This morning, a memory surfaced of riding the subway in New York, making my way up to the front car. I remember stepping through the narrow doorway, past the small safety chains swaying between the cars, until I reached the very front. There, through the window, I could see the tracks stretching ahead—the third rail glinting, the signal lights flickering along the tunnel walls. Watching the path unfold before me created a sense of presence, a clearer awareness of where I was and where I was going.
It was a completely different experience from sitting in one of the cars behind, where the motion of the train was something I felt but couldn’t see. When you’re farther back, you’re still on the journey, but your awareness is limited—you experience movement, but you’re not directly perceiving its unfolding. That visual information, or lack of it, makes all the difference.
In much the same way, life is always moving forward, one moment transitioning into the next. But most of the time, we’re sitting in one of the back cars, only vaguely aware of the flow of change. We’re caught up in thoughts, distractions, habits—letting the ride carry us rather than witnessing it as it happens. Mindfulness is the act of stepping forward, of standing in that front car and watching the tracks as they emerge. It allows us to experience life as it’s being lived, rather than as a series of moments we reflect on later.
That shift—from passively being carried along to actively witnessing—brings immediacy. It turns existence into something luminous and alive, not just a ride we happen to be on. When we cultivate this awareness, the barriers that usually obscure the present moment start to dissolve. The veils of habit, distraction, and preoccupation lift, revealing the raw immediacy of life happening now.
Spiritual Gravity 