I decided to try it while driving from Three Rivers to Visalia - not the entire trip, but a few minutes. Turned off the radio, calmed my mind (ha), and tried to simply BE in the moment. It took about a nanosecond for my mind to start in - did you put X on the grocery list; are we (see my my mind really thinks it's a separate entity from me) going to be late; not much traffic this morning; OH - was that a red shoulder hawk - and on and on and on. Each time I'd return my mind to NOW. I AM driving. Feel the seat of the car. Feel my hands on the wheel. Observe, but do not involve in, my surroundings. Breathe. BE.
Of course, one cannot think one's way into BEING.
I'm convinced that my mind - not my brain, the structure, but the thought process that goes on in ME - is pure ego. Each of those things above is ego:
Did we put X on the grocery list = Did I make a mistake?
Are we going to be late = I don't want to be embarrassed.
Not much traffic = I'm bored.
Was that a red shoulder hawk = Look how smart, observant, etc., I am.
Getting past ego to ME, the I AM, is an exercise in vigilance. To observe without judgment is a challenge. To maintain that for more than a moment is near-impossible.
And, allowing one's self to BE is so counter to how we live life today. We are about doing, accomplishing, thinking, figuring out. BEING is simple. Just BE. How difficult is that? Answer: VERY when one has spent a lifetime practicing being a Human Doing rather than a Human Being.
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