“When your conviction of a truth is not merely in your brain but in your being, you may vouch for its meaning.” – Sri Yukteswar Giri

As I stood in my mother’s hospital room looking through the window past the dirty, bent mini blinds, I was struck with an instantaneous realization that I was intensely aware and experiencing the present moment in a way I never had before.  I felt a deep sense of stillness completely detached from the past or future.  It was beautiful, peaceful and perfect.

I inhaled with a feeling of complete serenity.  A smile overtook every cell in my body as I turned to look at my mother and her weak, broken, run-down body that had been ravaged by 27 years of multiple sclerosis.  At that moment, I knew that everything was just fine.

Up until that point, I thought I understood the concept of the present moment more than I really did.  For whatever reason, on that day, that piece of my puzzle snapped into place and in a single moment I saw the world differently.

Understanding the concept of the present moment and experiencing the present moment is not the same thing!  Understanding it gives you the language to use but experiencing it changes the way you see your life and the world. Words can point you in a direction.  Whether or not you walk down the path and how far you walk is entirely up to you. It takes continual desire, contemplation and an open mind and heart.

This concept of understanding vs. realizing does not only apply to the present moment.  It applies to all truths and spiritual concepts.  When a truth is deeply understood, you experience a shift in being.  You will know when it happens and shouldn’t stop exploring until it does.

A spiritual mentor once described a great revelation to me.  His wisdom brought a little order to my sometimes overactive mind and helped make sense of what I experienced that day in my mother’s hospital room.

He explained that when spiritual concepts come about, they organically run the course of five stages.  Concepts like forgiveness, the present moment, and cause and effect.   The stages are hearing it, repeating it, doing it, experiencing it and then realizing the experience (or the shift from brain to being).

These stages are different for every person.  Some go through an entire lifetime without hearing a single concept. Others remain at the talking stage of a concept for their entire lives.  Each stage is organic and can’t be planned or forced.

My purpose is not to explain the present moment nor is it to encourage you to get caught up in these stages of realization.  Rather, my objective is to tell you that there’s always more.

True knowledge comes on its own terms but it can only come with desire. Desire makes us more aware. Awareness keeps pushing us down the path of understanding, ultimately leading to compassion, unconditional love and peace.

So pay attention, stay open and go further.