fulfilment

“You know, if I feel very present in myself, for the day, I feel so fulfilled.”

Here I’ve used the voice of Ma Prem Shola, a wise friend, to introduce this episode of In a Nutshell. I had asked Shola what gave her happiness and this was her answer. If she is present with herself, throughout the day, she feels so fulfilled.

We all want to be happy. That’s the basic urge within us. And we try all sorts of different things to be happy. And if we are wise we pay attention to what brings us happiness and what doesn’t, and what sort of happiness we gain. Some happiness is very transient. Some happiness is followed immediately by suffering. Some happiness is gained at the expense of other people’s suffering. So happiness itself is not such a simple thing.

And I feel Shola really got to the core of it when she said being present leads to her feeling fulfilled. For that’s the sort of happiness that runs very deep. If we feel fulfilled, the sense is that nothing is missing. And the way to find that fulfilment is exactly as Shola says – through being present, being present in oneself.

And what do we mean exactly by being present? It means our awareness is with the present moment, with what is around us right now: the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the touch sensations. Everything that is happening on the outside we are aware of it; our awareness is on it. And everything that is happening on the inside too: the sensations in the body, the emotions, and thoughts as they arise. But there is the trouble. We get carried away by our thoughts and that is when we are not present, we lose presence. We are literally carried away, away from the present moment. Our awareness gets hijacked by the thoughts. And we lose awareness of the present moment, of everything else that’s happening.

So if we want to be happy, if we want to feel fulfilled, let’s listen to Shola’s wisdom and try to be present, with ourself, throughout the day, whatever is happening. That presence alone leads to fulfilment, leads to happiness. And all it takes really is a little attention to the mind, catching thoughts before they carry us away, bringing our awareness back to the present moment. And it’s easy to bring our awareness back, once we’ve realised we’ve been carried away by thoughts, we need only bring the awareness to one of the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, or to sensations in the body, or to our breath – anything other than thoughts. Everything else is in the present moment. Only thoughts, with the memories and ideas for the future, only they can take us away from being present. Thoughts have a role to play but it’s a rather minor one. But they have claimed a dominant place in our life. So through practising this mindfulness of the present moment, we can reestablish a balance and feel this presence, and with it fulfilment.