Is there really Presence?

Presence: the state or fact of existing, occurring, or being present in a place or thing.

When we talk about Presence, it is an abstract concept that we all struggle to grasp. People live their daily lives full of distractions that prevent us from being aware of the moment we are living in. All sufferings are created by ourselves, and problems are always present for us to cope with. We tend to be negative about what we face, and each time we encounter an issue or problem, we refer to the past and regret what we could not have learned from or done to avoid the current problem. We then wish to not have the same problem in the future. This happens every day to all of us. Mindfulness acts like a lifebuoy, a remedy to cure this.

Mindfulness: a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique

It is a powerful discovery that has effectively helped all of us overcome sufferings. Mindfulness teaches us to focus internally and acknowledge what is happening to us, and accept it as it is at the present moment. However, our minds act like a monkey, always jumping from thought to thought. Thoughts are always changing inside our minds, and we cannot always control them. This is where meditation comes in.

Meditating: think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation

Practising meditation tames our monkey mind, so it does not jump from the past to the present, then to the future. The mind can either act like a third party to observe all the jumps, or it can become focused on one thing that we choose, such as breathing or a part of our body. Every method is aimed at achieving one goal: to bring us back to our balance to live on

Presence

Does Presence exist?

Humans have created the world we live in with many formulas. From the day we were born, we were named, and as we grew up, we were taught to call our family members and objects around us. When we started going to school, we learned many other things that would prepare us for our later stage of life as adults when we would take care of ourselves and have responsibility for ourselves. Once again, this is a format of life.

The past, present, and future are no exception. These names are what we call them. By accepting what our society has created, we are part of this physical world. However, if we accept the measurement of time that we have created, then comes a big question for Presence: is there really Presence?

The moment we start thinking, it is already in the Past. The moment we start speaking, it is already in the Past. The moment we start behaving, it is already in the Past. As everything is constantly changing, moving as the nature of life, nothing will be stopped to wait for us to call it Presence. Future is what we are thinking toward to, however once we start thinking, our thought of Future is already in the Past. However we can still accept the concept of Future as it is only our imagination in this physical world. The only element that is in doubt is the Presence. This does not mean that all the above mentioned methods are in doubts. They are still the greatest findings of all time for human being and will continue to be applied for generations. Where is Presence?