Living in the present

Living in the present requires appropiate attention. What is appropiate attention? An example. If one grabs the doorknob while being busy with something else, then we here have an example of attention that is not appropiate. If, however, you are conscious of the doorknob and you feel the metal, then in that case we have an example of appropiate attention. Having appropiate attention all the time, is the key. If everyday operations are continuously done with appropiate attention, a more conscious life will be the result automatically. It requires less effort to follow certain operations because you are in a continous state of living in the present.

Meditation is a woolly thing to Westerners. But in itself meditation is a very strong means to attain appropiate attention. Why? Because with meditation we focus on our breathing only. In a conscious way we will follow our inhaling and exhaling. Breathing takes place without any outside influence. Is we are breathing fast, then our breathing is fast. If it’s slow, then it’s slow. Because our mind is focussed on breathing, and not on thousand and one other things, we develop a certain way of concentration that plays a key role of remaining in the present!