Mindfully Waiting in the Present Moment—Again!

The present moment is the place where we can recognize: There is the content of experience; there is something in the content that we find appealing—something that tempts us to make it our own; and there is a desire compelling us to grab onto that content.

When we’re connected to our present-moment experience in this way, there is the wisdom that tells us, “I know this process of content-appeal-desire-compulsion is not to be trusted. I am going to step back from that and let this more spacious place of awareness and recognition establish itself. Then I can proceed from that place, rather than from the place of compulsion.”

So whenever we experience these empty times of waiting for something to happen, we can use them as opportunities to investigate and reflect on the content of consciousness. This is hard work. It is the work of spiritual life and one of the main activities we do with spiritual practice. It is not like having a livelihood in which we are given a clear task, day after day—a livelihood where we might have the attitude that, “As long as I do this, I don’t have to worry about anything. I just do my job, go home, go to bed, and everything is okay. I don’t have to give it much thought.”

This is not how it is with spiritual life, nor with spiritual practice. We are not here merely to have a place to stay and food to eat—that would be a terrible motivation. The motivation to be here has to be for something noble, something that involves the dignity of work and the dignity of silence.

Whenever we sit in silence, whether in this room or someplace else, it’s not a time for mindless waiting. It’s a time for work.

This reflection by Ajahn Yatiko is from the book, Beginning Our Day, Volume One, (pdf) pp. 194-195.