Rev. Leo Booth
Unity minister, published author and conference speaker

In the last few years I’ve noticed that a series of workshops are presenting something call Mindfulness. Being present in life.

At first it seems obvious. We live in a collection of moments that make up life. An example is what I’m doing now here at my office. I’m sitting at a desk writing this article and Michael is diligently working at his computer. Kien is working on specific details of a contract and Hilary is packing out books to be shipped for a conference. All these things are happening simultaneously; at the present time.

Why then do we need to be reminded about what seems obvious? Do we really need a workshop telling us to be mindful of the present? If I’m not here, in the present, where am I?

Well, it would seem that most people are not present in their life. They lack focus. So that at the end of the day, should you ask them what they have achieved, they really can’t tell you.

I’ve had this problem myself. I can so easily get distracted. Thinking about past events, that have already happened and I really can’t change. Or, and this is usually the case, I get thinking about the future, things that have not happened but I play with them in my mind.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t think about future events; indeed, it is good and necessary to plan for the future. Here is an example; many of you know that I’m planning a trip to Egypt this year in September along with other spiritual seekers. I started the idea then I needed to collect all the details, hotels, best days to travel, Nile cruise, Visa costs, etc, etc. Indeed I’m imagining myself sitting on a camel, near a pyramid, with a hat to shade me from the sun. Obviously, none of this is actually happening yet, but I’m imagining it, planning for the trip, living in the future.

Every book I’ve written requires me living in the present but preparing for the future. Again, here’s another example. My book on sexual addiction, which a couple of years to collaborate was finally released last year. And the book looks like what we imagined before it was actually released. In this sense, the past is linked with the present.

So, back to mindfulness: What does it mean to be present? I think it is an emphasis on living in the moment. Not missing what is actually happening. Experiencing reality.

Let me explain; I taste and savor the coffee I’m drinking.

I feel the touch of the pen on the paper, as I write.

I hear the tapping noise of Michael on the computer.

I’m truly focused in the present. Does my mind occasionally wonder? Yes. But with the awareness of mindfulness I’m able to return to the present; I’m able to focus.

And what is the benefit of being mindful of the present? My work is more productive. I’m less prone to worry about what might happen. I get to enjoy the little things in life…you know the occasional scratch!

In my book, Say Yes to Your Spirit I wrote a meditation that is a reflection on “Being Present”.

Being

For forty years I’ve been selling water. By the bank of a river. Ho, Ho! My labors have been wholly without merit. – Sogaku Harada

This seems a funny saying, but maybe not. Maybe it is okay not to be always seeking to achieve something. The psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God.” Just be still…and know.

When we Say Yes to Your Spirit, we determine to look at many aspects of life – and then we rest. It is okay to be still, not doing anything in particular.

Sometimes when I go to the zoo I look at the animals, and they mostly seem content not to be doing anything. They sit around under the trees or just stare at nothing. They are happy just to be.

When I toured Vietnam I visited a monastery, and the head monk guided me around. We went into a room with twenty monks just sitting on carpets.

“Are they praying?” I asked.

“No, they are practicing just being. It’s enough.”

To be is enough.