True Presence

What are the attributes of true presence? How do we learn to cultivate and activate them?

Cheri Huber advises us that,

Only presence gives us what our hearts long for. So simple, easy, beautiful and affordable! Costs us nothing; gives us everything.
– Cheri Huber

Her close friend, Ashwini Narayanan adds,

With practice, it becomes evident that joy, love, happiness, and peace are not the result of external objects with which they are usually associated, such as sunsets, vacations, perfect jobs, dream lovers. In fact, joy, love, happiness, and peace are labels we associate with being present. We might even say that whenever we are HERE, whatever the external circumstances, we feel joy, love, peace, kindness, happiness and compassion.
– Ashwini Narayanan

And Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh writes,

“The best gift we can offer our beloved is our true presence, our true listening. We can ask our beloved one, ‘Darling, do you think I understand you enough? Please tell me how you are really doing. Please open your heart and help me to understand your joys and difficulties, so I can understand you and truly love you.’”
— Thich Nhat Hanh

So what can we gain from these statements? Our true presences gives rise to what our hearts long for: joy, love, happiness, peace, kindness, and compassion. When we offer our true presence to our beloved, we create a safe space for them to express how they are feeling and what they truly need from us.