Ari and the Secret of the Present Moment

 

In a quiet, peaceful garden, Ari sat cross-legged beneath a flowering tree. The breeze brushed her cheeks, carrying the sweet scent of blossoms. Still, her little brow furrowed. Something was tugging at her thoughts.

“Guru,” she whispered, “why do we find it so hard to stay in the present moment?”

Guru appeared beside her, eyes gentle and wise. “Because, little one, the mind loves to wander. It runs back to the past, then leaps ahead to the future. But the present—it is like an awakened moment. When you put aside those racing thoughts and open your senses, you taste life directly, just as it is.”

Ari tilted her head. “So, if I’m really feeling everything around me—smelling the flowers, hearing the birds, feeling the breeze—then I’m actually interacting with the divine?”

Guru smiled. “Exactly. In that presence, you are in tune with the gift of life itself. You are already touching the divine.”

Ari’s eyes brightened. Then another question bubbled up. “But why is it that when I’m in the moment, time feels slow—yet when I look back, whole years seem to fly by?”

Guru chuckled softly. “That is because your mind stores memories in a simple way, like highlights. In the present moment, every detail shines, every sound and sight is vivid. But when you look back, the mind compresses it all. That’s why the past seems shorter, even though it was full of countless moments.”

Ari grew quiet, her thoughts deepening. “So… the past and future only exist in my mind? Memories and imagination? The only place I can really live is here, now, through my senses?”

“Exactly,” said Guru. “The past is memory. The future is imagination. The only doorway you can step through is the present.”

Ari’s small hands curled into her lap. Her voice softened. “Then being in the now… it’s like tasting what’s real and natural. Maybe my true state is just to be present with God. Everything else—the past and the future—those are just creations of the mind.”

Guru’s eyes glowed with warmth. “Yes, Ari. Your natural state is presence. And in that presence, you are already one with the divine. The rest is only the mind’s weaving.”

Ari’s heart fluttered. “So that means… God isn’t far away somewhere else. God is here, right now, with me in this moment.”

Guru nodded. “Exactly. When you are present, you discover there is no distance. The divine is not apart from you—it is here, with you.”

A hush filled the garden. The leaves rustled softly, as if listening.

Ari’s voice trembled with awe. “If God is here with me in this present moment, then being in the now is really uniting with God. That means there’s no separation at all—because being fully present means I am fully with God, right here and now.”

Guru leaned closer, his voice tender. “Yes, Ari. In the now, there is no separation. You and the divine are not two—you are one. To be present is to be whole, to be united with the sacred.”

Ari pressed her hand to her chest. Warmth spread through her like sunlight. She closed her eyes, listening to the birdsong, feeling the breeze, smelling the flowers—and in that stillness, she understood.

Being present wasn’t just a moment. It was union. It was love. It was God.

by Soo Kyung Kim