I was sitting at the kitchen table when he put it in front of me…

A bowl filled with pasty goop?

My father handed me a spoon. “Try stirring it” he said with a funny grin

It was an odd request but I was curious so I picked up the spoon and started swishing it around in the paste. But when I did, the fluid that seemed soupy suddenly resisted the spoon and the bowl began to spin around. What?

“Try again” he encourage. Same thing. I picked up the bowl and I could see that this was a liquid. It sloshed from side to side and behaved in everyway like something that could be stirred.

So I tried a third time with the same results.

At this point he took the spoon from my hand and began to very slowly stir the mixture. It did not resist.

He handed me back the spoon. This time I moved very slowly and gradually.

No resistance 

I had made assumptions about the nature of the fluid entirely comprised of my past experience with other fluids. Naturally, I had imposed those ideas on the fluid in front of me.

But the fluid in front of me was not like other fluids. It had properties that I was not aware of and I hadn’t bothered to discover. My application of a false reality came into conflict with Truth.

By accepting that the truth, was not what I was expecting to be true, I came into a more intimate relationship with reality.

Why is this important? 

Because when we attempt to force our reality onto the world around us we become stuck in a state of disempowered ignorance of the qualities of truth. So we stir and stir and the bowl keeps spinning. We expend a lot of energy but we have no true power. The good news is that once we get comfortable with accepting things as they are, we become the beneficiaries of whole new source of power.

This requires Practice

There are many methods for cultivating the ability to be present in the moment but I want to share how the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) is one of the best I have ever encountered. In forest bathing we Start by Stopping.

The first step is to awaken our senses. We listen first, then smell, taste, feel and finally see the environment as it is in that moment. Only once our senses are “turned on” do we begin to move very slowly through the forest.

As we move we are invited to observe the movement of other things. Movement is of course change and with awareness we begin to notice that “things” are changing all the time.

In the third stage we stop again. With senses activated and awareness of all that is moving, we are finally ready to drop into deep presence. From this activated and empowered place we begin to see the fullness of things.

Many people report that they notice things they have never “seen” before even in places they are very familiar with. Additionally, practitioners often experience deep insights that offer a new way of viewing their internal “landscapes”.

Here is a short practice for you to try…

Find a place outside or near an open window. This need not be in a forest or “peaceful” environment. You may stand or sit. Give your body whatever it needs to feel comfortable. Close your eyes. Begin by tuning in to your physical senses, one at a time, for a minute or so each.

• What can you hear? Allow the full range of your hearing to capture as much of the sound of your place as possible.

• What touch do you feel? Can you notice where you’re covered by clothing or where your skin is exposed? Is there a breeze or something crawling on you?

• What can you smell? What is the quality of the air you’re breathing? What information do you receive?

• What can you taste? Perhaps what you’ve eaten or drank. Is there a taste on the air around you?

• Lastly, open your eyes and gaze out at this space. What do you notice? What is noticing you?

You may notice is that you have a lot of thoughts about how things are. This is normal. If you become aware that you are in a thought stream, just come back to each of the senses and contemplate this question…

What is the quality of this moment before I have a thought about it?

ॐ OM ॐ

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