I-Now-Here

I recently came across the following story …

There was a man in India who was chased by a tiger. He runs as fast as he can and jumps into a well to escape the tiger. As he falls he lands on a branch of a tree. While he is safely perched on the branch, he looks up and sees the tiger waiting for him at the top of the well. He looks down and sees at the bottom writhing poisonous snakes. He looks around him and, as it is fruit season, sees that the tree is loaded with ripe fruit. He reaches out and begins to eat the tasty, juicy fruit. Now think about this. Just because there is a tiger waiting at the top and poisonous snakes at the bottom, why should the man deprive himself of the beauty and the gift of the moment?

This story reminds me of one of my favorite one liners …

In the present moment … there is no stress.

Stress and anxiety come from looking back on the past or looking forward toward the future. The present is about being fully I, fully now, fully here. I-Now-Here is a conscious way of life. When I am fully present to anything it is my prayer. The situation does not have to be religious. Every mundane activity that draws our full attention is prayer.

Another way of considering this is to … live every moment and do everything as if it were the first time, the last time, or the only time you would be doing it.

Being fully conscious and awake — being fully I, fully now, fully here — is a way of life, a way of living our true divine identity, which turns all that we do into prayer.