Would you choose to live in presence today?

Growing up, I always wondered about the God depicted at times in the Bible.  Who was this Being who seemed very stern, not much fun at times, vengeful, judgmental, unforgiving, and certainly not gentle, when his son I was told, asked us to forgive seventy times seven?  Well, we all are the only begotten.   You are, whenever you look to see if it is true, in complete oneness with all that is.  So if you live from there, when you live in presence, what are you?

For one, I believe you are gentle.  On the other hand, the world is sometimes gentle, sometimes quite harsh with its words, its wars, its disease, its lack, and the suffering arising from the sense that all of those threaten us.  So where do we find this gentleness when it is at times lacking in the world “outside”?  As you guessed, inside.  Inside is an infinity of power, love and the gentleness that flows from us as we realize we cannot be touched by the world unless we choose consciously or unconsciously to believe that the threat is real.  If you believe you can be extinguished, and by that I mean permanently, you have no choice but to fight the outer forces that appear to be attacking you.

But if you see what you are in Presence, there is nothing that can touch you.  Oh, you will be aware of these things, for you are consciously present, not absentmindedly present off in a daze.  You know that you “are” – I AM THAT I AM – that you cannot be extinguished, and the reality of your oneness with all that is, is far more powerful than those outer tsunamis.

And from there, you will find that gentleness arises from your heart.  Although figures like Jesus were known to express outrage at times,  for example, at the merchants in the temple, we are led to believe that this arose from his love, and the transformative message he brought, as yet unheeded in full, is to love your enemy.  That is being gentle isn’t it?  An enemy is one who would attack you, yet you love this enemy?  Who would do this other than one who knows what they are, one who is gentle with the world and gentle with him or herself?

So practice gentleness with others and with yourself, and you will find yourself more in alignment with what you are.  This is not original.  I know Robert Adams recommended that we practice the qualities of Presence in “Silence of the Heart.”  But he was not the first.  It is referred to as “fake it until you make it” in popular culture.  Well, if you have to, fake it.  One day, you will find gentleness flows from your nature, from what you truly are, because it does.  But if you can get quiet for just a moment and ask the question Ramana Maharshi left with us, which was “Who am I?,” you will find that you are one with all that you previously felt was outside of yourself, that is no longer a threat to you, and then you will know that you can be truly gentle in your life.

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Would you choose to live in presence today?

NOTE: This is an excerpt from my book on raising consciousness that will be further edited prior to publication. If you have any feedback, please send me a comment via the “Contact Me” page above. Thank you.

© 2011  David B. Durand, M.D.  All rights reserved.