Reality: Here and Now

I recently had some realizations about reality that I would like to share. It seems the spiritual principle of “being here and now” is a cliché these days, but here are some observations I made that I find to be both obvious and profound.

The definition of reality that I find useful is “that which can be experienced with the five senses or our emotions”. There are many things that existence that are not real – from ideas to dreams to lies, and human consciousness is capable of experiencing them in various capacities, but the degree that we can discern and interact with real experiences is what causes us to be real ourselves.

I realized that reality only truly exists in physical form in this moment of here and now. Everything else is unreal – or more accurately, unmanifest. The past and future are unreal, while the present moment is real.

The past and future, though unreal, can influence the present moment, particularly our emotions. If we are looking forward to something in the future, although the experience does not physically exist at this moment, we can have hope, excitement, and take actions in the present moment to prepare for the future – such as packing for a vacation. The future can also effect our present moment negatively, such as in the emotion of worry or fear about a future event.

The same idea applies to the past. We can have warm, fuzzy memories of past nostalgic moments, relief of past undesirable experiences, and become sad or upset when recalling some memories.

The trap that I recently encountered with future is that although it is unreal, it casts a convincing illusion that it is real. We can be excited for some upcoming event, or have hope for the passing of an unpleasant present situation, but from a rigorously “present moment” perspective – the future never comes. It dangles before us like a carrot on a string, just out of reach and soothes and pacifies us with promises of upcoming fulfillment, but only an experience happening right now can we taste and touch and feel – so it can be a trap.

In a similar way, the past can be a trap. We can claim past experiences as testament to who we are now and what we are capable of in this moment, but unless we can actually generate that capability in our being right now, that identity is an illusion. For example, if in the past I have written and performed beautiful music onstage, I may tend to think that I am an accomplished musician in the present moment, but if I cannot summon the ability to physically perform or write music in the present moment, then my ability and identity as a star musician is an illusion, for it is not real.

Another form of non-reality is anything we see in a movie, on TV, in a video game or onscreen in any other form. Unlike the past and future, this may exist in the present moment, but because characters in a movie or TV program cannot touch or feel and because they represent situations from outside the here and now, they are not real. Like the past and future, the ideas and emotions that characters onscreen can affect the present moment by evoking certain emotions, presenting information, or giving us ideas.

Likewise dreams, daydreams, fantasies, stories, etc. are not real -as their names imply.

Our choice of words in the present moment can bring our consciousness into reality or un-reality. The verbs “is”, “am”, and “are” and verbs in the present tense such as “I feel”, “we do” “she likes”, etc. all refer to and reinforce the here and now.

Future tense and past tense verbs put our consciousness in the respective existence. Words like “if”, “maybe”, “hopefully”, “probably” create unreality (with the seeming potential to become real, but if we are rigorous, they are still technically unreal). “Not” creates the negation of something real, so though it refers to reality, it creates unreality. “I think”, “I wonder” “I imagine” create thoughts – not physical, not tangible by the five senses, so not real. Talking about something that is an “idea”, or “spiritual”, creates or refers to something of a non-physical nature, and is therefore unreal – some possible exceptions to this would be healing energy that can be felt or perceived by the senses.

Another language-related trap is that talking about something is not the same as being or experiencing it. Two people talking about how talented an artist or chef they are is not the same as painting a beautiful picture, or cooking and enjoying a delicious meal. Talking about someone’s prowess in sports is not the same as performing the athletic feats themselves.

The reality of talking about something is “people talking about something”, not the subject they are talking about. Vocabulary, tone of voice, articulation, expression, sentence structure, body language are all aspects of reality. This does not mean talking is bad – of course it is a fundamental part of interacting in reality – but it is valuable to keep in mind what is real and unreal. A conscious way of talking might take into account rhyming, humor, tone of voice, use of accents, choosing words that evoke certain emotions, and choosing words and subject matter that reinforce reality in the present moment.

What is so great about reality? Reality is the solid world that we truly feel and experience. The more we exist in reality, the more awake we are, the more whole and complete we feel as a person, and the more deeply and richly we experience life. The less we exist in reality, the more we feel like a hollow shadow.

The here and now is the place of power from which our choices take action. From the here and now, we co-create reality – literally generate the physical hologram of reality, making it up as we go, like a spontaneous story.

It has been my experience that in the here and now, there exist a set of laws that govern the way things work, and existence behaves much differently than from an unconscious perspective. In the present moment, reality is constantly in flux, manifesting in various ways depending on our degree of presentness.

Many factors come into play in this process, and somehow the harmony or disharmony of the present moment is connected to many other seemingly unrelated aspects of existence – including in particular, other beings. While some beings are awake, others are asleep, while some are are real and present, others are unmanifest, while some enjoy, others suffer. From the present moment it is apparent how the consciousness of all beings are connected, and contributing to the manifestation of reality.

I find it very difficult to “walk the razor’s edge” of staying completely present in the here and now. Success at this endeavor results in blissful experiences and an identity of greatness, even divinity. Failure on the other hand, results in breakdown that can effect all of reality, causing lower planes of the self and of existence to manifest. Why it is so difficult to “walk the razor’s edge” is somewhat of a mystery to me. To succeed, one must have total detachment, courage, patience, ingenuity, compassion, humor, and an entire host of virtues. Anything short of this results in breakdown.

Being present is not particularly difficult to understand, but walking the path is difficult indeed. It’s a Catch-22: we choose not to be present in reality, because the suffering in the present moment can be excruciating, yet to the degree we are able to be present, we bring harmony and relieve suffering. Ultimately, the issue of reality versus unreality boils down to Shakespeare’s famous conundrum: “To be or not to be, that is the question…” Whether nihilism or full immersion into reality, each has it’s benefits and drawbacks.

Please allow me to share some useful tools I have found for staying in the moment, should one choose to “be”:

First and foremost is remembering to breathe. When we inhale, our consciousness is brought into the present moment – into our senses, and our perception focuses on the reality before us. When we do not breathe, our consciousness goes into thoughts and abstraction – out of reality.

Second, I try and remember my divine identity – a God in human form, a Buddha, a rockstar, a larger-than-life celebrity, a billionaire CEO, the star in the movie of my life. From this identity, I summon confidence, grace, relatedness, personality, and the ability to elegantly overcome any obstacle without effort by putting myself in harmony with existence.

Third, I slow down, and allow myself to be present. I remind myself that reality is an illusion and only by being present is harmony achieved. I reconnect with my Buddha/rockstar identity. I try and let go of whatever destinations I may be chasing after and summon faith that by being present I will achieve what I desire.

Fourth, I notice when reality gets out of harmony – when things break down or freeze up. I listen carefully to intuition and to messages in my environment. They never fail to show me or remind me what is necessary to get back in the harmonious flow.

Lastly, I remember that from the perspective of the now moment, reality is not static. Things that seem to occur as problems can be shifted by transforming them into a joke, or “remembering” they are already solved. When a impasse arises, often times not focusing on it and moving on to the next step allows the situation to resolve itself on its own, whereas giving the issue too much attention can cause its problematic nature to solidify – like tugging on a tangle until it becomes a tight knot.

I hope you find this valuable. From one perspective, this may seem like an esoteric intellectual musing. However, the writing of this was motivated by one of a handful of personal experiences, wherein I have found myself in the the heightened consciousness of extreme present moment. This essay is my attempt to process, understand and share the dynamics of this state of consciousness, so that I and others may bring more presentness to the day-to-day life experience, and ultimately gain prowess at the delicate art of “walking the razor’s edge” of the present moment. I believe this to be true reality, and all else, merely shadows of this truth.