a paragraph would be great.

If you could please try to avoid something as limited as "Being in the present is awareness" because although it's true, it doesn't help explain it to beginners.

Thanks!

[JonW]

Simply being aware of and attentive to everything that is arising at that moment: thoughts, feelings, sights, sounds, smells…non-judgmentally.

[James123]

Thanks Jon. Appreciate it.

Just so that we're on the same page here, being the present moment = awareness, right?

[JonW]

Hi James.
Being aware, yes. But not striving for any particular state. I feel it's important to remember that mindfulness isn't about getting anywhere. It's being aware that you're already here, moment to moment.

[Cheesus]

Do you mean specifically what it represents, or what it is?

What it represents to me is hope. That is, hope of coming to terms with things I have been struggling with for a very long time.

What it is to me, however, is the stripping away of the discourse that I layer over things. Attempting to clear a little bit of space through the delusion that I typically use to make sense of the world.

[JonW]

I recently interviewed my teacher Nick Diggins who took me through the 8-week course earlier this year. The interview will go up on EM this week.
One thing Nick said during the interview was this:
"The thing with mindfulness is that it’s very subtle. You might say that it’s caught rather than taught. Therefore it’s potentially rife with pitfalls and misunderstandings. Having a teacher there to explore all that with is likely to make a big difference. It means they’re able to have a dialogue with someone who has a lot of experience of it. You could say that mindfulness is not something that is easily put into words. It requires rather a lot of subtle pointing. Books can do that to some extent but they’re unlikely to be a substitute for a good teacher. If you teach mindfulness, the aim is to exemplify the practice. Often it’s not so much what you say as how you are. It’s hard to get that from a book."
We can so easily get bogged down in semantics where mindfulness is concerned. Words like "awareness" can mean something different to every individual.
It makes talking about mindfulness in general terms quite tricky at times.
Though we're only too happy to help out and answer questions here on the forum, none of us pretend to be experts.
I'd gently suggest that, if anyone doesn't feel that their questions are being answered satisfactorily here, they should check out the writings of the masters: people like Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mark Williams, Vidyamala Burch, Danny Penman, Ed Halliwell et all.
Even better, check to see if any 8-week courses are running in your area. The course I did with Nick Diggins was truly life-changing, giving me a grounding in mindfulness that a book could never have done.
Like Nick says, "it's caught rather than taught," and the simplicity of it often means that our pesky minds begin to overcomplicate it. But those thoughts, like all other thoughts, are there to be observed, with self-compassion.
All good things,
Jon, Hove

[Cheesus]

Just to echo Jon: in Buddhist circles two of the central pillars of practice are community and teacher. Having that support to your mindfulness practice is really beneficial. Personally, I would say a regular group practice is even better than an 8-week course as it provides you something to return to time and time again.

Moreover, Jon, your post made me think of my own practice. Often I might read something and think I have fully understood it, only to return to it however long after to discover there were other wisdoms that I had not fully comprehended in the words. You can be told something a million ways, but often (in practice as in life) you need to actually discover it or experience it yourself to gain a genuine understanding. The experiential nature of practice means that you can be guided but you can never passively just receive instruction.

[JonW]

Couldn't agree more, my friend.
And a great quote from Walden there. I have the Collected Works Of Thoreau lined up for Xmas snacking, as it happens.
Good things,
JW

[Gareth]

Wise words from Nick. I'm looking forward to his interview.

[Metaphysical Me]

Wow, brilliant thread...!

I love your post, Jon.

James, for me, being in the present moment is about "forgetting everything I know" and just experiencing what is.

I'm really annoyed at how much rubbish we are all "taught" by society, school, parents, etc, etc... Even if and when they mean well, there's still soooo much bollocks we're taught (for want of a better word).

Being in the present moment, for me, is a way of dropping all that junk... Allowing myself to experience the universe and my relatively brief spell in it as authentically, truly, absolutely and unmitigatedly as possible.