Stop reading for a moment, and imagine that you are going to die in one minute. The last things you are going to experience are reading these pages, sitting in this room, wearing the clothes you are wearing, thinking and feeling what you are thinking and feeling right now. This is it. This is the end of your life. You have no time to do anything about it. You have no time to write a note or make a phone call. Your life is over. You will die in one minute.
All you can do is experience what is, right now.
This is a very simple exercise, but it is quite profound. It brings you into presence very quickly. The projections of the six realms subside. You stop fighting, you stop needing, you stop being concerned with physical comfort, you stop wanting, you stop achieving, and you stop maintaining. Enlightenment, attainment, realization all become meaningless. You are just present. This is one way to cut the web of existence. Be absolute about this point.
Reprinted from White Paper III. Copyright © Ken McLeod 2001. Ken is the director of Unfettered Mind, a Buddhist Center based in Los Angeles, CA.