Now - By William Samuel

A Guide to Awareness & Tranquillity by William Samuel pp. 9 - 19

NOW

Note:

The following lecture is as good a place as any to begin. It has served countless times to call home the prodigal wandering in the pigsties of worry, frustration and fear. Just as much of the work in this volume, it serves well to be read aloud.

TO DISCOVER REALITY AND UNCOVER TRANQUILLITY WE BEGIN WITH THE NOW

Now is the only "time" one is ever concerned with. Reader, consider this a moment, because here and now, a magnificent first fact of Truth begins to unfold. It has to do with now; the primacy of now; the allness of now; the absoluteness of now.

When do we see a flower? That is, what time does the seeing take place? I see the flower now, we say.

When do we see the picture of a flower in a book? Now.

When do we smell the fragrance of a rose? When do we touch it, enjoy it, experience it? Now. When does one hear a voice or a melody? When does one experience the occurrence of any event? Now!

Listen carefully: When do we remember the event? When do we reminisce about the event? When do we think about the past? Now; always now!

When do we dream of a future event? When do we plan and calculate concerning future activities? Now. All experience, all activity, all memory of the past, dream of the future, thinking and thought taking are inevitably, invariably "happening" in the now. Isn't this so?

So you see, it becomes evident to anyone who stops long enough to acknowledge it, now is the only time we are ever concerned with. It is always now! We cannot escape it.

Even so, what has humanity done to now? What has man done to this ubiquitous, all-inclusive, ever-present now? He has made it the most infinitesimal part of a great time system. He has sandwiched it between a past that stretches infinitely in one direction, and a future that extends forever in the other. He has relegated it to the merest razor's edge on a sliding scale between a past and a future. Is this not so? To humanity, now-this very moment of Awareness-is so fleeting, so ephemeral and transitory, that one cannot find it on the very device used to measure it. Try to point to now on your watch and it is instantly past, a memory.

Ah, but when do we recall the memory? Now. When do we see the watch? Now. When does one speculate about the fleeting nature of humanity's time? Now. When does one awaken to the fact that he is never concerned with a past or a future except right now? Now! When does one experience? Now. So, reader, when do you expect to discover Reality? When do you expect to experience a "healing" or a "demonstration"? When do you expect to experience completeness and happiness? Now!

THINKING ACTS LIKE A VEIL

Look at a flower. We see it now. We behold its form now. We are aware of the flower, right here, right now; but suppose we think about something else while looking at the flower. Think about that big bill that is past due and worry a little. What seems to happen to the awareness of the flower? We are not as aware of it as before, are we? We are looking at it with eyes that hardly see. It seems fuzzy, hardly noticed, but the same rose is there; the same beauty, the same form, the same grace and magnificent delicacy is right before us to be beheld and enjoyed, but we hardly see it. We are too busy worrying about the bill. We are too busy thinking.

The bill is not now. All that is now is the awareness of the rose. The rose in all its loveliness is now. The bill is nothing more than a memory that is not in this now-awareness unless we choose to put it there.

We see that thinking is like a film spread over the eyes; like a mist that covers the whole face of the land; like a veil; like looking at the flower-and everything else-through a glass darkly.

NOW IS ALWAYS ALL RIGHT!

We view the rose again. It is here, within Awareness which is aware now. The time of Awareness is always now. Right now. Awareness includes a rose. Look at it closely. See it with rapt and undivided attention. Behold with enthusiasm! This is beauty here and now! While so aware, can we be aware of worry, fear or grief in the same now? Are we? Absolutely not! The "return" to "now" is an automatic departure from the not-now, past and future.

As we shall point out in the coming pages, now is always all right! It is filled with beauty, grace and magnificence, containing neither sight, sound nor sensation that is not absolutely harmless and altogether perfect. You shall very soon see and understand-even before you finish this volume-now is filled with peace, serenity, sassy and sparkling happiness. It is filled to running over with everything one thinks he needs.

So, as we turn from the memory of the past and dreams of the future-as we turn from thinking-we are neither ignoring Reality (as the world contends) nor burying our heads in the sand to escape the "press of circumstances." Contari-wise, we find ourselves returning to the perfection at hand, to discover anew that now is all that is real and all we ever need be concerned with!

Here "troubles" are not ignored, nor is a home or business neglected. Here we see with the clarity with which the rose is seen when we are not weighted down with fear and consternation. Here we see things as they are, and accordingly, know better what to do.

Have you heard these words?: "Behold, now! Now is the time. Now is the day of salvation. Now I am with you always. The kingdom is here and now. You can tell the signs in the sky but you do not know to test this now. Now are we the sons of God. Now! Now! Here and now! I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Reader, this now, here and now, is a basic fact of Isness, God, Reality. There is no need to be over-concerned with a past or future when the transcendent NOW exists to enjoy and be.

"BUT WHAT IF... ?"

Those who have just begun to hear about and ponder the transcendent nature of now are ever anxious to create hypothetical situations and present them to us in the gravest tones to see how "this new way of looking at things" will take care of it. "But, what if such and so . . . ?" they ask, picturing something they think most awful. "Suppose you should see this or that horrible mess, what would you do then?" they ask, to see how we will rationalize or explain away a situation that is not even a part of this now in the first place-except as a harmless dream!

Over-concern with the not-now is a portion of the farcical foolishness that has us so in the habit of overlooking the beauty, wonder and perfection of the moment. Jesus admonished those who questioned Him along these lines to "look on the living One (the now-awareness) as long as you live …" He likened their concern about the not-now to a corpse.

Reader, before I found Tranquillity, I had to concede honestly that I was ever concerned with the present now-awareness, alone and only. I had to see that all speculation about a not-now was a silly waste, tending to hide the beauty of the moment. It is the business of dreaming, wondering and worrying, so to speak, that appears to present a confused now in need of correction. To stick to the now is to find it perfect, without need of correction-and containing nothing to fear!

When these hypothetical situations are tossed into my lap, I can only ask where is any of it happening in this here-and-now? To those who persist in struggling with the not-now, I say again as it was said before, "You have dismissed the living One-Now that is before you and have spoken about a corpse." (Thomas, Log. 52.)

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At the Beginning Is Awareness

It is foolish beyond measure to stand buffeted and blown by the world's vicissitudes when an undisturbable, unshakable Tranquillity is as close as breathing.

There is a means by which one comes to make a practical, concrete discovery of this Tranquillity for himself. He can lay hold on this Truth and take it unto himself-without struggle and without traveling the long road of intellectuality.

The following pages are all about this immediately available Tranquillity. There is no educational, theological or metaphysical route to its doorstep. If there were, we would be the first to agree with the organizational dictum that states there are no short cuts to Truth. Indeed, there are no short cuts to the intellect's wisdom! It struggles for every miserable morsel it gets-and with all of its getting, ends with a straw dog. Certainly there is no short cut to the Tranquillity about which we write. It is already here and now, the only fact of existence. Consequently, there is no path to it. As the prince was told concerning the kingdom of his heritage, "There is no way there, but to be there!"

The old idea that we journey from ignorance to enlightenment is the cornerstone which the builders have accepted and use to create their silly systems and imperious institutions. Peace and Perfection, already at hand, is the stone they have rejected.

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QUESTION: Mr. Samuel, if it is true as you and so many others have said, that Perfection is the only fact of being, why is it that all of you turn right around and write books obviously intended to correct personal pictures of imperfection and ignorance? If Perfection is all, is it not a bit hypocritical to write something there could be no actual need for?

ANSWER: I asked this question of others many times, but now I know the answer. Listen softly and you will see, to write such a book as this is not a concession to the appearance of inharmony. I write simply because, at the moment, it seems to be a happy thing to do-like breathing. I have no motive. I have no intentions of trying to heal and make over a perfect universe. While I am here, it seems good to write of the Identity I have found. As appearances go, the words seem to help others discover their Identity.

However, whether I write or not, it is not up to me-but to the Isness being Me. I have no responsibility for the appearing process. I am in tow, so to speak, simply blooming and seeding in the summer sun. It makes no difference to the blossom whether or not it scatters its seed before Fall's frost or the wail of Winter's wind. Perfection is already perfect and Peace is already here. Whether I write a single page or not, green leaves will burst forth in the Spring and busy ants will trail along garden walls and over walkway stones, very much as usual. Clouds will still billow on hot summer afternoons and showers will refresh the air. It makes no difference, large or small, if more vain sounds have been written into print. The words I fail to find will be found by another, and when they are sounded they will say nothing that has not been said before. Words, sounded or not, written or not, the universe goes on being the universe; the earth still spins; the swallows still soar and sing, and the simple sparrows go on twittering. Any tome I might write-or read-would have no more authority in itself than yon sparrow's twit.

Does this sound as if I have a motive in mind? When the tree gives its leaves to the earth each Fall, does it have a purpose? Is it wrestling with itself or trying to correct its own picture of impoverished soil? No-the tree is just being a tree-and I am busy just being me.

TRANQUILLITY EXISTS BEYOND APPEARANCES

I do not go out into the world with the intention of changing it. I am not attempting to take the facts of life to people with argument or contention involved. Where the Truth is (and there is no place where it is not), all is true and perfect already, consequently. Truth has no mission. It is motiveless. Perfection has no need of healing. There is nothing you or I can do to make it more perfect. It has been said, "The world is a perfect vessel and cannot be improved. Whoever tries to alter it, spoils it; whoever tries to direct it, misleads it."

Yet, Truth can and does change the appearances of everything for each of us individually. To the human way of looking at things, the Truth about which we are writing appears to be the most momentous power in the Universe. To those who have found the Heart, the secret place within, this same power is understood to be the very presence of God-an ever-powerful peace and tranquillity beyond belief.

Truth is the power one is-not the power one uses.

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