We hear a lot of talk these days, don’t we, about being in the moment? How do you be in the moment?
Well, actually got a better question for you. How do you go be ‘not in the moment’ and come back and tell me from there something about it.
So it’s a very strange expression. Don’t you think? Hey Christina.
Very, very strange expression. What are they talking about? Have you ever wondered what it is, what it means to be ‘in the moment’?
Isn’t it important to know what it means in order to do it? I ask, right? There’s so many conceptual things that we’re told in the spiritual world.
These are my pet peeves. We’re given these various conceptual things and then you’re supposed to act on them.
And of course you can’t, you can’t act on a conceptual, conceptual thing, so you’ve got to get real. And if you know anything about me, you know I’m the spiritual facilitator who keeps it real –because when you get real, then you can get real results.
Hey Marie, thanks for joining me today. I am sitting by the fire and probably in short time, the cats will be joining me to sit by the fire to when they figure out that it’s on.
Being in Canada with the weather, getting a little chilly in the house, they tend to cuddle a lot together. You’ve seen some pictures posted. They do that to stay warm.
Hello, Jeff. And once they know the fire’s on, they’ll be over here.
So we’ll, we’ll do a little share of that later. So what does it mean to be in the now, if you only understand it, conceptually, you can never do it.
Actually. You can never really do it. And so what is it pointing to? These spiritual teachings are pointers.
You know, the ultimate truth can only be pointed to so that others can realize or recognize them.
And so no words are real or true. You can’t use the words to know what they’re pointing to.
You have to use the words to look at what they’re pointing to. And so what does it mean to be ‘in the now or in the moment’?
Hey, Kara. I’m going to answer this question and I’ll dive in a little bit deeper tonight before I part for the night.
But tell me where you’re from. Say hello and let us know where you’re watching from.
And I’m here to answer your questions too. If you have any questions, Hey Kathy.
If you have any questions regarding this topic, feel free to type them in the box there and I’ll answer them live because I, I appreciate you being here, taking a little time out.
So hello from north Cal, that’d be California, I’m assuming, Hey Jeff, thanks for saying Hi.
Ah, you’re a bit warmer there. I am not. And so up here in Canada, we’ve got a fire going, well, not a real fire, but it is fire.
So what does it mean to be in the now? What does it mean?
First of all, what is the now? And I was making a bit of a joke, but not really.
How about you go be somewhere else that is not now. And tell me about it. I don’t think you can go there, right? It’s not possible for you to not be in the present moment or in the now.
Hi Christine, where are you hailing from?
So it’s not… I get literal because until we get literal and we get real about things, you’re not going to get real results.
So if you could be somewhere else, that is not now, to… then we could speak this way, but we really can’t speak this way. What does it mean then?
Hey Christina? Yeah. From Pennsylvania. Oh, I almost drove down. Oh, I got to remember you’re in Pennsylvania. I almost drove from Ottawa to Virginia and, it was going to happen this month, but it’s put off and probably May of next year. So stay connected. I’d love to see you in person. Hi, Leslie, where are you coming from?
So what are we really talking about with the now? Anybody know anybody have any ideas?
What’s… what is your idea of what it means to be in the moment or what the now is?
You can’t be in the moment, if you don’t know what we’re talking about. Because the truth is you can’t not be now, right?
Where… you can’t be in some other moment. So what are we talking about? Let’s get real so you can get real results.
Anybody know? I’d like to know if anybody knows, if you’ve been able to make any sense of, of a concept-ual pointer, a concept, and a conceptual pointer, which is what all spiritual teachings are.
They have to be. Words are not the reality that we are pointing to, but they can be used to point if someone looks. But how do you know where to look?
What are you supposed to be looking at? Or for? What is your idea of ‘the now’?
Anybody? Before, I start digging into this, because I will (haha). I just like to hear, because it is out there everywhere, right?
Everybody’s talking about being in the now, being present. Sabrina says being mindfully, present and aware of the moment. Not past or future.
Ah. Hi, Yvonne. Welcome. Where are you? Where are you visiting from? The past is over and there is no future.
Okay. It’s all now. Okay. Okay. Okay. This is good stuff, guys. Thank you for bringing that forward.
I, I believe people think that that’s what it means. And Jeff says being conscious of this moment,
what does that mean? What does that mean Jeff? Can you elaborate on that?
So being in the now, yeah, I guess it kind of does sort of sound like they might be talking about past and future, but can you even be in the past or in the future?
Like you can’t, you can’t even do that. Right?
I have to go look at a cat. Who’s pigging out [laughter]. Who’s not supposed to be pigging out. That’s not your food. I try to keep it from her, but she she’s a sneaky one.
All right. So can you be in the past and the future? No, you can’t. Right? You can never not be now. What are we talking about? Yeah. uh huh. Focused on what Jeff?
On what? Focused on what? I find it so amazing that, that this is out there. Everybody’s talking about it.
Sabrina says all there is, is now. Ah hah. Presence, stillness, awareness. Getting, getting closer there, Jason. Yeah.
This moment. What’s this moment mean Jeff? It’s just, you know, ever since the power of now came out and I read it a long time ago,
when I first read it, I didn’t get maybe 40% of it. Of course, after the direct seeing, I got all of it.
But I also know that there were some errors made, there, some, some conceptual ideas that aren’t doing people any service right now and getting really real and granular about what we’re talking about gets you traction.
It really works really well rather than just taking it conceptually.
Where are you from Jason? Where you from Jeff? Did I ask you?
Yeah Eckhart Tolle, for sure. So not the past, not the present, but you can’t be in the past in the present.
So, what is this order to be in the now in the present moment? What does that mean?
What are you supposed to do? If we don’t know what it actually means? How can you do it? Right.
Barry Bay area, California. Cool. Jason, we have somebody else from California there.
Oh, another one. That’s third one, got Jeff from Redding. Nice. Gosh, you guys are warmer there. I’m sure of it. Right?
I’m staying in toasty, warm by the fire. And soon I think the cats will be joining me. Yo yeah. Here comes one. Here she is.
Maria says it’s to stop dreaming and come to your senses. Okay. So Marie you’re in my community.
You’ve been doing your work, but you and I know what that means, but once again, it’s another example of we’d have to tell other people what exactly that means.
So, but first I want to get to the, I wanna rip this up a bit more guys. Cause if we rip it up really well, then there’ll be space to get real.
What I mean, ripping up, rip up what are we talking about when we talk about being in the moment?
Okay. Jason talks about Michael’s book, intensified the shift, all conceptual so far already, still to me, conceptual… Concept after concept, we could think forever.
Here’s the problem. And we do, we think, and we think, and we have ideas and we intellectualize and we have all kinds of concepts and we can think forever and never realize we’re thinking,
Hey Janice, welcome.
So I’m hinting at something here, is anybody catching on?
How can you be now if you can’t be in the past or the future or anywhere else, how can you not be now, here in the present?
Anybody know how? Anybody have an idea how this is possible?
Jason said, I feel like thought isn’t the problem, identifying with thought is a problem.
Oh! you’re so close. Jason yeah! you’re you’re you’re so close. You’re digging in deep, which is what I love.
We got to go deeper than the concepts. So, “in Being,” there’s another concept!
Another pointer, which is not wrong as a pointer, it’s just not the reality. And, and when we think about these things, we take it conceptually,
it’s going to go nowhere for us. So we can just sit there and think about “Being” yeah.
“I’m supposed to be in being yeah. Yeah. When I feel good, then I’m in being right. Yeah. When I, when everything gets peaceful and still, then I am in being, or then I’m being in the now.”
Yeah? No!
No, wrong. You can be in a full-on story, dreaming about stillness and peace and happiness and love and bliss–and be completely unconscious.
That’s what being not present is: being unconscious. But what is that, now?
That is another word, that until you make it real is conceptual. Jason said extricate yourself from the mind. Yeah, you’re getting closer.
You’re getting closer there. But are you one with the mind? Are you, are you the mind? Yeah. “Agreed.” Sure. Good stuff.
So dreaming. What is dreaming? It’s thrown around too, but nobody gets really granular, really real about it, really specific.
You know, Jason, even “I’m the witness” is conceptual [laughter]. Here’s the problem.
Absolutely, every spiritual pointer… Okay… Is not the thing we’re pointing to.
And if we don’t actually know what to look at, then we’ll think about it mentally. Concepts can be thought about, reality cannot.
Sabrina said “be the witness, the one who’s aware of.” Yeah…. Again, another concept and Jason’s laughing. Yeah. It’s good. Yeah.
There it is again, “be the witness,” right? The one be…. be… you’re are. You’re not the witness apparently.
And now you have to be the witness.
I told you, the cats were going to show up right here we are. We got the heat going. They like to be around me also, but they really love the heat.
It’s not really about me. Is it girls? No. Yeah. They’ll chill here for a while, which is very, very nice. So back to the conversation, the witness be the witness.
What were you, what were you before you “became the witness”? Ahh? and you can morph like that? And are there two of you? Or sometimes you’re the witnesses and sometimes you’re not.
Yeah, they’re really cool cats, Jeff. They’re actually nicknamed Buddha and Rumi. Rumi here, she’s the lover. She is just like a dog, all over me.
Nobody ever gets to see her so affectionate when they’re in the house. Cause she won’t be around. She’d be gone. Here’s a Buddha who just like mostly sits. And the only thing that’s not Buddha about her.
She eats, she stole into the food that wasn’t hers. That’s her sister’s and look it, she’s still trying to keep up on it. Can I have some of that? Can I have someone that can I have the rest of that? Can I lick that clean? Because my sister won’t ah, she’s sneaky.
Jason said subjective is objective. The mind is a great servant, but a terrible master and that’s… Yep. That’s true. But it’s not the problem. Mind is not the problem either.
And therefore it’s not the solution. So yeah. Once again, back to the question and what is it, what does it mean to be…
Hey Ori? Eh, no, not yours [laughter]. She’s so bad. She’s so good. You’re still good. You’ll wait patiently. Just like a Buddha. You will. Yes. Until your back is turned and she’ll be all over it. It’s very funny. Okay. I’m going to chill here.
Subjective versus objective. Yes. This can also be a topic of the mind that is conceptual.
So I talk about real and conceptual. Anybody know the difference between the two?
Hi Sue, where are you watching from? Say hello?
Jason said, “Information is in form. Inspiration is in spirit. I’m a spiritual being, having a temporary physical experience.”
Not true either. That’s another one of those things that are out there that needs so much myth-busting…
Ah, these are nice ideas in the mind that may give you a temporary uplift, but they really don’t do anything else for you.
They don’t solve anything. And they’re not the ultimate truth. And they’re not the truth. If they’re not the ultimate truth, they’re not the truth.
So it may be a bit of a stepping stone, something that gives you a bit of comfort at some times, but really not the final solution.
I remember when that kind of idea (arose)… “Oh yeah, I like that kind of idea.”
And it still didn’t solve the gaping hole inside, the ache, the desire for absolute fulfillment, such that there’s no problems, nothing missing, no matter what happens in life.
Jason says, you cannot think about reality. You become what you already are, but haven’t discovered yet.
Yeah. Well you don’t become it. You just discover it and no, you can’t think about it. That’s right.
That’s why all these concepts don’t do us any good, Jason. How many people have I met since I started doing this?
Since what I call the ‘direct seeing’ in 2010, I didn’t start doing it right away because I couldn’t speak about it and didn’t even know how to point to it.
But everybody is trying to speak the reality and not realizing you can’t and that’s actually a very good insight, but just because you can’t, it doesn’t mean you stop trying to recognize the truth and the reality.
For example, you could think about a stove being hot, but that doesn’t make it hot. And that doesn’t mean it’s hot, right? So you have to do something else to know, right?
To have direct, knowing what I call direct, knowing you don’t need the indirect mind.
You don’t need the middleman called mind to tell you anything about it. You just, you know, and that’s the kind of knowledge that’s true. That’s the only knowledge. That’s true, true knowledge.
Jason said by negation strip away, what is false and what is true is all that’s remaining. Yes. And no. That…
Yeah, that’s called “neti neti.” And that is a very useful thing to do for sure.
You have to do it until… actually you have to do it until you get so damn frustrated that you give up doing it. You give up using the mind.
Everybody thinks they are the mind. And so they want to use the mind to get to the truth.
And that will never work. You can just go in circles. And that will either drive you mad, or you will finally realize it’s not the mind that you need to use.
It’s the wrong tool for the job. You have to do something, you have to use something else. And these girls here, they know what the right tool for the job is.
Patience. I’m going to keep looking at that, staring at that. And it’s going to come my way.
It’s funny because you do need to keep looking, but looking is not thinking, right? Sabrina said, use your heart.
What is a heart? Again, another thing that can be conceptual and is conceptual and is anyway, unless heart means the very source and truth of your existence in reality, which if you knew what that was, you wouldn’t have any problems.
So it’s otherwise …ah… conceptual. Jeff said I observed my thoughts. Jason. Absolutely correct.
Yeah. Sabrina feel, feel what? With emotions? Feel with your skin. Yeah. Hey, Megan.
So where are y’all calling from or watching from had a few people say…where are you from Sabrina?
I’m not sure you said. So we are talking about being in the now we’ve dove into, oh my gosh, we’ve gone everywhere.
About what that means or doesn’t mean and, and ripped it up. And that’s what we need to do.
We need to sort of do neti neti with it also to rip it up so that we throw away all of the conceptual ideas so that we can get real!
Get real, really real. Then you will get to Reality.
Ah, Jason saying things like a much deeper place, pure awareness, choiceless awareness.
Oh, Sabrina. You’re in BC. I hope you’re high and dry there. And Tina, hello from London, awesome.
Jason, and come back to your much deeper, but again, all the spiritual pointings, the words, you know, are concepts. They are concepts.
If you think about them, if you just, you know, think about, “Oh yeah, I am pure awareness. I am choiceless awareness. I am…”
And it’s not what you are either. All of this is of the mind. So ultimately of course your mind has to stop.
All of the spiritual seekers are trying to use their mind and it has to stop. You have to literally see the truth. Yeah.
Jason said not sure words can touch Reality. They can’t, but we got lost via words so we can backtrack via words.
And this is what I’m doing here today. I am ripping up everything that we have thought was real and true.
And so that we can throw it out. Sabrina’s said I’m actually right in the Abbotsford, but grateful to be safe. Very good. Oh my goodness. Yeah, it doesn’t sound good over there.
Jason says Krishnamurti was perhaps the best at understanding the mind. The best teacher destroys the mind. Doesn’t understand the mind. It has to stop.
And mind literally has to stop because it is the veil. Not mind itself, there’s much more going on with that, but it is a large component of it. And it is not until the mind stops that you can realize the truth. It will dawn on you then.
Everything that you’ve been looking at is what you’re looking for… and from, but this won’t dawn on you until the mind stops utterly, completely and absolutely stops.
And here we are in the spiritual world, all using the mind, not realizing it’s the very problem.
So that brings me right back to the beginning of the topic. Jason said, yes, it must stop, but we can’t stop it by choice or will it must become still.
Yeah, actually you’re moving it. And you don’t know yet. And only when you discover how you’re doing it, then you can stop doing it.
You can’t both move it and stop it. And this is true it doesn’t work.
Jeff said, “I don’t trust my thoughts anymore as it lies to me.” Yeah. “I only go by gut instinct.” Yeah. That’s often a thought too. And it lies, you know, thought itself is a lie in that the thought is not the thing.
Oh, we’ve been told that too. In the spiritual world. Thoughts are things… BS, they’re not, okay.
Hey Lisa. So you can trust thoughts to be thoughts and nothing more.
You must always do the reality check. And that’s what I teach in our community. So you can trust thoughts to be thoughts cause that’s what they are.
And they will always be that. And you can actually use thoughts because thoughts are conceptual and reality is not so…
Everything that is not a thought, this is where our attention needs to go.
Back to how to be in the now… Well, that’s exactly it… when you’re not in the now you are in the now, but you’re dreaming the mind is if it’s real now,
oh, Sabrina’s got to go catch up the replay right on. Have a great weekend. You too.
So that was a nugget. There’s been a few nuggets here. So how to be in the now?
You can’t leave it. You’re always here. It’s are you realizing that there is mind and not mind? And are you realizing…
So yeah, I was about to come back around where we started.
And Jason said, thinking is limited because thought is based on memory and experience. Knowledge is limited as well.
Rather to them refer to them when necessary. It’s a tool. Thoughts are not evil either. They’re not the problem.
Unconsciousness and dreaming is the problem. Thought is… well limited.
If it’s not even the word for it, thought is thought, that’s it. That’s all.
And it’s nothing more than thought, when you realize that you free yourself in a lot of ways. Oh my God. Loads of crap falls away when you realize that.
So we do a lot of work with thought only to really understand thought and what it is,
how it works. And I call them thought-feelings. They arise together. So you feel thoughts.
And the problem arises when people are dreaming thoughts and don’t know, and they are no longer paying attention to the moment because they are fully in their heads.
And that’s when it means to be unconscious. And not in the moment, of course you are in the moment, but you are not recognizing… they have their fighting moments too guys, no chill.
So the goal is to not, you don’t have to stop thoughts.
You… thoughts will stop when you do the work. And it is in those moments when thought stops that you can have the truth dawn on you.
So those are coveted moments of the mind stopping… when you lose interest in the mind because you’ve come to realize what it is then that’s when you have more and more opportunities for mind to stop.
And for you to have realizations.
Jeff says how I feel is based on my thoughts, not based on, but caused by. Thought feelings are one and the same.
So if I were to ask you to think about someone you love right now, you could sit here and start to think about someone you love and you’ll start to feel good. Why? Because you’re feeling thoughts and they’re good feeling thoughts. And when you’re feeling bad feeling thoughts, then you feel bad. It’s really that simple and direct.
I could ask you to start thinking about someone who’s hurt you in the past. So it’s not based on your thoughts, it’s caused by your thoughts, Jeff.
And when you start to realize that, oh boy, oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. And actually apply it then, yeah. It’s a game changer.
So back around to the topic at hand, how to be present during the now? You cannot be, you always are. What is it really saying?
It’s really saying, are you aware of your environment, your actual senses. Your hearing, smelling, touching, tasting, sensing. And the fact of our thoughts.
When we go unconscious, we ignore reality. We ignore what is, we lose our senses.
That’s why we call it coming to your senses because you’ve left your senses… and how you do that with the five powers you possess…that’s involved, but that’s what we work within the community.
And that’s what happens. We leave our senses for the mind as if the mind is what’s real and true. And that’s basically it.
So it’s, it’s not really true to say, stay here now. It’s really bad directions, bad instructions.
There’s far better instructions we could have and give and should use because really that’s what it is.
It’s it’s instructions. They’re pretty poor instructions if you don’t know what they mean or how to use them. Right?
So coming to your senses a little bit better instruction, which is feel your feet, the top of your head, take in your peripheral vision, and notice your breath moving in and moving out.
Oh, you may have forgotten you were breathing.
You might’ve remembered. Now that I mentioned it, your breathing didn’t change.
Reality didn’t change–even though you are not aware of it.
Lots we can do, but we can’t do anything until we know what we’re talking about till we get very real about things.
And then we start to get breakthroughs and traction. All right guys.
It’s been a grand little chat. I thank you all for chit-chatting and watch the replay if you just came on.
And you know, to do until we meet again?
Keep it real and enjoy yourself just, because you can.
Cindy