Let’s not think about being everywhere all at once – in your kitchen at home and simultaneously at a coffee shop in Spain, on the moon, and in a cave in Bermuda. Let’s not think about that – which is a joke of course, since we’re already thinking about it. But let’s not go there.
The “all-at-onceness,” however, does exist: Right now, everywhere is, no matter where we ourselves happen to be. We could literally be anywhere in the world, and that would not change. Everyplace is, right now.
So, what is “omnipresent”? The word “present” can mean here, geographically in a particular place (Teacher says: “Were you present in class yesterday?”); and it can mean now, the present moment. And I think this causes a lot of confusion.
The prefix “omni” means all, universal, universally. So omnipresence is, to say the least, a big topic. Right now, let’s only consider the present moment. Right here, right now, we’re surrounded by everything that is. And this is our present, now, right now. When we look at the night sky, we’re seeing stars not only distant in space, but distant in time – because the light that reaches us from those stars took from years to many millennia to reach us – yet for us, it’s now. And that now includes everything that is. When we think about past, present, or future, for us it is taking place now. It is ever always only now. We are always now, and we are never not now.
It’s not only true for us, it’s true for everything that exists. Always and everywhere, only now. For everyone and everything, now includes all that is. And that includes you. Always now, always actually present, now. Have you ever been anywhere except now? No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, no matter what you are thinking.
And that, my friends, is the omnipresent you.
© 2022 Shanti Natania Grace
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
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The Present
As they were leaving the garden
one of the angels bent down to them and whispered
I am to give you this
as you are leaving the garden
I do not know what it is
or what it is for
what you will do with it
you will not be able to keep it
but you will not be able
to keep anything
yet they both reached at once
for the present
and when their hands met
they laughed
~ W.S. Merwin
from Garden Time
Photo below, View from W.S. Merwin’s home, courtesy of The Merwin Conservancy Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheMerwinConservancy/
