Attention!

“Attention is not thought. It is not emptiness.
It is the carrier wave upon which thought,
communication, emotion and connection may be established.”
— J. R. StJohn

Everyone’s fascinated by (and desperate for) “meditation.” Extinguishing thought. Freedom from those annoying, ever more intrusive distractions and worries. Respite. Escape. Blessed Silence.

And this great “retreat from engagement” has created an industry of tools and aids for the beleaguered crowds who just want “More of Less.”

Apps for sleep inducement. Devices for white noise. Sleep apnea harnesses to control your breathing, (because you’re not doing it right…).

We suggest that they (and you perhaps) are missing the point.

You get more of what you create.
You also get more of what you resist creating.
If you love something, or hate something, there’ll be more of it.
You’re a great magnetic force, because you are the source of attention.

Why?
Because what you pay attention to becomes more present. If you call it, or resist it, you get more of it. That’s the power of this thing that isn’t actually something called Attention.

Attention is the field upon which thought plays out. Attention is the force which causes another person to become aware of you, then to look in your direction. Then to come over and begin a conversation. Now, communication can occur.

First you create the field, then you go out and play upon it.

Call it “Engaged Receptivity.”

So. If you don’t engage (as opposed to resisting engagement) there’s no field for anything to occur.

Engage. Disengage. Re-engage. Cease engagement.

It’s a matter of to what you choose to attend.

Many make the mistake of not placing sufficient value on their own attention resources. (It is a scarce resource, yes?) So, they find themselves with some attention on their challenges at work, some on the immediate family, some on the extended family, some on the community and that traffic issue (the lights haven’t been coordinated). Then there’s the air quality, and the water. Of course, the national political scene is a problem. Then, the challenge of obtaining untainted food, then the radiation from Fukushima, then those Nazis, and the persistent pain in your back…

Attention. There’s only so much. So, if you spend a little on every issue and item, you have less to spend on everything else… and you become spread too thin. Then you begin seeking a respite. Meditation. A Guru perhaps…

Wrong Turn!
Want to decrease your blood pressure? Calm your over-stimulated psyche? Seeking a respite from the ever-present throb of contemporary culture? Sure, meditation handles that sort of thing, but not as a solution (or an escape) from an out-of-control life. Meditation is a lifelong journey to a higher level of consciousness. It is a discipline with a culture and a tradition, and requires a rigorous commitment, not a one-off weekend workshop. And it’s not something you do to “escape” from something else.

We suggest a more direct approach: “Stop Creating That!” Who decreed that we need every headline repeated endlessly all day long? Put down the devices! Turn off the TV! Shut down the Computer! Turn off the Sound system! Sit back on the Couch and Breathe. Repeat! Slowly! Wow, you’re “Meditating!” Narrow the focus of your attention to the feel of the breath on your skin. Repeat.

Call us in the morning…

Applications

1. For You
We’re often “plagued by what we have created.” The ability to create and focus attention is native to humanity. But because we are not taught how to generate, then focus attention, then disconnect our focus, “we become the victims” of our wide-spread interests in everything. But, what can be turned on, can be turned off. Try it.

2. For the Family
Our children are the primary victims of our culture’s incessant and compulsive need to see everything, be everywhere and accomplish everything. Have you noticed your kid’s getting strung out from too much homework lately? Is there less playing outside than when you were young? Less joy? Maybe it’s worth looking into what they’re being obliged to attend to and accomplish — even before high school begins. (And before they are crushed…)

3. At Work
In a communication exercise, we ask two people to simply look at one another — for an extended period of time. The point is, they are each generating and narrowly focusing attention. Nobody has ever come away from that exercise unchanged. The fact is, when you narrowly focus your attention on another person they can feel it. And when they attend to you, the same is true. Particularly when speaking, we get over-stimulated by paying attention to everything — to the point that we cave ourselves in. Learning to focus more deliberately just on the eyes of our audience — puts us back in control, and at the center of everyone else’s attention. It’s a lesson with many applications. So, treat your attention as the valuable resource that it is — and don’t spread it around too widely!

Perhaps you don’t require either a prescription or a trip to Asia. Start by recognizing that you energize all of these competing stimuli by “devoting attention to them.” And you can turn them off. Recognize that you are in charge of your attention — not the other way around. Take it back! Close down one train of thought at a time, until there’s nothing on your mind but the sound of your slow, rhythmic breathing.

There you are, once again, in charge.

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