In Yoke

To what do you pay attention? Can you see your inner and outer attention as an investment in your own Reality?  Are others drawn to you because you do focus your attention their way?  Do you “pay” attention to people? To their biographical identity?  The chit chat, surface level conversations—is usually based on another person’s biographical identity. “ Where are you from? where did you grow up? where did you go to school? for which team do you pull for? what do you do for a living? Who’s your daddy?” ( ad infinitum) As life proceeds, and the scroll of the present continues to be advanced into our view,  we hardly ever get the option as friends/observers who are learning from one another—of moving past the issues and identifications of our biographical identity to focus on the higher and nobler causes of identification and attention.  This is what Helminski calls our Functional Role in life.  I am convicted today that -First, The Cre...

From "Living Presence":  Identification with other humans, issues, causes or beliefs, is an intentional, focused, concerted way of giving/or paying attention to another.  In our inner world we can begin to notice our own identification—the involuntary and unconscious absorption of our attention in inner processes.  At one moment, we consciously tell ourselves to be patient, kind, generous, and then in another moment, we forget that intention and become immersed in a desire or a frustration that has so captured us that we have lost our observing attention and are racing out of control in just that state we were seemingly determined to avoid. We lose ourselves, through identification. Perhaps we have a choice. When do I choose to identify? What are the results? I was once a singer in an ensemble we named, “Choose Joy”. It was taken from a Larnelle Harris song of that name. One could insert “Choose Love”. These are quite appropriate mantras. If you haven’t c...

Helminski has once again captured my interest. For the fourth time, I am re-reading the book he wrote, “Living Presence”. He focuses on the concept of voluntary attention.  Helminski poses,”Life requires so much of us that none of us can afford to be without our full attention”.  The saying, “pay attention” subtly explains that attention itself is of great value. “Pay” is to give something of value to another who is selling something. To 'pay attention' is to agree to being fully present in that moment. It gives credence to the military command, “Attention!” It is time to receive orders, or to pay respect.( Respect: another thing for which we must pay. But that is for another post.) Have you ever noticed that you can be in the midst of telling a story to another and in the midst of that story, the listener loses attention and obviously is not listening to the story anymore?(Perhaps this illustrates that my own stories are not very interesting!) What strikes me...