The State of Presence is You

The State of Presence is You

Last week we explored the theme of simplicity, a child-like state of essence aware of itself. Simplicity is one of the attributes of Higher Centers. In this post, I would like to speak about a second attribute of Higher Centers: Presence.

There is nothing in existence except the Divine Presence. — Ibn Arabi

In the context of spirituality, the word Presence has come into common usage over the last four decades. Since the idea of Presence was first introduced to me in the 1980s, the meaning of the word has taken on all kinds of different connotations in the New Age movement, blending Eastern and Western ideas of self-discovery.

When I first read about Presence in P.D. Ouspensky’s book, “In Search of the Miraculous,” it was a term of art and a part of the special language developed by Ouspensky in order to precisely communicate in a new way. Ouspensky encouraged people to receive the ideas as new and not to mix them with old ways of thinking about psychology or other religious traditions. Specifically, Presence means self-remembering and being in a higher state of consciousness.

One can only know oneself in the moment, in the state of presence. — The Teacher

Simply understood, Presence or self-remembering is a state of self-consciousness. The root of the word helps me to understand this state of being in the moment. It comes from the Latin prae- "before" + esse "to be." To be – or to remember myself before doing something – is to divide my attention between whatever I am doing and at the same time bringing myself into focus.

The trick is to BE wherever you are. — The Teacher

For instance, when I realize that I drove home from work and feel alarmed at not recalling the ride home, it is in that moment of realization that I exist and sleep recedes. The state of presence is me, not the ride home in the second state of sleep. Gradually, through divided attention I try to prolong Presence, be in the moment and aware of the drive home and myself, the driver. To bring together and observe myself while driving, doing dishes, turning on the light, buttoning my shirt, taking a bite of food, smiling at a friend, brushing my teeth, etc.

You are a state – the state that remembers is You. — The Teacher

While reading yesterday in a spiritual poetry book called, “Women in Praise of the Sacred,” I was surprised and inspired to find so many references to finding the state of higher consciousness within oneself. Mahadeviyakka, a 12th century Indian poet, writes in one of her poems, “The infinite rests, concealed in the heart.” A thread that weaves through her writing is being at oneness with the Divine. To be in a state of presence is to arrive home in oneself – rising above the multiplicity of the many ‘I’s, a unification of myself with the reality of what is in the moment.

You who want knowledge, seek the Oneness within. There you will find the clear mirror already waiting. — Hadewijch

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Kneeling Female Figure, Mexico, Aztec