Present — ORIGIN Middle English : via Old French from Latin praesent– ‘being at hand,’ present participle of praeesse, from prae ‘before’ + esse ‘be.’
The metaphysical continua of time, space and spirit (a.k.a. mind) converge in what some have called the metaxy, or middle — as here, now and I. It is striking that the word “present” can be used to designate any of the three. This point in time is called the present. The things around me are present. And when I am aware and available in the moment, I am present, not absent.
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Some species of spiritualism claim that here and now is all there is. Others claim that here and now is a means to a posthumous end.
Some people attempt to appropriate whatever others have. Others renounce whatever they do not already possess.
These apparently opposite attitudes share a deficit.
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To accept the reality of metaphysics means to give relevance to the surrounding unknown and validity to the unknowable.
To accept the relevance of the surrounding unknown means not only to acknowledge the fact that others exist differently but, but to live according to a faith that one can be taught and can learn to exist differently. It is by teaching and learning that reality is shared.
But what is the substance of the teaching and the learning? Most people think of teaching and learning as transfer of facts or skills. Some are able to see it as the transmission of vision. But does sharing mean giving another that which one possesses — whether this means handing it over, or duplicating it or dividing it? Sometimes, but not always.
In fact, what is sometimes taught and learned is a relationship to that which is beyond. And when this occurs, what is shared is belonging to something common that is greater than its parts. One feels the beyondness, but one feels the importance of one’s own participation through playing a part in an exceeding whole.
Then, without rejection of the other’s otherness, and without attempting to appropriate the other’s otherness, one says: “I subsist in our We.”
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Two quotes:
“The chastest expression I have ever heard: ‘In true love it is the soul that envelops the body.’ ”
“Love and duality. — What is love but understanding and rejoicing at the fact that another lives, feels and acts in a way different from and opposite to ours? If love is to bridge these antitheses through joy it may not deny or seek to abolish them. — Even self-love presupposes an unblendable duality (or multiplicity) in one person.”