The Renewal of Presence
Rob Schmidt, Ph.D., and Stuart Goodnick, Tayu Meditation Teachers
Original Date: Thursday, January 3, 2013

Download MP3 Audio File Here (16.2 MB)

Presence refers to the stabilization of attention to experience just as it is, without judgment. Attention to experience is our birthright of wonder, the birthright that the contraction of fear effaces. Presence is the means to regain that birthright. Presence is innocence with knowledge—knowledge of how to reclaim unforced engagement with wonder. Presence does not pick and choose—it is open to all impressions. Simultaneously flexible and strong, Presence adapts, an exquisite jellyfish undulating through the ocean of unmediated experience. Presence provides the authentic foundation for expansion and deepening into unified, non-dual consciousness. The mind seeks fruitlessly to grasp it, but Presence simply is—it cannot be summoned via technique, or enticed into one's life through the cultivation of virtue. Nevertheless, each human being is responsible for the creation of conditions wherein Presence can develop, flourish, intensify, and linger in experience. Spiritual practice is the label for the creation of conditions to support Presence. Join us for discussion of these questions, and for exercises that explore the practical metaphysics of intensifying Presence in every moment of existence. This talk is a kick-off for an on-going Tuesday night practice group beginning January 8 at Many Rivers.

Stuart Goodnick and Rob Schmidt helped found and run Many Rivers Books & Tea. The store is a project of Tayu Meditation Center, where both Stuart and Rob were trained in the fiery alchemy of transformation over decades by Tayu founder Robert Daniel Ennis.

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