Most leaders think of presence as a skill -
a capacity to stay focused, attentive, maybe even calm under pressure.
But what if presence isnโt something you do -
what if it begins where you end?
I recently came across a passage from Mingyur Rinpoche that describes a state beyond presence - beyond even the one who is present:
"๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ด ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆโฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ. ๐๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ."
This is not poetic metaphor.
It is a direct pointer to a radically different mode of consciousness.
In this state, there is no observer, no narrative, no one experiencing the world.
There is only seamless being.
The trees, the stars, the sky - they donโt appear ๐ต๐ฐ awareness.
They ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ awareness.
No boundary. No subject-object split.
No โIโ left to interpret or control.
Only clarity - fluid, intimate, selfless.
Modern neuroscience begins to describe this territory.
In deep meditative absorption, the brainโs default mode network - the seat of the self - quiets.
What emerges is not unconsciousness, but vivid, nondual awareness.
Not โI am aware of thisโ - but simply: ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด.
From this depth, leadership changes.
It becomes less about guiding and more about resonating.
Less about agency and more about attunement.
Decisions arise from an intelligence that is no longer personal - but more precise, more whole, and less distorted.
Can this be cultivated?
Yes.
But not through surface-level mindfulness.
Only through deeper contemplative practice -
where we learn not to control attention, but to let go of the one who is attending.
Not to be present, but to dissolve into presence itself.
What if the most profound transformation is not becoming more of yourself -
but disappearing into what is, before the self arises?