Cultivating Authentic Presence

You can’t get there from not-here. Richard Moon

Authentic choices cannot be made if we’re not present and centered in ourselves. If we’re panicked or anxious, enraged or crazed, we are fundamentally incapable of choosing well. A part or parts of our inner “multitudes” have taken charge of our consciousness. Like an angry mob, these parts move without a center or purpose other than to react against an image of their perception of prevailing circumstances. In aikido, a martial art sometimes referred to as the art of peace, when we’re not centered, we cannot be open to the Flow of the Universe. We may be able to get our attacker to the floor using techniques we were taught. But if we’re not centered inside ourselves and inside the flow of universal energy, the action we took and the result we achieved are not ultimately satisfying. It’s not an authentic action emanating from an authentic choice.
So how do we cultivate an authentic presence before making our choices?
The first step requires us to become aware of our current state. Our lack of presence must be identified and owned. If I don’t know I’m feeling frenetic, I won’t know even see that my choices are unconsciously based more on a need to either get things done as quickly as possible or calm down my frenzy.
The second step is to open to changing our state of being to one that’s authentic. Sometimes that’s easier said than done because our habitual patterns have “grooved” a series of actions that reinforce themselves by their familiarity and comfort.
Third, we must choose to change our pattern to one that’s authentic. Simultaneously an act of will and a letting go of what we now have, we open to what may feel strange and unusual because authentic presence draws from a source larger than our familiar patterns.
Fourth, we employ any one of a number of practices to shift our state to one that’s more authentic. In future blogs, I’ll offer practices and examples to further clarify these steps.