Have you ever experienced ecstasy? Have you ever danced through life with sheer joy? Have you ever lost yourself to euphoria?

A moment which comes to mind as I reflect on these words was an instance in which I jumped from a tall cliff into the ocean. There, flying through the air, golden rays glimmering over the sea, I was free. Every millisecond was so beautiful, so rich, almost as if I had finally captured that moment of pure bliss which I had been seeking my entire life.

This euphoria was so deeply enjoyable that it commanded my absolute attention. Everything else faded away. I was there, intensely, wholly immersed in absorbing the experience, and nothing besides.

If you have ever experienced euphoria or bliss, you will notice that in these moments, you have no troubles. Think to the last time you were doing what you love to do. Here, you find no worries. No problems. No stress. Time seems to fly by without you noticing.

That is because troubles, worries, stress, problems, and even time€¦they all come in the form of thoughts. They are thoughts about the past or the future. Not only are these thoughts pointless, useless, but they distract you from the present. They distract you from your experience. They distract you from life!

If you think, €What a beautiful sunset,€ you are no longer watching the sunset, you are watching the words.

When you are truly present with your experience, when you are simply being, there are no thoughts. You need no thoughts to experience, to live, to be. Thoughts are a fantastic tool when we are trying to do, but they are a useless distraction when we are trying to be.

This is what meditation is: to step away from doing, and to just be, to experience the present with awareness and with clarity.

The best moments of life come in being, rather than doing or thinking. When you are simply being, life is incredibly peaceful because there is no thought to judge the present situation as good or bad. You merely accept and absorb everything. There is absolutely no resistance to what the present has brought. Even if pain or sadness arises, there is no suffering without the voice saying €I do not like this! I want things to be different! I want to be happy!€

As Eckhart Tolle has said, doing will never be enough for he who does not take some time to be (Why are you doing things in the first place, anyways? What are you going towards? You are going towards a state of being). It is for this reason your thinking mind is a perfect servant, but a horrible master.

When you are simply being, that is when you are filled with life. Make your life a meditative state, and your troubles will be no more.