A More Present Life Starts Now

It’s commonly believed that meditation begins when you set a timer, and if you are able to meet your time, there’s success. If something happens and you don’t, there’s failure. Meditation can even be another thing on the do list, and many people complain that they just didn’t get to it. This reinforces the view that life and practice are separate. Yet if we look closely at the Buddhist tradition, we will see multitudes of practices that are skillful means meant to be included in our lives. Practices such as mindfulness and heartfulness can be brought into everything we do, whether or not we set a timer or take a particular posture. When we can expand our view and include more and more of what happens in life, right now, we realize that meditation only appears to start and stop. Without our ideals about what it should be like, each moment becomes a possibility for a more present, loving, and aware life. Of course, this is easier said than done, so it can help to remember the following.