The Key Is What Is Pressing Now

The Key Is What Is Pressing Now
How to Catch Up to the Present Moment

Whatever is pressing in the mind right now is the key.

That is the only place to start.

Not the whole story.
Not yesterday.
Not why it happened.
Not who caused it.
Not what should have been different.

Simply this:

What is the mind aware of now?

A thought.
A feeling.
A sensation.
A reaction.
An expectation.
A disappointment.
A liking.
A disliking.

Name it simply.

Then see that even if it seems large, it is still something appearing in the mind.

A thought about what happened.
A thought about what should be happening.
A thought about a sensation.
A thought about another person.
A thought about yourself.

That seeing creates space.

For example, you call someone expecting one thing, and something else is true.

You meet someone expecting they did what they said, but they did something different.

Immediately the mind says:

I thought that…

That phrase reveals the issue.

The mind was prepared for one reality, and life presented another.

So part of attention is still in the past expectation.

You are not fully with what is here.

Then even when the chance to be present arrives, the mind repeats:

I thought that…

Before meeting what is here, you first have to clear what was imagined.

How?

See it as thought.

Let it go.

Catch up to the moment.

Now you are with what is actually happening.

Then a second layer appears:

I like this.
I don’t like this.
This is good.
This is bad.

At least these reactions are more current, but they are still thoughts about the moment rather than direct contact with it.

So see that too.

Liking is known.
Disliking is known.

Then one more choice appears:

Accept what is happening.
Or resist what is happening.

Resistance keeps you behind the moment.

Acceptance brings you into the current.

Once in the current, life moves again.

And often what seemed like the problem was only the mind arriving late.