Taking a Moment

The following story, which first appeared in the Washington Post, is about the importance of staying present. It is a true story and an interesting test of our collective consciousness.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few second, then hurried on to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip. A woman threw the bill into the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year-old boy. His mother tugged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pulled hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written on a violin worth $3.5 million.

Two days before playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston, and the seats cost an average of $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and the priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Our true home is in the present moment. To live in the present moment is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now. Peace is all around us- in the world and in nature- and within us- in our bodies and our spirits. Once we learn to touch this peace we will be healed and transformed. It is not a matter of faith. It is a matter of practice.

In the chaos of our times and the complexity of our lives we often try to find a way to feel more calm , more peaceful, more at ease. We suffer from anxiety and high blood pressure, heart disease and general malaise. We don't feel connected to what we really want but continue to push push push to get ahead to get more....get somewhere, get something. What is so often missed is that it is the simple things that are the the most meaningful and yet the hardest things to do.

One of those simple things is to be in the present moment. We spend our lives worrying about the future and regretting the past. We get up and get going thinking of all the tasks to accomplish in the day. We live in our heads "thinking" about something that has happened or might happen or we want to happen. We so often miss the moment.

I continue to be amazed at how hard people find it is to accept the present moment. To be in it fully. To notice. A practice to bring this into your life is to find some time each day to just sit still and be. As easy as it really is, I find that it is one of the most difficult things to get people to do. This is true even though In all the religious and spiritual traditions all over the world ...every one of them has some kind of practice for sitting still and going inside. It is very simple but most difficult to do. It is not magic, it is not mysterious. It simply allows you to be in the moment and to experience yourself and things just as they are. To appreciate what is. It is the practice of acceptance in its simplest form. It is being ...... not doing and even if you only "just be" for a few minutes each day you touch something deep and important. You give your body and mind a rest and come closer to connection with your soul self. Some people call this meditation, and this term scares others away. The point here is not to sit in meditation but to learn how to bring this attention to the present into our daily lives. Taking time each day to 'work" at just sitting quietly in the moment, noticing and accepting, helps us to bring this quality to our daily lives...in a traffic jam, in a crowded mall, before an exam. Learning to be in the present moment brings the calmness and richness and comfort we seek everywhere else but don't find.

Being in the present moment is a practice I have brought into my own life and now I share with the lives who pass through the doors at Monte Nido. It is a practice I encourage all readers to share.
*First published in the Gurze Spirituality Blog.