[My teammates and I had a great conversation with Yeshua on the challenges of staying present.  This is his opening guidance — subsequent postings will be on the Q&A that followed. — Rob]

Rob: I guess I’ll go to the usual place that I meet Yeshua, sitting atop my pyramid, outside the temple.

Okay, so Yeshi, you’ve heard the conversation about being present. What I’m wondering is just … well, I’m not sure what I’m wondering. Just any guidance you have about how to stay in a state of presence.

Well, he seems like he’s in a really good mood. Big smile, very happy.

Yeshua: Hello, Rob, Hello all. Yes, I am very much enjoying your conversation. It does make me happy. This is a point to which all must arrive. This makes me happy, because it means you are really, at this point, getting in touch with figuring out who you are. It all starts with being present.

It seems such a simple thing to say, and perhaps people use it a bit too cavalierly — is that the right word? But it is such a deep concept, really, and it is the core of all other spiritual practices, for you can’t really engage in any of those practices without being present.

And being present means being in your heart. You could treat those two expressions as one in the same. And the same goes for when you say that you are being grounded, that you are staying centered; it is all the same.

You can’t be in your heart without being in a state of presence, presence of who you are. It’s the point of coming to that awareness of who you are, truly are. None of this superficial personality, the trappings of your current life, but getting in touch with who you are underneath all of that … or over and above all of that.

You were driving the other day, as you were just explaining, and you started thinking about, what does it mean to be present. Not being in the past, not being in the future, what does that mean? As you said, it is observing your thoughts. If you are thinking about some event that has already happened, then you’re not fully present. You are occupying your time in the past. If you are worried, about something coming up, have some sense of fear, no matter how small, then you’re living in the future.

Think about that a moment. Having any form of fear means you are afraid of what might happen, which means you are not in the present. You are occupying your time thinking about the future. The future has not happened. You have not made the choices yet to get you to that point, so why are you spending your time, occupying your mind, worrying about what will happen in the future?

So observe your thoughts. If you’re not in the past, and you’re not in the future, then by definition, you are in the present. THEN, you can FEEL within yourself who you really are, completely unencumbered by any of those other thoughts that are actually serving very little purpose.

Think about for a moment what that would mean, how freeing that state is, completely unencumbered by the emotions of what you think should have happened in the past or what might happen in the future. You are completely free at that point. This is the state that humans were meant to live in. That’s what it means to be free, truly free!

So you will likely spend a few moments thinking about just breathing, feeling your lungs fill with air, feeling that energy in your heart. Then you are clear. Now you are thinking clearly. Now you are in a state of receptivity to hear the callings of your very soul.

You often wonder about what it is that you should be doing next, and yet you occupy your mind with thoughts of either the past or the future. These are getting in the way of you actually hearing the messages from us or from your higher self, laying out very clearly what it is that you should be doing.

And understand [that] it may very well be absolutely nothing. It could very well be a time of rest, just allowing yourself to be. This in itself, is one of the greatest spiritual practices you can do, for it is getting in touch with yourself. Everything else proceeds from that point.

So spend time practicing this, just observing your thoughts and push out of your mind anything that is not this very present moment. And once you get good at that, accustomed to that, then you will see how life unfolds the way you desire.

We’re not saying you cannot spend time envisioning what it is that you want in the future, but don’t allow yourself to get to the point of worrying about it. Treat it simply as here are the options in front of me. What do I choose as the path?

And again, if you’re in that state of complete presence, then the path that you should choose becomes extremely easy. You will know at that point, because you are in a state of receptivity to hear the guidance on which way you should turn.

Living in this state, living in a state of presence is, in fact, a present to yourself. It is a gift. And in this season of gift giving, there is no greater gift than you can present to yourself.

We are so happy that you all have arrived at this point. And I hope you take these words to heart and spend some time with yourself and enjoy it as much as we do. So with that, I will step back and allow others their opportunity.