The way to experience nowness is to realize that this very moment, this very point in your life, is always the occasion. So the consideration of where you are and what you are, on the spot, is very important. This is one reason that your family situation, your domestic everyday life, is so important. You should regard your home as sacred, as a golden opportunity to experience nowness. Appreciating sacredness begins very simply by taking an interest in all the details of your life. Interest is simply applying awareness to what goes on in your everyday life—awareness while you’re cooking, awareness while you’re driving, awareness while you’re changing diapers, even awareness while you’re arguing. Such awareness can help to free you from speed, chaos, neurosis, and resentment of all kinds. It can free you from the obstacles to nowness so that you can cheer up on the spot, all the time.
From Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, page 65.
This month’s quotes are from Chögyam Trungpa’s best-selling work, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior. These quotes have been chosen to highlight material related to an online program of study and practice that features this classic and begins in October. The nine-week course will be led by a number of Shambhala Publications’s authors, many of whom were close students of Chögyam Trungpa. This program will involve close reading of the book, along with meditation practices and inspiration for how these teachings apply in 2020. The teachers are Carolyn Gimian, the editor of the book; Michael Carroll; Judy Lief; Susan Piver; Larry Mermelstein; and David Nichtern (whose book is published by Wisdom Publications). The course is free, with a requested donation. To register or learn more about the course, go to: The Wisdom Seat