naturalness is relaxing into the present moment

Apprentice Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche spoke often about ‘now’ and ‘nowness’ – and he brought it into many different contexts. Is it just a difference in language, because I have never heard you use the word?

Ngak’chang Rinpoche A difference in language. Every teacher settles into a vocabulary in terms of those who request teachings. Every once in a while I will jettison a word – because I become aware that the word is somehow problematic in its associations – or because people misunderstand via the connotations and implications of a word. For example – I no longer use ‘path’ or ‘being on the path’. Neither do I use the word ‘way’ – for the same reason. There is nothing actually wrong with these words – they have simply been dealt the New Age death blow. I no no longer use the word ‘enlightenment’ when I can help it – it has been horribly overused and does not actually represent a direct translation of a Tibetan or Sanskrit term. Instead Khandro Déchen and I simply use the term non-duality. The word nowness is important in Buddhism – especially any tradition which emphasises silent sitting. Khandro Déchen and I tend to discuss naturalness – but it has the same meaning. Naturalness is relaxed. Naturalness is relaxing into the present moment.