Presence

If anyone asked us: “Are you present?” we might, after a brief pause, answer: “Yes.” With that pause, we indicate our closest and direct experience of our own self, which is the foundation for our confidence in that answer. In this pause we do not mean any kind of thinking, feeling, or perception—we directly point to our self. It points to itself. In this book, our self is also called “aware presence” and simply “presence.” Sometimes it is also called “consciousness” or “being.”

In fact, knowledge of our own being is so simple and obvious—and, moreover, seems so insignificant—that it is usually overlooked. This forgetting or overlooking of our nearest being, although it appears so minor, actually initiates almost all our thoughts, feelings, actions, and relationships—and is the source of all misery. The entire history of humankind, both individually and collectively, is a drama generated by this loss of our true identity—the pursuit of regaining it.