Present: Being & Being In
In different spiritual and mindfulness practices, they encourage people to be present, release attachments and so on. Of course, the trick here is that when we are exclusively or mostly identified with a limited segment of what is (such as our human self) it is impossible. And when we come to ourselves as formless awareness - the Unborn - or Big Mind, it is unavoidable. It is just who we are.
Unborn & Big Mind
When I find myself as the Unborn - as formless awareness - I am that in which the world of form, including space and time, arises. I am distinct from the world of form, including space & time, yet space & time and everything else happens within me. There is no need to "try" to "become" present.
And when I find myself as Big Mind, that which is beyond and including all polarities - including the Unborn and the world of form, it is the same. Time & space and everything else happens within me. There is only the eternal always changing, always fresh Now.
Human Self
When I find myself as my human self, or any other segment of what is, my identity is limited and I am in space & time. And this is of course as real as finding myself as the Unborn or Big Mind.
If my this identity is exclusively as my human self, then it is impossible for me to be present. I get caught up in abstractions - of the past, future and now. At best, I can only have glimpses of being present to what is.
Context & Content
But if my identity is inclusive - embracing my human self and the Unborn or Big Mind - I find a new fluidity. Both are present - myself as that in which the world appears, and that which appears in the world. I can work with abstractions - of past, future and now - and I am the eternal Now. Sometimes, one comes to the foreground and other times, the other.