After Knowing Me, You'll Never Be Able To Be You Again - Grasshopper

There are certain experiences in life that open you to new vistas, that once seen and experienced, will change how you think about yourself forever. One of those experiences is presence.

There is the initial experience of seeing a new Ferrari and there is the first experience of seeing a sunrise at Sedona. Both are beautiful sights and, for most, the latter will take your breath away. Seeing such a sight will instantly rearrange your personal hierarchical order for beauty. Stepping down to a lower rung on this ladder will never deliver the same sensations you had in the past. You will have been transformed.

The man made offerings of culture will always pale by comparison. They will eventually lead you to the place this ancient Chinese Sage describes.

Yang Chu (4th century B.C.) wrote:

"What is man's life for? What pleasure is there in it? Is it for beauty and riches? Is it for sound and colour? But there comes a time when beauty and riches no longer answer the needs of the heart, and when a surfeit of sound and colour becomes a weariness to the eyes and a ringing in the ears.

Presence will give you a priority shifting experience as well. Once you know presence, all of life's offerings will become trivial trinkets that can never measure up.

Reminds me of a story . . . When I was younger and my young friends were getting married, oftentimes there wasn't enough money to afford a lavish reception. The local firehouse was rented for the reception and there was an assortment of food in aluminum trays that you could self serve. I have that experience filed in my head as a "Firehouse Wedding." Then there is the experience of going to a reception at a ritzy country club. After that experience, your cataloging of what a reception is gets new information and your reception preference may automatically jump to a different rung.

Presence, once discovered, will transform you and your preferences. You will never be that you again. You'll be able to remember the former you, laugh or cry about who you were, but that you can never occupy its previous position on the ladder.  

Presence is the peace that passeth all understanding. Once you get a taste, there is no going back. 

Presence is just being you - not the you that you made up and got comfortable with. The real you is not what or who you know or what you have or don't have. The real you is the lifeblood of the universe - the animating force of all that exists. It is your light - the one that warms you and shines brightly for all to witness the unlimited candle power of presence.

If you  never experience presence, you will be on a lifelong excursion to nowhere. You'll recognize you are on such an unfulfilling search when you say things like, "When (fill in the blank) happens then I'll be happy" or "fulfilled." That's like saying, "When I get skinny, I'll start eating less."

Presence and all the gifts it brings is available now - to everyone. The key to finding presence is to learn how to quiet your mind. There are many ways to do this - meditation, hypnosis, yoga, tai chi, and present moment awareness to name but a few. Once you make this quieting a regular practice, you will know the feeling of presence. Once discovered, the you that you once knew becomes a hollow memory and is replaced by a peacefulness that imbues the new you.
 
All the best,
John