Happiness is in The Present
The Mind is Not Free to be Happy…Happiness is in the Present
In order to experience happiness, we will need to learn live in the present without the pain, bitterness, anger or guilt of the past or the anxiety or fear concerning the future. If we examine our unpleasant emotions we will discover that they are 95 % based on the past of future.
All of our pain, bitterness, anger, shame and guilt have to do with memories – even if those memories are about yesterday or this morning. If our memory was erased, we would not have any of those emotions. We have experienced them because we are allowing something that we are remembering (consciously or subconsciously) to stimulate those feelings. Without a past, there can be no pain, anger or guilt.
Awareness
The ultimate value of life depends upon Awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” – Aristotle
MANY HAVE ASKED “ What is Awareness?” Awareness is just itself—pure, alive, alert, silent, and full of potential. It is a feeling of being at ease with everything and everyone around us. It is a peace of mind and a sense of well-being, as well as an inner knowing that all is well, despite the circumstances we are in at the present moment.
WE MUST LEARN to experience our self, free of the mind stuff, of our stories, and self-images. To experience our true self, we have to move away from the stories we have told our self about our self-image and any thoughts about our self in the experiences we are having right here and now in the present moment.
Christina Reeves and Dimitrios Spanos
-Authors of the book
“The Mind Is The Map”
CHAPTER THREE -AWARENESS
The Present Moment
“For those who have found the still point of entry, around which all –including themselves – revolves, everything is acceptable as it is, indeed, can be experienced as glorious and wonderful.”
Joseph Campbell
ANXIETY AND FEAR are the stuff of the mind about what might or might not happen in future, even if the future is one hour from now. The present moment does not create such emotions and there is no other reality than the present moment. We cannot go to the store to buy something yesterday. Nor can we go now to buy something tomorrow. WE CANNOT act in the past or in the future. We can only act in the present. Only in the present can we make decisions or respond to events or challenges. Only in the present can we exercise our free will to change our lives. The only point of power to create and change our lives is the present moment. There never was a time that was not NOW. There is no other time.
Part II Cultivating the Journey
Chapter Seven-The Present Moment
Experience Peace with Unconditional Love
We are living in chaotic times, our world is suffering, continuous moments of powerless and feelings of injustice. The condition of the outer world at the present time is such that those who sincerely seek the light and want the constructive way of life must have more than human help if they are to survive over the present period of chaos which is the accumulated discord generated by the collective humanity en masse through the centuries, and which is pressing heavily upon the outer experience of individuals and our world today.
