Nothing But the Present

When you go into a courtroom, the judge will ask you if your are telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

When you sit down to meditate, your internal judge will ask you if you are in the present and nothing but the present moment.

In truth, the internal judge will ask you if you are in the present but nothing but the present, moment by moment. But how many of us listen to such and internal judge?

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that happiness can only be found in the present moment. If this is true, and I think it is, and if everyone wants happiness and to avoid suffering, as taught by the Dalai Lama, then why do we not make a greater effort to be in the present moment?

Each person will have to answer this questions for themselves, but I know for me, that mindfulness meditation, walking meditation, and other activities that bring me back to the present moment are the activities I love the most.

The purpose of mediation practice is not enlightenment; it is to pay attention even at unextraordinary times, to be of the present, nothing-but-the-present, to bear this mindfulness of now into each event of ordinary life.

– Peter Matthiessen

In addition to The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen is also the author of Nine-Headed Dragon River: Zen Journals 1969-1982. This book reveals his adventures into the world of Japanese and American Zen and being ordained as a Zen monk in 1981. This book is sitting right on my desk.