A summer meditation

Here is a wonderful pointer that has helped me be present in this moment and see reality. Here's what to do...
   Ask yourself who would you be if you couldn’t compare this moment with any other moment? Ask yourself, how would this moment be if you couldn’t compare this moment to any other moment?
   How would it be if this instance in time, right now, stood all alone, all by itself and you simply couldn’t compare this to anything else? How would this be? How would this feel? Now please just bear with me for a moment and don’t laugh (OK laugh but bear with me anyway) because it’s a very interesting experiment.
   So let’s go there.
   Let’s go to this moment with no comparisons.
   This moment.
   How would it be if now was all you had? How would it be if you couldn’t remember? If this moment was all you knew? Please allow yourself to go there just as an experiment. Because, trust me, it’s an interesting one. Because who would you be—and what would this moment be—without memory? Just let yourself go there for a moment.
   What am I driving at?
   I’m driving at the fact that if we couldn’t compare this moment to any other moment—this moment would be absolutely perfect. And I repeat—absolutely perfect—no matter what is happening.
   Just think about it. If you couldn’t compare this to anything else—what could possibly be “wrong” with this?
   Now you see it, don’t you?
   Now you see that “wrong” is always a comparison.
   Wrong is always a relative position in relation to something else.
   “This” or anything else can only be “wrong” compared to “that” or something else. The thought that “this moment should be different than it is” can only arise in comparison to some other moment. This in itself cannot be “wrong”. This in itself just is. And actually just is is all there is. The rest—all the comparisons—are just thoughts in our minds. They are not reality, which is a very important fact to keep in mind. Reality is this.  Period. Full stop. Nothing else is reality.
   I know this is very hard to grasp, but it’s true nevertheless. There is nothing else but now. We may believe there is a past and a future, but there isn’t. There never was—and there never will be. Past and future are just stories we have, which of course are quite OK. But when the stories become so real (in our imaginations) that we miss this or think (and experience) this as “wrong”—then perhaps it’s time to reconsider and take another look. Especially if the “wrong” thought makes us suffer, sick, unhappy, tense…
   So if you can, just allow yourself to be present without comparing this moment to anything else and see what happens.
   I have also discovered that this is an excellent way to enter into any experience that I think is going to be difficult or challenging. If I decide in advance to go into the experience without comparisons, I am sometimes very surprised at what happens.  So you might want to give it a try - and spend a few moments in the now - without comparing this to anything. Whatever you do, take the time to enjoy the wonder of this day!

Comments

[Eric - Reiki Music]

This is a great exercise. I like your thoughts on comparing moments in time, and completely agree with you. Any individual moment can only be good or bad based on a comparison to others. Taken by itself, it just is.