Once upon a time there were many teachers in the Buddhist tradition who were teaching, "The now moment is everything!" But there was one great teacher in the nearly Buddhist tradition who urged his students to go beyond the now moment into an unbelievably glorious "out-of-this-world" experience which he assured his students could never be offered by the now moment.
One day a student of this great teacher asked: "Why do you ask us to go beyond the now moment when so many other teachers are satisfied to teach the now moment?"
The teacher answered: "Follow me!" Then the teacher stared intensely at the student and said: "One!"
The student's consciousness swished out far beyond the far reaches of the universe, far beyond forms, far beyond time and space, far beyond any awareness other than never ending joy.
Seemingly just as suddenly, although by earth time it may have been hours later, the great teacher touched the student and said: "Now!"
The student found himself back in the world of the joyless.
The great teacher, with a twinkle and a mischievous nod, said: "Oops!"
It was one of those loving instants when a new and abiding understanding accompanies an "Oops!" Suddenly the student knew the answer to his question. He said to the great teacher, "Yes! The now moment is here in this world. But out of this world altogether, where there are no moments but only eternity ...
The great teacher smiled and softly said, "You have spoken truly!"
One. Out of time.
Now.... Oops! Pulled back into time!
Yes, the now moment has its value for beginning spiritual students as Helen Schucman was while scribing A Course in Miracles. But the experience of the now moment, sometimes called a "peak experience" by worldly consciousness, is called only a "peek experience" by advanced spiritual teachers because it gives only the slightest hint or inkling of the far, far more glorious experience that is actually available.
Here is how the Course itself puts it:
"The Holy Spirit interprets time's purpose as rendering the need for time unnecessary. He regards the function of time as temporary, serving only His teaching function, which is temporary by definition. His emphasis is therefore on the only aspect of time that can extend to the infinite, for now is the closest approximation to eternity that this world offers. It is in the reality of 'now,' without past or future, that the beginning of the appreciation of eternity lies."
In other words, A Course in Miracles teaches the now moment is a jumping off point, a focus of mind just before all focus of mind is altogether relinquished, a moment of intention to be followed immediately by surrender of all intention, a last ever glimpse of time before opening to the everlasting.
Okay ... what happens if the student learns to pull his or her focus acutely into the now moment, really enjoys the earthly peak experience of the now moment, and becomes addicted to reproducing it, reproducing it again, and yet again reproducing it ... never moving beyond it?
Oops! Another of the ego's delaying devices, wouldn't you say?
It would be no different from an ego attachment to meditating, chanting, drumming, dancing, or praising God ... so much of an attachment to the practice that there is never any movement out of this world or out of time altogether. Such an addiction to the spiritual practice is always at the expense of an unbelievably glorious experience which would easily come if the practice was understood to be nothing more than a jumping off point.
In fact, all spiritual practices focus us into the now moment. But not for the purpose of hanging out in the now moment. We perfect a spiritual practice, if that is our way, for no other reason than to quickly find ourselves teetering on the edge of the cliff.
Some lose their balance, fall off the cliff, and later think it is the spiritual practice that gave them the indescribably glorious experience. In such a case, their temptation to be addicted to the spiritual practice is increased, lowering their chances of ever falling off the cliff again. Have you ever heard anyone say, "I've never been able to duplicate that experience."
The key is to learn to jump off the cliff, to learn to leap out of the spiritual practice and out of time altogether, to learn to free fall from the now moment into the non-moment.
The non-moment is beyond time where "now" has no meaning. It offers more than just a pleasant 50 watt increase in glow due to focus being taken off the past/future darkening mechanism of the ego. It offers an enormous million megaton explosion of light due to the ego's focus being relinquished altogether. When A Course in Miracles tells us we need do nothing, Jesus is referring to not even dreaming up a "now" in our mind ... living in the non-moment altogether.
What is the easiest way to learn to make this jump into eternity?
In the above story the great teacher answered: "Follow me!" In other words, join with the great teacher's spiritual energy and let him (or her) take you out.
Born Again Christians feel the presence of Jesus and let Jesus take them out ... true or false? Well, not exactly. But it's a close approximation. Actually 99 times out of 100, Christians only feel what they imagine Jesus to feel like. Such a feeling is usually many orders of magnitude larger and more magnificent than the feeling of their usual self-identification, so a wonderful expansion is experienced. But Jesus would say there is much more available.
Students who have joined with the spiritual energy of great teachers like Baba Muktananda or the Master Teacher from Wisconsin, and who have "followed their teacher out," report experiences which are so far beyond what Born Again Christians report that you might be tempted to say the Born Again experience is to the now moment as the "following a great teacher out" experience is to the non-moment.
Non-sequitur? Who can say who follows who when the jump has been taken with a truly great teacher?
Maybe you're tempted to say as some do: "But being around a great teacher doesn't appeal to me. I'm kind of scared that a great teacher would call me on my devices, like Jesus did with some of his disciples. Besides, I have a hard time trusting spiritual teachers. Maybe I just don't have much trust in general."
All is not lost! But all still can be lost simply by disengaging the intellect and imagination altogether, which is basically what happens in the presence of a great teacher anyway. Simply ask the Holy Spirit with all your heart and soul and being: "Holy Spirit, I really, really, really want to experience having no thoughts or mental images whatsoever. What does it feel like to do nothing with my mind?"
Although it's easier for your mind to disengage altogether when you are joining in the energy of a great teacher, it's not impossible to totally surrender all thoughts and images without the help of such divine energy.
As with everything, it just depends how much you want it. It is literally possible to say "I want the non-moment!" and want it so fully that the universe starts spinning, centripetally gathering into oneness your truest desire, as if you are a child on a carousel spinning around and around, no unreal thought or mental image able to hang on, all dross flying away, leaving your mind a clear pure golden exploding core of molten love.
In Rogers and Hammerstein's "Carousel"
Oh, my God!"
the entire community joins in singing "June is busting out all over!" Wouldn't this month be the June of all Junes if we all allowed ourselves to bust out all over as never before and never again? Maybe we could allow our minds to free fall into the centrifugal spinout of all thought and imaging, spinning as if on a carousel, around and around, each time around singing:
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