The Power of the Present Moment
The Power of the Present Moment
Triangles Meditation Group Webinar
February 28, 2022
Christine Aagaard
Today, the 28th day of February and the last day of the shortest month, we might ponder on why February is so different in length to all the other months of the year. The reason has its roots in history. In the 8th century BCE Romulus, who founded the city of Rome, established a calendar that had only 10-months starting in March with the spring equinox and ending in December. January and February did not at that time exist, winter was not considered worthy of counting. The successor of Romulus was Numa Pompilius who reorganised the calendar around the 12 lunar cycles, a span of around 355 days. He introduced January and February and added them to the end of the calendar, making February the last month of the year. The Romans believed even numbers to be unlucky, much like the unease that is commonly held today with Friday the 13th, so Numa tried to make each month odd. But to reach the quota of 355, one month had to be even and February, a month dedicated to Roman rituals for honouring the dead was chosen. 700 years later, Caesar decided to switch the lunar calendar to a solar schedule, adding ten days to the year which were distributed among the months. No extra days were added to February so as to not affect the pagan rituals performed during this month. Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar once more and increased the year by 10 minutes and 48 seconds to correct a minor but accumulating drift of the calendar away from the equinoxes and solstices; hence the Gregorian calendar of today.
A small history lesson but one that brings into focus the reality that today is an accumulation of the past. We are the summation of all past experience, which brings to mind the meditation seed thought given by the Tibetan to one of His group; which reads, ‘The past has gone. I am that past. It makes me what I am. The future comes. I also am the coming destiny and, therefore, I am that. The present flows from out the past. The future colours that which is. I make the future also by my present knowledge of the past and the beauty of the present. And, therefore, I am that I am.’1
The beauty of the present moment is an idea that is emerging very definitely today in human consciousness. Mindfulness training which is all about a focus on the moment is being taught across the board, for example in schools, universities, businesses and health care, to name but a few areas. The aim of mindfulness practice is to develop a one-pointed attention to the present moment which leads, when practiced persistently, to an ability to increasingly detach from the mind and emotions, to view them from a higher state of awareness. As we know, maintaining a focus in the moment is actually an advanced skill, for it is all too easily lost by the intrusion of thoughts about the past or anxieties and hopes for the future. The many today across the world that are striving towards this state of alertness is however causing a shift in consciousness. It only takes a moment of alignment with the higher self, a moment of one-pointed focus for the higher light to enter in. The more times we strive to be present, the greater the opportunity for this light to work its magic in the world; light that is preparing the way for the Christ’s reappearance.
Our work to become present in the moment is therefore vital, and we find as we strive in this endeavour the more detached we become and the more expansive our view. We realise that there is more to the present moment than immediately meets the eye. For, the present holds within itself all potentialities and we have to learn to penetrate beyond that which is exoteric to recognise all that a moment offers. This brings to mind Patanjali’s Sutra 13 as written in The Light of the Soul, it reads, ‘Through this process (that is the process of one-pointedness) the aspects of every object are known, their characteristics (that is their form) their symbolic nature, and their specific use in time-conditions are known and realised. Book III2
In learning to concentrate, to maintain a one-pointed focus in the moment, we move beyond all that comes in via our senses, to gradually become aware of the meaning that is veiled by the form that we see, that is, its subjective quality and its stage of development, which relates it to the whole, is also gradually revealed.
Through attentive listening and focused observation, we can begin to see the true nature of the form, that which is a result of its past. We are also seeking to understand the form’s symbolic nature, the idea embodied within that is seeking to work out into objective existence. This is perhaps best understood in terms of the human form, for it is through striving to understand the symbolic nature of ourselves that we gain insight as to the nature of others. By observing the mind and emotions we begin to understand the causes of why we think and act as we do. As every thought comes under scrutiny, we have the power to affect the future, for in redirecting the mind away from thoughts which are harmful, negative or selfish towards that which are good, true and beautiful we sow the seeds for right human relations in our environment. It is as the moment-by-moment observer that we serve, for in making the link between cause and effect and working with causes we effect the future and serve the groups to which we are a part. As we begin to touch the idea that exists behind our form, we come to realise our subjective unity with all that exists and that all people are each walking the path to becoming a purified son of God, each working to bring about a particular part of the divine Plan.
The higher psychic powers come into play for one who is truly one-pointed in the moment - that of spiritual perception with its infallible knowledge, the intuition with its unerring judgement and psychometry of the higher kind with its power to reveal the past. The truth hidden within the subjective idea, that is, the life that has been veiled by consciousness, is slowly revealed through the development of these powers. Then a form’s present stage of development and its future relation to the whole can be known.
We are each a product of our past, of our experience gained over a multitude of lives and we bring this combined experience in our work together this evening. As we work in the present striving to hold a one-pointed focus to create and sustain a triangular network in etheric substance, each of us seeking to touch the idea that is seeking expression at its heart, we contribute to the future, and the revelation and glory of the divine Plan.
References:
1 Discipleship in the New Age I pg. 201
2 The Light of the Soul pg. 238