Voluntary Attention: an excerpt from 'Living Presence'
"Why study attention? What is the faculty of attention? It could almost be said that a human being is attention. Whatever occupies our attention-whether inwardly or outwardly, whether profound or trivial--is what we are at that moment.
Therefore, if we are attentive only to the outer world, we forfeit our inner life.
On the other hand, if we are excessively introverted, we cut ourselves off from the impressions of the outer worlds that could enrich and enliven us. If we attend only to the material world, we sacrifice the spiritual. If we think we can focus exclusively on the spiritual, we might lose ourselves in a world of dreams that never connect with reality. We need not only attention, but balance
Life requires so much of us that none of us can afford to be without our full attention.
More often than we know, moments come that will make a difference to the quality of our lives. These are moments of choice that will never come again. They are moments of service, because others need our presence and attention, and moments of understanding in a world of much misunderstanding.
The study of the attention is also the study of the ego, and the essential self. One of the qualities of the ego is that it has little attention of its own; instead, its attention is captured and compelled by what it likes and dislikes. The Awakened Self, on the other hand, can direct and sustain attention.
Observe how much of our attention is absorbed in the struggle between like and dislike. Attention roams freely and unconsciously until it strikes on something that wither attracts or repulses it; then it is caught. Presence allows us to notice how and when attention is caught, and how to free it again. as we begin to see what compels our attention and why, we also weaken the tyranny of the ego, and begin to create an Impartial Observer.(an essential facet of the Awakened Self).
~ "Living Presence- A Sufi Way to Mindfulness and the Essential Self", pp. 34-35, Kabir Edmund Helminski.
blogger's note: After the Old, and New Testaments, and portions of the Nag Hammadi texts(Gospel of Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Philip and others), I consider this work of Helminski to be sacred and definitely it is wisdom that is from the Creator. I suggest this book for those who might seek to become more directed towards inner spiritual and emotional/ego understanding and overall development.
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