What is the Present?

In mindfulness practice, we are always talking about paying attention to the present moment, being in the present, and returning to the present.

The present moment is such a central component of mindfulness practice. But what is the present, really?

The present is simply what is happening right now. It is what you are doing right now. It is seeing the letters on your screen right now. Hearing the sounds around you right now. Smelling the scents around you right now. Feeling the chair you sitting on right now. Tasting the tea you are drinking right now.

Then what is not the present? We all know that being caught up in the future or the past means we are not present in the here and now. But There are also more subtle ways that we escape the present moment.

For example, when we are evaluating what is happening right now (“this line is too long”), or wishing things to be other than what they are right now (“I wish it was sunny instead of rainy”) , we are no longer living in the present moment. When we are doing that, where are we? We are living in judgment and expectation – judging the ways things are and expecting things to be a certain way, rather than being with reality as it is.

Mindfulness practice means completely letting go of the future, the past, as well as our ideas of how things should be right now. That is nonjudgmental awareness of the reality of this moment, perceiving things just as they are.