A New Presence

Presence is a remarkable way of being that makes life vivid and real. It manifests in different qualities and levels, which can be encapsulated in five measures of presence: frequency, duration, breadth, intensity, and depth. The last metric, depth, determines the overall level of presence and is connected with the question: who or what in me is the one who is present?

Intensity is driven by the active will, the active force in presence, by being actively, intentionally present. Receptivity in presence is about breadth, about being open to what is, the receptive mode of will. Depth concerns the third force in presence. It is not about receptivity to the third force, but becoming the third force, another force, another kind of force, neither active nor receptive. The third force is not something that comes into us. Rather, it is us. It becomes us. We are that.

When we are inwardly balanced between active and receptive attitudes, we thereby set the stage for becoming the third force. This means being actively and intentionally present with the whole of oneself and receptive to the whole of our immediate experience. And at the same time being open inwardly, to allow this third mode to appear, and with it the transition to true and effortless presence. The third mode can connect with a very high level, transcending both the active and the receptive. It no longer feels like my small presence. It feels like the presence that is present in the whole world. It feels and is sacred, for it is our lifeline to the higher reality. In this true presence we are empty of ourselves and filled with the higher, the third force.

Presence engages all three centers: body, heart, and mind. But not as three separate and distinct pieces of ourselves, even if simultaneous. True presence takes our body’s will-to-live, move, and do, our mind’s will-to-know and our heart’s will-to-be, and merges the three into one unified will, into our I, into the bearer of the sacred third force. In this presence, we can simply be, and in that we are unified, whole, and connected.

Depth of presence affects the duration of presence. Actively trying to hold ourselves present tends to run down quickly. Deep presence is timeless and so straddles more time. The deeper the presence, the greater its duration. When we sink into presence, and become that third force, just being within whatever we are doing outwardly and remaining deeply connected, we can stay longer.

In this process, attention itself grows, from a thin and fragile straw to a broad and robust river, the core of deep presence. For this week, please explore working your way into deeper presence.

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