Present Moment Awareness is a mindfulness term which means that we are aware of what is happening around us in the moment.
No futurizing about events and no dredging up past issues to review. Here is where I believe the spiritual mind thrives. Here is where direction comes from the Holy Spirit most often. In comparison, the Natural Mind likes to review the past, keep score, and rationalize past behavior. It is at home in the future, as well. It dreams of better outcomes, more enjoyment without the hassles of the now, and an inflated, better self.
With our Spiritual Mind in Present Moment Awareness we.
"often have a sense that something is right or wrong for us to do-a sense, for example, that we should or shouldn't treat some person or living thing in a certain way. We have only to pay attention in our everyday experiences to notice ourselves having such feelings about how we should act."
C. Terry Warner, Bonds That Make Us Free
As long as we respond to these feelings we can stay aware. But, once we choose to ignore these feelings then a self-betrayal, of sorts, emerges and a series of mental gyrations take over. To make it okay within us to choose not to respond openheartedly, we must self-justify our actions.
"We cannot betray ourselves without setting into motion all manner of emotional trouble."
Take for instance the father who hears his baby crying at night and feels that he should see to her needs. He has a choice, respond to the inclination to help his child or ignore her and allow his wife to deal with her. If he ignores his child he will have to set in motion these stories to feel good about himself. He has to get up early and his wife stays home all day. He has an important meeting in the morning and needs his sleep. He handled the baby on the weekend, it is her turn. Justifications layer one self-deception upon another.
Take for instance the father who hears his baby crying at night and feels that he should see to her needs. He has a choice, respond to the inclination to help his child or ignore her and allow his wife to deal with her. If he ignores his child he will have to set in motion these stories to feel good about himself. He has to get up early and his wife stays home all day. He has an important meeting in the morning and needs his sleep. He handled the baby on the weekend, it is her turn. Justifications layer one self-deception upon another.
These stories play in our minds outside of Present Moment Awareness and are orchestrated by The Natural Mind. They keep us from being wholehearted and responding to our Spiritual Mind.
So, I meditate every morning and evening in Present Moment Awareness to not only strengthen my ability to stabilize my mind but to develop courage and stamina to respond to others in the present moment as I am directed. Does this make sense?
You can read more about my Year of Mindfulness here.
So, I meditate every morning and evening in Present Moment Awareness to not only strengthen my ability to stabilize my mind but to develop courage and stamina to respond to others in the present moment as I am directed. Does this make sense?
You can read more about my Year of Mindfulness here.
Yes, I think it is easy to be distracted by thinking of the past or the future, and if we are we can miss what God is saying to us now and how he is directing us.
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