About This Lesson

As you practice bringing more presence into your interactions with people, start with people that you meet briefly in the street or in the line up or check out at the market. That moment of interaction with a stranger, you can sense and acknowledge the presence of that person and that’s relatively easy because you don’t know anything about them. The next step will be to practice with somebody that you have a past with. Next, practice with your family. This is the most difficult as you will get a reflection of who you are whether you still carry the past in you when you interact with family members such as your parents. It’s important that you invite presence into your life. In everyday situations so that when you’re really challenged, by visiting your parents or meeting your ex wife or ex husband, that’s a good test.

1Think of a time when you reacted very strongly to something and had a hard time letting it go. What was it about that situation that really bothered you? Do you believe past experience influenced the strength of your reaction?

 

2Being fully present with someone you have known for a long time is most challenging when we are interacting with those with whom we have a strained relationship and/or we perceive to have wronged us in some way. Letting go of the past, requires us to forgive and to have compassion. It is only when we are able to forgive that we are truly able to free ourselves from the past so that we can live in the present moment. Where in the film do we see examples of this?

 

3What do the examples of compassion and forgiveness in the films teach us about ways of addressing problems with bullying?

It’s important that you invite presence into your life, in everyday situations. Practice brings presence. Try this activity. First, practice being present with a stranger. Perhaps it is someone you have an interaction with at the grocery store or at a park. Ask questions. Be attentive to his or her words and actions. Take a moment to share presence without judgement. Are you able to suspend your natural tendency to judge? Next, do the same exercise with a friend that you have known for a few months. Then a friend that you’ve known for a few years. As you are able to remain present with people that you share more and more history with, you may be ready to attempt this activity with your own family. Can you leave the past in the past with so much shared experience between you?