Presence What is it? In certain teachings, such as Buddhism, the - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Presence What is it?

“In certain teachings, such as Buddhism, the practice of mindful presence is the central fact. In Islam remembrance is the qualifier of all activity. In Christianity we must look to the experience of its great mystics and to prayer of the heart. But in all authentic spiritual psychologies this state of consciousness is a fundamental experience and requirement. For the purposes of our reflections I shall call it presence.” From the Introduction to Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self , by Kabir Edmund Helminski, page viii-ix.

“Presence signifies the quality of consciously being here. It is the activation of a higher level of awareness that allows all our other human functions—such as thought, feeling, and action—to be known, developed, and harmonized. Presence is the way in which we occupy space, as well as how we flow and move. Presence shapes our self-image and emotional tone. Presence determines the degree of our alertness, openness, and warmth. Presence decides whether we leak and scatter our energy or embody and direct it.” From the Introduction to Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self , by Kabir Edmund Helminski, page viii-ix.

“Presence makes encounter possible. It also makes life meaningful. The search for meaning is really a search for presence, because grand systems of truth or meaning can never satisfy the basic human longing for life to be meaningful. Without presence, nothing is meaningful. But in the luminous glow of presence, all of life becomes saturated with significance.” From the Preface tf Presence and Encounter: The Sacramental Possibilities of Everyday Life , by David G. Benner, page xiii-xiv.

“Only in presence can we encounter anyone or anything. Others may be present to us, but we will not notice their presence until we are present to ourselves. Once we are truly present, everything that has being is potentially present to us.” From the Preface to Presence and Encounter: The Sacramental Possibilities of Everyday Life , by David G. Benner, page xiii-xiv.