Presence is not a passive state
Presence is not a passive state
The distinction between being and doing simply don't exist in the present moment.
Stress is commonly held in the space between realisation and action. The gap between knowing something has to be done and actually doing it creates an environment in which resistance thrives. And stress is born of resistance. In the words of Eckhart Tolle stress is resistance to what is.
I recently used the example of filling in your tax return and there are countless other practical examples where life demands that we give our attention to something we would rather not. Putting those tasks off simply gives our mind a juicy bone to chew and in so doing costs us many present moments until the task is done. By which time a previously not so urgent task has now reached the front of the queue of things to avoid.
Now even the most evolved amongst us can't deny the tax return IS, and resistance is futile. Might as well do it and remove the environment in which stress thrives.
It is a common mistake to perceive Presence as a passive state. A state of not doing, of letting life happen to you. Surrender to the moment and just 'be' is a popular spiritual teaching. My experience is more along the lines of surrender to the moment and just 'do'. In surrendering to the present moment we remove our attention from all other points in space and time, and whatever shows up in that moment gets our full attention. And our full attention is arguably the most powerful thing in the universe (some call it love).
So when the Tax return shows up in the present moment, love it, do it or if you're spiritual 'be' it. True Presence is the most productive state. It is the most efficient state. There is infinite power in true presence. The distinction between being and doing simply don't exist in the present moment. Presence is a state in which life happens through you. Judgement of what shows up in the moment separates us from that universal flow and consequently dis-empowers us.
If the universe wants the infinite expression of billions of billions of years to take the form of a Tax return who are we to judge? Get on with it and see what shows up in the next moment. Who knows...a rebate?
What are you putting off?
Lots of love as always
Bill