When Presence Becomes a Spiritual Path
Practice of Presence Teaching by Brian Mueller
The journey to presence in our everyday lives is a spiritual one. By nature, it is also an intentional one. It must be chosen. Few of us step willingly onto the spiritual path. More often, we resist and delay until life offers no other option. At least, this was true for me.
I first encountered meditation in my sister’s yoga class. At the end of each session, we’d lie flat on our mats and invite stillness and rest in a posture known as shavasana. It was a welcome relief after the intensity of the physical practice. Sometimes, my sister would read a poem or play soft music. The gentle instruction was not to fall asleep, but to arrive at a place of peaceful awareness.
As yoga and other contemplative practices became more mainstream, I was introduced to transcendental meditation and, later, mindfulness meditation. These are perhaps the two most familiar forms of meditation in Western culture, but they are only the beginning.
My introduction to the Practice of Presence came through the book Choosing Presence. By that time, I had settled into a daily mindfulness routine, usually sitting for 20 minutes each morning. Yet I hadn’t grasped this deeper possibility: that presence could be more than a tool for calming my mind. It could be a way of being.
Reading Choosing Presence has been a quiet revelation. I won’t claim mastery. I am not always present, especially when life becomes difficult. But I can say that the Practice of Presence has transformed how I understand meditation and contemplative prayer. It has shifted my focus from clearing my mind to something far more intimate. It has become an encounter with the mystical and divine heart at the center of everything.
If you are drawn to meditation or contemplative prayer, I encourage you to read Choosing Presence. The Practice of Presence is rooted in ancient wisdom and nourished by all the great spiritual traditions, foremost among them Christianity. Presence is not reserved for sacred places or quiet mornings. It is always available, in every moment of our lives.
