Living in the Present with Dennis Potter

12:01 AM

About six months ago, I began to meditate on a (fairly) regular basis. Nothing too heavy. Just a couple of 20 minute sessions per day. After a while, I noticed some changes in myself. A marked reduction in my pulse-rate, a quietness, a welcome sense of calm.

I like calm.

I briefly considered the idea of going on a Zen retreat. Lots to learn, I thought. Might be good to spend some time with people on the same path, see how they approached the learning. So in preparation I joined a Buddhist website.

I found a bunch of people busy ripping lumps out of each other because some believed in reincarnation, some did not; some ate meat, some did not; some wore their underpants backwards, some did not...

I thought I'd do my own thing for a while.

So that's what I did. I read a book or two, did a bit of thinking, meditated. In particular, I tried to stop regretting the past and worrying about the future.

I tried to live in the present moment.

It's not easy, but I seem to be getting better at it.

Here's Dennis Potter's final interview, recorded in 1994 just a few weeks before he died. Through the wonders of the Internet I found the bit that, even then, made a huge impression on me.

Dennis Potter's Final Interview

The only thing you know for sure is the present tense...

The nowness of everything is absolutely wondrous...

If you see the present tense - boy do you see it...

It's sad that even someone as exceptional as Dennis Potter had to wait until weeks before his death before he had that insight. As far as I can tell, most people never see it.

I'm an atheist. I don't believe in any kind of traditional God, or in the reality of supernatural events.

But I do believe that living in the present moment is a key. A key that unlocks doors that most people never even know are there. Doors that lead to places where there is less suffering, less discontent and bottles of Guinness hanging from the trees.