The quiet art of attention
billwear.github.io
billwear.github.io
> To focus on one thing deeply, to give it your full attention, is to experience it fully. And when we do this, something remarkable happens. Time, which so often feels like it is slipping through our fingers, begins to slow.
doesn't really apply to me, or to many people I know and have worked with - it is when I focus on one task that "time flies", and it's distractions that end up throwing men out of the zone.
For example, imagine you're going to your daughter's piano recital and spend the whole time thinking about work. You would be missing out on the experience of watching her perform and grow. If you become mindful of these habits and say "My mind is focusing on something that I cannot change right now, I should be present" then you'll be able to fully experience a moment in your child's life. So rather than feeling like life is passing you by, you're able to experience it in the moment. The surrounding sentences of the line you quoted don't read like the author's describing time like you are:
"But in this process, we must remember something important: life is not meant to be rushed through. It is not a race, nor is it a problem to be solved. It is an experience to be lived, and living well requires presence. ... Moments become rich, textured. Even the simplest of tasks takes on a new significance when approached with care, with attention."
Similar sensation to being in an isolation chamber
An hour on social media and time laughing with friends can both be fleeting but one will feel better spent.
Now of course I’m not the author so I’m not sure but yeah the way you’re describing it (real time flying when you’re locked in on something) is how I feel it goes for most people
For example, at the same time my follower can be so tense that she cannot feel leading/following signals as well as if she was relaxed, and she mis-interprets my lead and goes where I was not expecting her to go, her clothing gets stuck, another couple comes into the space I have directed our dance and we are about to crash etc. All this while I am interpreting live music in an interesting way. (This is an extreme example, most of the time things go smoothly.)
It may be unbelievable that it is possible to be able to solve such problems in split second, but it happens all the time in improvised couples dancing. The analytical mind is way too slow for it, however. If I am experiencing time that has slowed down, there is ample time to do everything. It does not even feel I need to rush it, but I can stay relaxed, and continue improvising go the music.
The article discusses internal (intensional!) focus on the substance of experience itself as it’s presented to your unified Ego, and you’re discussing the much more common idea of external (extensional!!1!) focus, which is almost the exact opposite since it typically requires quieting your inner monologue to the greatest extent possible and letting your subconscious faculties act autonomously.
Indeed to let go of the worldly rush is truly liberating. What a pity it is not allowed to complement the scriptures with such insights.
I would associate flow more with concentration. And if there is no mindfulness together with the concentration, time will just "fly by". At least for me.
*As it is done in Buddhism, where both are separate spokes of the dharma wheel.
They seem both similar but very different at the same time.
"Flow" to me feels like allowing the mind off its leash, but having it be completely focused on one task rather than its normal state of unfocused chaos.
Whereas "mindfulness" feels more like allowing the mind to rest and become still.
In the former time slips by so quickly, and the latter time can seem to stand still, but with both time becomes meaningless.
Maybe what both have in common is this disconnection from time.
Buddhists say that you are where your attention is. So if a sound captures 100% of my attention, I am that sound. This feels strange on the surface, but when you look deeper into it, it reveals deep wisdom about the human experience.
In my understanding, it is possible, through years of practice (meditation etc.), to learn to direct your attention. Most of us have very limited capability to direct our attention, because we have not practiced it. Actually, modern life trains us to become less capable of directing our attention.
Based on your description, when you talk about "focusing on one task", you describe a flow state where you are 100% absorbed in the task. In a way you have not consciously decided to focus your attention. (I use a very specific meaning for the word conscious here, it is more aligned with the buddhist sense of the word, instead of western sense of having-thoughts-about the thing).
Your attention has been captured by the task at hand. In a way you are lucky that an useful and productive task has captured your attention.
In my understanding, if you learn to direct and hold the attention consciously, there is a next stage you can learn, where you become able to split your attention, to be conscious of two things at the same time.
If you direct some of your attention to the task at had, and some attention to a part in you observing yourself doing the task, then it feels as if the task is "happening", instead of you "doing" the task.
When this happens, there are effects on the physical experience as well, such as time slowing down. I have been blessed with such experiences when dancing, It seems to be possible to have such experiences also without being able to consistently and consciously direct the attention, as I have been blessed with such experiences in my dancing. But in this case it is accidental.
The key advantage of this is you can jumpstart a flywheel: attention -> unmediated effort -> attention. I say unmediated because your talking mind gets out of the way or helps you (versus never shutting up). I have used this during guitar practice sessions and found them both very enjoyable and helpful in the learning process.
In essence, it's about being present without an occupied mind. In my experience, this can make time seem to pass more slowly, but in a pleasant way, even if it's somewhat subdued compared to a state of flow.
It still does. But eventually you become aware that you aren't solving the key problem, just making it worse by not addressing it.
I will be forever grateful for the time I spent practicing martial arts when I was younger. I was lucky enough to find a master that did not teach the practice as a means to reach agonistic goals but instead as practicing mindfulness and self observation. It was never explicitly told or explained in detail how to do it, it was simply practiced over and over again, indirectly, by checking the positions of your body, legs and arms, are they in the correct position? Am I engaging the correct set of muscles? Does the position feel powerful? Is my attention (ki) flowing in the correct direction, in the right spot? Am I aware of my surroundings and perceptive of my practice partner? We were slowly taught to pay attention, by means of watching ourselves trying to perfect something. Later in life I realized how much of an impact this had on my ability to concentrate, be present, not only in the physical sphere but also in the mental and spiritual or emotional sphere. I slowly began to realize that the real practice of the martial art and striving for the perfect form were always a mean to the real goal of instead practicing mindfulness and perseverence.
To me that is the “art” in martial arts. I am not trying to put them on a pedestal, I believe that this “art” is proper of any activity a human can do, that can become art when it is a means to practice this kind of mindfulness.
I like to watch the movement of my attention. Nothing abstract, just to observe where attention is aimed - it takes a mere 30 seconds of watching.
What I’ve noticed, is it moves around, seemingly without my input, and lacking any conscious intent (a concept the blog post makes a point to reclaim).
The light of attention shines throughout the physical scene, but it is sensorily multidimensional. It might move to the pain in my back, or the sound of the frogs, or the mug on my desk, a random memory, or more relevant to the article, the latest arising thought.
I am watching this movement of ‘my’ attention, and yet I seem to be playing no part in the neither the objects of attention, or the movement of attention itself.
This isn’t to say I cannot decide right now to move my hand in front of my face and observe it, but this arising of intention is itself mysterious too.
I’ve watched my choices for about a decade now and have not been able to find anything like independent choice.
Everything I observe is dependent on something else (genetics, conditioning, environment, external or internal event), or a manifestation of a preference, currently active desire, emotion, thought or need.
Once I noticed that these are all spontaneous or predetermined I can no longer see the concept of “free will” as anything but an unpacked box containing a bunch of phenomena.
Another pointer of Advaita is that our brains tend to hold a view of a free will universe, or a pre-determined universe - which is a limit of the mind not the universe itself :)
As to argument against free will: do you not have the ability to choose between giving the next homeless person you see some money or being rude to them? Of course you do. You are also free to believe and then claim that the world is flat, but that don't make it true.
We can each choose to be compassionate, callous, or cruel -- to whomever we choose, to whatever extent we choose. The choices most people make are usually no more than the inertia of our cultural inheritances, which are, themselves, usually born of generational ignorance of the importance of active compassion and service to others' happiness.
The inertias of our world cultures are rife with ignorance of the fact that the happiest people are those that care for those around them. Of course, if worldly success is your only benchmark, then you are free to choose Musk's or Trump's path to "success", but you aren't going to find happiness there, no matter how easy it is to climb that ladder in this world's assbackwards value system. I challenge you to look at Jimmy Carter's or MLK's smiles for observable experience. Such a smile is earned and evidenced over our lifetime as obviously as a tree's growth rings reflect its experiences. Ours are indicative of our cumulative choices, for we are the only beings on Earth that have a moral compass and the imperative to choose accordingly.
It isn't necessary to explain where they come from to argue they are not, by our definition, freely made. Either they are causal, we can rewind time to the exact moment, where everything is the same, and you would make the same choice again, or there is a level of randomness inserted, which is also not free will.
If you introspect, you will find that you do not have anything that actually looks like free will. If you are asked to pick your favorite philosopher, you will have a few names pop into your mind, but you will not have control over those few names. You could continue to try and summon names, but you don't have control over which ones arrive either.
> As to argument against free will: do you not have the ability to choose between giving the next homeless person you see some money or being rude to them? Of course you do.
No, because the decision to do so is the sum product of all the things that have happened to me. If I choose to give money to the next homeless person I see as a result of this comment, it was not free-will, but the sum of all of those things and my response to this comment.
The flip side of this is that it need not be a negative thing. The will of the homeless person is also not free, the knowledge of which should expand your compassion for them as their situation is not the result of an endless series of bad choices, but the unfortunate chance outcomes of their existence in this environment.
Free will is not about choosing what comes into one's head after sending an inquiry out into the universe, it is solely about what we do with our physical body. That is part of why choosing to focus on the highly cerebral work of programming is so difficult.
> because the decision to do so is the sum product of all the things that have happened to me
So a three-pack-a-day smoker cannot quit? A lifetime racist cannot jettison those beliefs and choose to understand the truth that we are all just human beings? A believer in selfless love cannot become a child molester or otherwise oppress others?
Inertia in life is very, very real, but we each have the power to change. You could even accept the truth of what I say. We are not mechanical machines driven by the past; our wetware is impressionable but not fixed, as it is "wet" -- i.e. fluid -- and we can either continue to flow into the ever-present now, or merely ossify into preset patterns. That is why curiosity and humility are so important to becoming an intergrated human being tuned to positivity. No, we are not born at such a level, for we are each somewhat selfish from go; we must choose to learn how to be such a person, and then choose to do what it takes to become such a one. Yes, it is difficult in this selfish world of myriad physical/mental/emotional pollutions, but having such peace and happiness makes it not only worthwhile, but indeed the only path worth choosing, always. As the wise Bob Marley said, "Those that feel it know it not." And yet we live in a world where people run away from the truth. Those that taste the fruit of all-consuming selfless compassion never shy away from plucking another grape from that vine.
> If I choose to give money to the next homeless person I see as a result of this comment, it was not free-will, but the sum of all of those things and my response to this comment.
But you must still choose to do such loving service, at the time the opportunity presents itself. In those moments, once your mind presents you with the possibility to manifest generosity, you must engage your free will, reach into your pocket/wallet, and give the money. It is solely up to you, and that is the truth of the fact of the matter, as is the fact that the ignorant love to follow the ignorant, because it makes them falsely feel that they are superior to the wise, which is not only silly, but commonplace. Dunning-Krueger is yet another sadass gospel of truth.
> The will of the homeless person is also not free, the knowledge of which should expand your compassion for them as their situation is not the result of an endless series of bad choices, but the unfortunate chance outcomes of their existence in this environment.
I don't care how much their choices have caused their dire situation (although I fully agree that society's cruel callousness is more than likely the dominant cause of their predicament, as it is with nearly all of the world's poor). My decision with regards to how I treat any person is my choice and my choice alone, and the karma I earn for my action or inaction is mine alone to bear and has no bearing on their choices, only their happiness. We are each an island of choices made in a flowing sea containing other islands.
Further, I cannot will myself to be a billionaire and thus manifest crazy generosity. No, my free will must work within the constraints creation has placed upon me. All I can (choose to) do is be the most compassionate I can in every situation, given the opportunities presented to me, with the resources I have available to me, and, hopefully, in the way that is best for their situation. It's all any of us can do, understanding that we are only responsible for our choices, not those of creation, itself.
Choosing wisely requires us to first understand that we are continually choosing, and that such wisdom requires honest self-evaluation, exploratory learning, and effortful practice. One's happiness and peace is the universe's feedback mechanism to our choices (though our polluted/stressful environment can cause physical depression and other mental/emotional difficulties, too). Put another way: inner peace and happiness is the only important dashboard instrument on one's journey. Helping reduce others' misery, or otherwise increase their happiness, is the most important path to our fulfillment, as we are all in this together via the karmic equivalent to the Universal Law of Gravitation. It's the most sublime law of creation, operant only for we human beings, the only possessors of free will and a self-tunable moral compass.
> So a three-pack-a-day smoker cannot quit? A lifetime racist cannot jettison those beliefs and choose to understand the truth that we are all just human beings? A believer in selfless love cannot become a child molester or otherwise oppress others?
I did not say a single one of those things, what I am saying is that each of those things happening were not done as a result of free will, they were the result of the sum of the things that preceded them. The smoker being fed up with family encouraging them to quit, the decades of anti smoking messaging finally pushing them over the edge, and the day they couldn't walk up the hill without taking a rest to breathe all resulted in them quitting. I believe replaying the universe from the big bang to that moment would result in the same thing, each time.
> But you must still choose to do such loving service, at the time the opportunity presents itself. In those moments, once your mind presents you with the possibility to manifest generosity, you must engage your free will, reach into your pocket/wallet, and give the money.
This is where we fundamentally, irreconcilably disagree. The decision to do so is not free, much like your favorite philosophers, it came forth when you "sent the inquiry into the universe." The meta "decision" to move from thought to action came about the same way. To be honest, I'm not sure what the rest of what you wrote has to do with what I said - I don't find belief in, or even a desire for, free will to exist to be a prerequisite for generosity, kindness, or happiness.
While I have considered this for quite some time, I found this discussion to be the one that "pushed me over the edge," since it helped to reconcile what I observed within with the way things work I understand them (philosophically at least) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u45SP7Xv_oU
If you ever want to ask a question, I will do my best to answer you honestly, if that means to only to say that I don't know. Seeing as how you already know everything, you aren't asking any questions, so my work is done here. I am quite sure that the non-experts in D-K had no idea that the experts were experts; that is because they did not actually do the steps necessary to actually become an expert, their only development was in their confidence, choosing that instead of doing the humble, difficult work.
There are no unconfident flat-earthers because their overconfidence precludes their seeking the truth. There is a level of knowledge where one knows that one knows a truth. It's intrinsic to the universe and our integral place within it, but that's a different conversation altogether. Suffice it to say that once a person sees Jupiter rotating, it no longer became necessary to hear a flat-earther's arguments. All you have to do is contact the Creator of this marvellous, unfathomable universe, to learn how to get greater access to deeper truths. You are free to deny that you, yourself, have that access, too, but denying that human ability has only robbed you of your access, not mine. It's your choice, my friend.
"The Way goes in." --Rumi
His explanation is that your next action is determined by everything that came previously. It's not predetermined - you could roll a die and base your next action off that - but it isn't magic either.
My guess is, it's just an evolutionarily useful thing, for your brain to keep pinging you about various things.
It doesn't mean of course that meditation is not useful. But you want to have control over these thoughts. Without a meditative practice, it's all too easy to allow your consciousness to be consumed by these impulses (which can lead you astray).
I made the Bhodisattva Vow nearly 30 years ago, and am now a very happy person with a very happy family, though we have lived in poverty for ~15 years now. Ask me how ;-)
Side note: I lived with yoga practioners and know of the possible dangers therein, so I highly suggest that you add a mantra of positivity to your practice. My experience is that the best are the various two syllable names of our Creator, to accompany your heartbeat. Such mantras are the best baseline for us to fall back into within the busyness of this 21st Century life, but choose what makes you feel happy, for happiness is within the grasp of our every choice.
With love and friendship.
What I can say is that creation has provided what we needed, first through my previous life as a successful programmer, but since, through my wife's love for and excellence in cooking, while I am an attentive home-schooler (it is easy in our state; an unexpected and rare benefit of fundamentalist thinking) and home IT specialist, keeping the education and fun flowing, but in simple but meaningful dimensions. Plus, we take the kids to wonderful parks where good air and nature can be found. Most importantly, we have taught them how to be appreciative for the life and perspective we have. We are not particularly religious at home (I mostly keep my practices to myself, as I am loath put any kind of pressure on them in that dimension), except in my making sure to point out where compassion provides great outcomes and ignorance of compassion causes unhappiness both in the small and large. My wife and I have demonstrated generosity to strangers and the teaching has really taken with both the now-teenagers, who are beloved by their peer groups for their kindness, talent, intelligence and humor.
Don Juan (Carlos Castaneda's teacher) says that, in life, what we choose to NOT do is the dominant factor, which I have found to be true, through both experience and written wisdom. As such, the kids have been taught the perils of common negative behaviors, such as: alcohol and other drugs, sexual promiscuity, being belligerent to others, being ignorant of the truth of karma, compassion, and truth.
As Sufis, we do not espouse the superiority of any form of religion, nor do we speak ill of those who have not embraced religion in their lives. The only measure of a person is how they treat others, and we are not to treat them poorly even in that event, though we may have to intervene to prevent harm to innocents. We have not had to do that in our American lives, thankfully, but a study of history has impressed the reality of oppression (and necessity of countervaling compassion) upon them. This included studying the life of Frederick Douglass (we listened to the entire free audiobook for the 900pg 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography together for 5-6hrs/day 5-6days/wk over perhaps three weeks), and we boys have listened to Stephen E. Ambrose's two WWII books, D-Day and Citizen Soldier, multiple times (as my son played chess, and daughter worked on her skills in various crafts, especially sewing full poofy-sleeve dresses and shirts and skirts as well as amigurumi (cultural inheritances of my wife's non-American culture, tho I have crafty Aunts)). They both love the Band of Brothers book and miniseries, and we have together listened to both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books in full multiple times, as well as the latter five books of my favorite author William Gibson, whose works are filled with heart and enough rock'n'roll grit to convey that regular people have sex, are sometimes trans, are sometimes gay, and are completely human while being both imperfect yet good people, worthy of respect, no better or worse than us.
All this is to say that we have encouraged their own interests and creativity by providing lots of legos (we have the Unimog!), books, art materials, and shown lots of interesting videos from Uncle Dave (Attenborough) (thanks 2010ish bittorrent documentary sites) as well as Veritasium and lots of NHKOnline (Design Talks Plus, now called Design Stories). We also watch Futbol (soccer) highlights, Sumo (such a different culture), and Judo (for its badassery and fundamental respect). What is important here is that they don't have their own internet-connected devices, but have access to them in our living room, where I live and exist. My son plays online chess and loves his chess club and tournaments. They both have used study.com and Khan Academy for their academic requirements, so they are not without internet access, but only in the service of curiosity and learning and fun, under our loving gaze.
My only hard and fast rule here is that there can be no bickering, and there truly is none, because we respect each other and truly care for each other. The key is that the true value of compassion at home is to take it out into the world every chance we get. They know that we love and serve them, rarely ask them to serve us, and that when we ask them to serve the family (by, for example, my son being in charge of doing the dishes), we do so only because someone needs to do it, and that it's only for the good of the family. Gratefulness is a antidote to our complaining human nature.
All of this (long-winded, I know) is to say that how one serves one's family is the root and trunk of inculcating compassion into one's society because they will take those values/virtues into it, while educating them about the perils of acting on one's vicious (vice-tending, as opposed to virtuous) and selfish tendencies. History and current events, when portrayed in the honest light of virtue/vice evaluation, is an excellent means of educating the entire society, firstly via our two new members. Our daughter's new ability to vote in this coming election is a fruit of our tireless labors.
We have also demonstrated to them a loving husband-wife combination, where we have occasionally argued, and where we rule together by consensus, such is the nature of marriage, where apology and positive self-evolution is required for every person's personal growth and the success of the community, and having a leader who values the opinions of everyone while recommending but not commanding the best course of action is also IMO the best model of society. We should each do the best thing because it's what is best for everyone -- at least we should try, that is.
My wife and I decided to have children to honor the wisdom teachings of universal compassion and service to humanity, to end all suffering and serve the true happiness of everyone, in truth and kindness. We have been very successful, though certainly not perfect and yet also certainly absolutely uncommon in America, or anywhere as far as I can see. This has largely been due to my ability to be a stay-at-home dad of creative bent, not sequestered by myself in some bedroom on a Zoom call or walling myself off. It is kindof a sacrifice, but I've not been very money-oriented in my life, and, though I have been able to earn a good living from being a badass programmer at times early in our marriage, my inability to prioritize money over human beings not only kept me out of the manager-class, but put me in direct confrontation with those souless bastards and their entire intent and modus operandi.
I'll address the rest of your comment in a separate reply. I need a break and this one is loooong-winded already ;-)
Heart transformation is the process of cleansing and purifying our soul's heart of its susceptibility to vice, thus transforming it by stages into being solely a conduit of virtuous action. Even a person who has achieved a 100% virtuous soul, where they no longer act upon vicious ("towards vice") impulses will still have intrusive thoughts that suggest they perform acts of a selfish, vice-oriented nature -- they will simply no longer be inclined to act upon them. This is why I do not put much emphasis on our thoughts, as they never end. What we can put an end to is their ability to actually affect our resulting behaviors, by doint practices that physically transform our beings moral compass. Without carrying out an impulse towards vice, we have stamped out their negativity in the real world, which is what sin/selfishness really is and is the sole source of negativity in the world. If the thoughts try to persist in our headspace, we must simply return to our mantra to drown them out; if that is not effective, then that could be indicative of physical pollution in the body, which I would suggest fasting and prayer to the Creator to help remove. My feeling is that such a problem is usually (to my knowledge) a by-product of having not taken the most important step in the spiritual path, which the rest of this reply concerns.
At some point, most every person will be presented with the opportunity to beseech our Creator to help effect their spiritual transformation. Then, and only then, is our heart turned towards that Unfathomable It, and our transformation really begins. This is where our repetition of some sacred mantra literally "enlightens" our soul's heart, filling it with sacred light which replace its ability to conduct suggestions to vice with their opposite tendency to be amenable to suggestions of virtue. What used to be a susceptibility to hatred becomes, by (usually) gradual degrees, an affinity to love, to name but a single of the vice/virtue pairs in the human heart. This is a literal enlightenment of the soul's heart, where we are purified by degrees until, should we see the path to its end, we become immune to negative suggestions towards selfish behavior and become true servants of goodness, and are finally authorized to become a teacher of students.
I am certainly not at that level, but I can share the teachings I have learned and the successes I have had in my life so far, yet I am not authorized to take on students. It's not that I feel I would act selfishly or betray my students, but I would not want to make any mistakes that would inadvertently lead a person to vice, thereby accruing negative karma for us both. No, there is a final graduation for such a teacher, and that is to spiritually see the Creator in its glory from what Bob Marley calls "Mount Zion". It is also mentioned in Castaneda, and MLK experienced this right before he was martyred, and is referenced in the Beatitude "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." They are few in this world, but they are always available for every culture/language, to unerringly lead the seekers of truth to the goodness we are each capable of, should we choose the endeavor. I'm pretty certain that such a one has achieved why the Buddhists call "Buddha Nature". Each form of religion (whose source is God, not selfish men such as Hubbard) has teachers of this Nature, who serve only God by serving the seekers of truth and goodness.
Each person has their own path, destined to join up with a specific path of spiritual practice, and if we choose to undertake submission to the Divine Will of Love, we will be guided to an appointed Teacher of Buddha Nature, whatever it is called in that religion's nomenclature. Finding our specific path and requisite Teacher is part of the spiritual path. It all begins with begging the Creator to begin that transformation by taking our Spirit (conscience) back into Itself so that the heart of our energy body (soul, trapped within our body while we are awake) can be cleansed and purified of its vice-conducting nature so that it shines like the Spirit (which is of pure nature, but is not our own, being just a guide to counterbalance our soul's tendency to vice). This is the mystery behind the 1st Beatitude "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs shall be the Kingdom of God."
Making such a wish, with ALL one's heart, to the Creator to achieve Buddha Nature, will effect the beginning of such changes. It is a struggle to see that path to its end and be fully purified of our various tendencies to vice/selfishness, but is the most important step we can take. It is also the beginning of being impervious to the suggestive thoughts towards negativity we all encounter in this spirual environment we inhabit. Yes, most people are ignorant of this struggle -- called by Sufi mystics the "Great Jihad", i.e. the person versus their inclination towards selfishness -- and is called by Castaneda's Don Juan "the path with heart", but it is fulfilling beyond expression.
The path of love is uniting across all humanity, within an effortful vision for harmony and peace across all sentient creatures and the Earth herself. It is forgiving and gentle for those not yet as far upon the path as we have been granted grace enough to reach, but it is also uncompromising for those who refuse peace and instead fight against it and its abiding compassion for others, and who choose mischief in order to manifest their selfish desires via lies and oppression of others, and who take pleasure in -- or just care not one whit about -- the misery of others. History is rife with examples of the deeds and nature of the dark-hearted fools who serve the enemy of peaceful harmony for all mankind.
My mind has been quiet for all of 1.5 seconds in my entire life. It was just after I decided to contemplate what my (as-yet-unfounded) company's mission statement would be. After that brief pause, it came to me: "Lasting peace and happiness for ALL human beings." I understand that to have come to me as a result of my having made the Bodhisattva Vow some years before, then having joined with Sufis, first Jewish who then led me to Muslim Sufis. There are many of us who have hearts tuned to this goal to end suffering across this magnificent Earth, by uniting our hearts in that one communal goal. Pray to our Creator with all your being to begin this transformation and your meditative practice will grow more powerful and you will transcend your concern with stray thoughts into the realm of Right Action with proper discernment and an abiding peace in the midst of our eternal struggle to manifest selfless light in this ocean of selfish darkness.
Peace be with you. I am at your service. Thank you for inspiring me this day. I love you and wish you all success in your endeavors, for that is what this universe and its Unfathomable Creator wishes for you, but It awaits your choosing It. By Its grace have my family become an island of happiness in a sea of miserable selfishness that plagues the good people of our world. Seek our Creator's path for your enlightenment each and every day and you will be helped even more than you already are. And always return to your mantra, in the small moments in the busyness of your day.
Overall, as human beings in 2024, we are advanced technologically, but not spiritually (yet).
At the basis of our being is the most etheral and fundamental of our connections to the multidimensional universe, which we are a part of, ofc. That pair are our free will and our mind. We use our mind to control our free will, which we use to choose what we do with our physical body.
What you have noticed is that our inner world is always experiencing external thought impulses that seek to direct our attention this way and that; for most of us, we merely let it lead us as it suggests.
Note that what I describe here is born of my Sufi tradition's teaching, but can also be found in a much different sense in Carlos Castaneda's very bizarre and dubious books, which I read many times in my younger years, and have yet to validate as true, but have found to contain many valuable lessons (useful allegory or strange reality? idk which yet).
Regardless, we are multidimensional creatures in a multidimensional universe, that contains six onion layers of differing vibrational planes, one of which our physical bodies inhabit, and another our energy bodies inhabit (our souls). Another pair contains sources of thoughts/feelings that are suggested to our mind as courses of action. Our job as the only moral beings of our plane is to ascertain their positivity/negativity and act according to loving positivity.
One negative example of our reality is the child's urge to steal a candy bar, but we can see a more deleterious example in cultures that have adoped falsehoods as a foundation of belief (they are particularly dangerous here in America now). Note that we are free to choose to believe in anything whatsoever, no matter how untrue or ridiculous. It takes a lifetime of careful consideration to hone one's ability to know truth from falsehood, which is part thoughtfulness and part feeling. One cannont develop that ability without committing oneself to a life of compassion. (Finland is directly teaching its children about misinformation; good job, Fins!)
As to the physical multidimensionalness of the universe, 5/6th of the universe is dark matter, as the matter in the other layers of the onion do not directly interact with ours but yet (somehow -- I don't know the details yet) still affects the combined gravity (as evidenced by our measurements of galactic inertia). Dark matter is undetectable in our plane because we only have our plane's members to do the detection, but high-energy physics experiments can cause fleeting cross-over between the planes (I do not understand the details) since de Broglie (IIRC).
It's a huge topic, so I'll stop here, but my contact info is in my bio, and let me wrap with saying that we are not forced to become better or worse in terms of our contribution to the well-being of our fellow human beings and the Earth, itself, but a progression towards becoming utterly compassionate bearers of truth is the entire puspose of the "spiritual path", regardless of which flavor. Do note, please, that the liars of the world lose their ability to discern the truth, as a result of their abandoning compassionate service to humanity, which requires learning and living the truth of compassionate existence through choice.
You can also find a horrific example of what I describe here in the life of the Golden State Killer's, who describes how his being was invaded by an external entity that compelled him to do the awful things he did. The negative impulses we experience have the purpose of making creating unhappiness via the ramifications of our choices, both for ourselves and those around us. If you consider this carefully, you will begin to understand why the world is so polluted, is dangerously heating, and is filled with oppressors and the misery they inflict. It is our widespread ignorance of the truth of our beings that has left us mostly at the mercy of the selfish impulse-stream, instead of the drive to compassionately serve the happiness of others. The important fact is that we can each choose compassion as the basis for our choices, and that there are ways to purify our moral compass to effect a more perfect integration with the greater good.
Note that this is also the only path to personal peace and happiness, because karma is a fundamental law with our human-only moral plane. It is human-only because only we make moral choices in this physical plane. And all our choices affect all other human beings, to some level, and billions of us sure do add up.
This includes movements of attention: attention is drawn to a sound perception because a frog makes a sound, then conditioned on interest being high interest dwindles, conditioned on that plus nerves shooting in the back a sensation catches the attention, it goes to a thought of planning that appears conditioned on you having a deadline tomorrow...
Even the arising of intention to move the hand arises at that moment conditioned on other things (that include you playing around with your perception a moment ago, pre-existing view around how decision work and wanting to prove it, having a hand...)
Looking for conditionality in everything we might identify with - thoughts, perceptions, intention... - is a central practice in numerous schools of Early Buddhism, and can lead to a deep, deep sense of letting go, inhabiting a flow of things "just unfolding", and classical insights around what our sense of self actually is.
I've never really liked the present-tense expression of this idea. If you are watching your attention, is that you directing your attention at your attention? Can you step back again and watch yourself watching yourself watch yourself?
Or is it really a past-tense thing where you notice that your attention has drifted?
A body scan can serve this: by checking out everything that I feel and think, I can identify and address irritations that would potentially cause me to not be fully present later. Like a checklist. Safety? Check. Where am I in space and time? Check. Thirst, Hunger? Check. Need to go to the toilet? Check. Comfort? Check. Now, after all that and more, I can better aim to relax into being fully present, ignoring everything that would cause distractions, like thoughts. During the body scan however, I am not fully present.
In answer to your question, it’s hard to explain. But no, I don’t find it possible to step back again and observe that meta process. I just tried.
And it is definitely a present-tense action.
It may be that it is merely as you say, directing attention to attention, but it doesn’t diminish the free-flow experiential aspect of the exercise, or the intellectual curiosity.
Just to flesh out the experience, if I’m not paying attention to my experience, attention is still wandering all over the place, I’m just “in it” so to speak, and not noticing. When I observe it happening it has a very different quality to it.
Not to get esoteric, but the best way I could describe it is that there seems to be some observing faculty seperate to the usual sense of self. Which might explain why the exercise can’t devolve into an endless paying attention to paying attention to paying attention…
I have tried it and for me I can only notice that my attention has drifted after it has drifted. I've never noticed that my brain is currently trying to turn an auditory signal into a meaningful symbol (symbol is probably not the right word). I only notice that I heard a dog bark.
typing this up, I realize I'm not totally sure to what extent this is something that was happening before the practice vs something that developed from it [i.e. less habitual energy spent blocking things out], but either way I recommend it :)
I feel I am an abstract mesh of "virtual sensory nodes" inside the network of my brain. These nodes are free flowing in the abstract multi-dimensional network - but in varying degrees of freedom. While the inner core of this abstract sensory entity is the "me" I have total perfect grasp on, the outer nodes sway here and there a little bit. When I start meditating - I start to access the information touching these outer sensors. They are by default moving "a little", I just get more aware of them. But I being the core of this entity, can easily sway them to any other place.
I guess meditation is fun.
I can't recommend Castaneda's work, but it does present interesting perspectives on intention and attention, even if I'm not sold that he was an honest or accurate or even well-intentioned narrator. That said, the character of Don Juan conveys much wisdom, but are the books allegorical fiction or fantastical non-ordinary-but-actual reality? I don't know yet, and maybe I never will.
I have enjoyed reading "The Mind Illuminated" by John Yates. The book is a meditation guide and includes descriptions of experiences like yours.
The gist of the article reminds me of a quote from the famous pianist Clara Schumann who would admonish her more virtuosic students for striving to play through passages as rapidly as possible.
"Why hurry over beautiful things? Why not linger and enjoy them?"
I can see that.
Toward the end of his life Einstein had a conversation with Rudolf Carnap (ca 1953-54):
“Einstein said that the problem of Now worried him seriously. He explained that Now means something special for men, something essentially different from the past and the future, but that this important difference dies not and cannot occur within physics.”
Einstein was still struggling with counterpoints made by Bergson in their famous 1922 debate on time and the meaning of duration.
Neuroscience is just beginning to give us more insights into Now and I am reasonably confident that we will find solid (satisfying) physical explanations for human temporality (more so than those of Bergson, Husserl, and Heidegger). But this will not remove the personal mysteries of attention and being in the flow.
For a modern approach to this mindset I highly recommend "Seeing That Frees" by Rob Burbea.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/08772fe1-564c-4a95-9a5d-...
Burbea has many talks as well, youtube or on other podcast platforms. Hours and hours and hours of talks that are all so helpful on understanding in the word form.
Channel of his talks: https://www.youtube.com/@boubabuddha
I find this playlist great as a starting point if you want to get into it, and one that I can go back to: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO6hhaAzLmioyOxMi8ELP...
I'm not too interested in Buddhism specifically, but I have been separating myself from technology more, and It's been great savoring the little moments I used to completely miss.
I will also point out that one of the founding documents is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor. He was nothing if not political.
However, there are two things I would like to share that the article doesn't mention but are of deep importance when it comes to directing attention and 'mastering' one's mind.
First, approaching this as a way to 'master' or conquer your mind isn’t going to take us very far. There is nothing to master. Our minds are the ones wandering, and we, as living conscious beings, can observe the mind and make use of it. However, the idea of mastery is the mind itself trying to master itself, which won't lead us anywhere. If one thinks they have mastered their own mind, it is just the mind in control again, and you are merely acting on its desires rather than on intent that comes from deep within.
Second, and of extreme importance: one cannot give their full attention to the present out of fear. To many, this may sound strange and incomprehensible, but from my own experience delving into meditation and exploring my consciousness through altered states (e.g., hallucinogens), I can confirm that it is fear that prevents us from giving all of our attention even to the smallest things: a still object, a sound, or the feeling of your feet touching the floor. All of these sensory experiences, which for the most part occupy and illuminate the present moment, require something that is the ultimate fear of our minds: death. To be totally present in the moment is to die to the ever-restless and busy mind, and the fear of this death is no different to your mind than the fear of physical death. Even if temporary, full attention in the present moment represents the end of your dreams, desires, and sense of identity, along with everything that permeates it. I know this because the liberation that comes through certain drugs unlocks the potential to fully focus on the present moment. When you try, you may fail miserably because you start fearing what you sense and what you see.
https://vonnik.substack.com/p/how-to-take-your-brain-back
There are many techniques to increase our CC. The ADHD community is a trailblazer in this respect.
I take a 25 second break every 5 minutes, and use this time to do one hand and wrist exercise (I keep some resistance bands and hand exercise balls at the desk). I take a 5 minute break every 25 minutes. I will either do some stretches, or a quick chore (e.g. vacuum one room).
It seems I wrote my own keycounter for RSI last year but I never added timers/lockouts. I'll have a look at this workrave. Thanks.
I did pick the times because of the symmetry of the numbers (:
I failed at first by either not setting the time or igoring it, but just kept trying to come back to it more and more. Eventually I stuck to it and then it became a habit. I even do it in the evenings now so that I don't sit too long or get overstimulated but that's a bit harder to stick to consistently.
The DOJ recently filed the first big post-Covid telehealth suit against a California ADHD treatment company (aka Adderal distribution) called Done, and it’s honestly fascinating to read the blog posts written by the founding doctor. His professional and philosophical opinion is that ADHD is a wildly underdiagnosed neurological state that can come and go over a lifetime, especially in reaction to attention-degrading “exocortices” as your article calls them. Obviously his credibility is damaged by the fact that he made ~$2.5M off that stance, but still, I think there might be something there. His favorite citation is Hippocrates, though I’ve never actually looked for the primary source he’s referring to.
The big exception to my complaint above is, in 2024, of course Stoicism, probably because it’s so damn cool (a book by an ancient general on how to be stronger? Sign me up!) and can be downright utopian when summarized in the right way, promising you eternal control. The article above clearly takes the general Stoic framework for granted in the very first paragraph, so I was more than a little surprised not to see it cited directly.
Another very apparent shortcut to ADHD treatment, also not universally accepted, is called endogenous adrenaline - the simplest drug molecule as somebody (Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash if memory serves right) designated it, and extreme sports provide a lot of it for free. This article though, does not seem to be about any of these - adrenaline or sports. Extreme sports such as snowboarding, downhill biking, paragliding (not really a sport), motorbiking, etc… are all about said state of flow and attention. No other activities I can think of that impact ADHD so quick and profound. Cause you loose your attention only once with these things.
I do think this article plays a little light on what you can do, and how much of it you’ll need to do, to actually tame your attention. I do a lot of things. I don’t keep my mobile phone near me when I don’t want to use it. I do mindfulness. I plan to head out at 9:00 if I’m really supposed to head out at 9:15 because that means I’ll get out at 9:13-9:17 and not stress about it leaving more energy to focus my attention. I do the drugs, in my case Lisdexamfetamin is the least shitty. I ride my bike everywhere. I walk in the woods. I do a lot of things like that and it helps, but it’s not like it’s quite as simple as this article might make it sound. Even if you do it in small steps.
I think the biggest difference between how we deal with ADHD and attention here and the article is that we don’t focus on attention. We view ADHD as an “energy deficiency”. This is because you pay attention to too many things with ADHD, which means you run out of energy sooner than regular people. At which point you can’t pay attention to things that aren’t interesting to you. What is worse is that you’ll hyperfocus on things that, are, interesting and that will drain your energy as well. You’ll probably also forget to eat because you don’t really feel hunger, again draining you. Anyway, to live with ADHD in Denmark is in large parts about managing a fuel tank which is simply much smaller than everyone else’s. Because you need the fuel to pay attention.
This reminds me of a popular saying by Vivekananda
‘Everybody’s mind becomes concentrated at times. We all concentrate upon those things we love, and we love those things upon which we concentrate our minds.’
This search/yarn for attention/concentration is a core principle of yoga, and only more relevant with the bombardement of information we have to take on daily base.
Source: https://vivekavani.com/swami-vivekananda-quotes-concentratio...
As a disclaimer: I’m baptised as an Orthodox Christian (in an autocephalous church which is neither Russian, nor Greek), so you can take the above from a philosophical not religious perspective.
Basically everything else is about energy preservation.
https://vonnik.substack.com/p/a-few-ideas-that-made-my-life-...
Another good thing to do is block out the energy-suckers; ie distractions, especially the screen-based ones.
Isn't the fuel dopamine? What you said reminds me of this explanation of ADHD from /r/explainlikeimfive¹:
“When you know you have to do something, your brain requires a certain amount of chemicals (including dopamine) for you to start and stay engaged in that activity. A person without ADHD will go "I need to write my essay." And the brain will go "ok, here is 1 unit of "starting a task" chemicals to get you started." A half hour later the person says, "hey I found interesting information on something else, but I need to stay focused on my paper" and the brain will go "you're right. The paper is more important. Here is a unit of concentration chemicals, use them for the paper" And this repeats basically until their task is complete, then the brain goes, "yay! You finished! Here's some happy chemicals, and an extra shot of dopamine" the dopamine hit solidifies a positive relationship with getting the paper accomplished.
A person with ADHD will go like this: "I need to write my paper. Brain, can you give me concentration chemicals?" And the brain says "I'm sorry I don't have any, no." So they struggle with getting focused. If they manage to force themselves to sit, they may see something else and think, "this is really interesting, but I need to stay focused on my paper." But the brain goes "hey I found some concentration chemicals, but you can only use them for this other thing. If you so much as look at your paper I will destroy all the concentration chemicals we have! Plus, I'll send out unhappy chemicals and you will be miserable and possibly even feel pain, but yeah I'm going to dump an ungodly amount of concentration chemicals on this other thing so good luck"
So basically even if the ADHD person WANTS to write their paper, the brain will not produce them chemicals necessary for them to stay focused on it and even if they DONT want to do "the other thing" their brain chemicals won't let them stop focusing on it.”
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vn1je2/e...
At first there was the adrenaline spike, when it wore off then the body exhaustion kicked in, and when my body started to recover, the week was almost over again and I could get another dose.
Over the past couple years I tried to avoid the risk a little and been just doing "easy" mountainbike tours. And oh boy, that's the thing for me. I think only my brother can relate how that feels to me. It starts out like a normal bike ride, but my eyes are always on the outlook for some fun spots (where can I jump up/over/down? How long can I wheelie today? You name it..). This combined with hours of just mundane paddeling is the way for me. Keeps stress levels low and my mind at ease, plus a few fun adrenaline spikes.
BUT ritalin is still a great great relieve for me. Though I wish I would not need it. For now it works, but I'll try to find habits that will hopefully make it obsolete one day. And the diagnosis was a good starting point for that, because now I know why my brain behaves different than others
Everything else totally matches my experience and also resonates very strong and could potentially imply link between adhd and extreme sports. Would love to see an article on this topic, but I’m not trained in medicine so I can’t do it with reasonable credibility.
Whoever does it may cite comments here. A waiver.
I wouldn't call it technique. ADHD is the one condition of the mind that can be treated with medication with greater success than any other, and yet it is under-diagnosed in children and adults.
If you want to truly slow time down and live in the moment exercise incredibly hard. Something like a grueling CrossFit workout can make it feel like ten minutes never took so long. Time slows down when each second is exhausting mental and physical anguish to keep your legs pedaling on an assault bike. I love it!
Anybody with tips or exchanges with regards to Stoicism or other fields such as Bhuddism? I have the feeling it also has these concepts but I am very new with all this.
It has a bit of pop culture sheen to it presently but the content is still quality.
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That was a bit too small and wide to read otherwise.
Anyways, some comments on the content:
Meditation helps to reclaim the attention. I currently meditate 1 hour per day on average and am definitely noticing my mind jumping anywhere and everywhere. I'm beginning to see patterns. One of the biggest patterns is that whatever I consumed for the last 2 or 3 days pops up in my mind as a thought much more often than I'd want. So whatever my inputs are, it's important. In that sense, I might want to consider doing an "input reset", i.e. just a week of mostly stillness before I continue my life.
When you Are who you are, you will Do what you do, and likely find greater success because it comes from who you are, not what someone is telling you to do…
This! One thing is to find an oasis of attention from time to time, but the goal should be to fill it so that it becomes the sea, and that is extremely difficult (for starters due to the traps of modern attention seeking algorithms, but not only...).
It feels like the perfect union of form and content, at least given the constraints of it being online, which by its very nature encourages distractions, flitting from one thing to another, reading many things, comprehending none, constantly switching what we're doing. (I noticed this while reading that - the urge to read something easier, simpler, with more shiny attention-grabbing things. It's the first time I've seriously experimented with Google's reading mode.) But, of course, a print publication, better-suited to the form, would get much less traction.
I mean, this mind stuff doesn't really work if you're mentally ill, chronically stressed, worried about work/bills/relationships, chronically ill, stressed from caring for children/elderly, stressed from war/politics, oppressed, etc and I say that as a two decades long Buddhist practitioner and meditator.
All this wavey-gravy stuff doesn't work without some type of moral framework. When he says "strength" what exactly does he mean? When he says 'life is meant to be this way' how can he possibly defend what life is meant to be? This is just a lot of empty nothings dressed up as important.
What we do know is that we're animals evoloved from other animals that until very recently lived in smaller tribal groups or nomadic settlements, where our society saw innate value in us, had an extended family taking care of us, etc. Our modern life is the opposite of that. We're sort of shoved into the capitalist system, told to figure out a career and often after traumatizing 13+ years of schooling, then thrown into the job market, dealing with the pain of full time work if we can even get a steady good job which a lot of people don't, dealing with a system not invested in us but would love to get rid of us especially if we're costly, different, queer, minority, old, 'not competitive', not a good 'culture fit', neurodivergent, etc.
So what do these essays really do? Not much. You will never revisit it. You will never bother because why? It doesnt fit your ethics or philosophy. Its empty pablum. Now if you built out values and said, "Productivity and business norms, as we know it, is actually bad and that's the cause of much of this pain, and we should be building frameworks, businesses, governments, and social norms to encourage downtime, rest, meditation-like activities, etc." Then yes, go for it, but be warned this will take you down a path where you'll be attacked for it for being anti-capitalist or socialist or whatever. Your friends, relatives, coworkers, etc you saw on your side will fight you. Your political party will label you a dangerous radical. So instead we get "just try to think like a zen buddhist to finish your TPS reports," junk like this, that very much ignores the elephant in the room. The world is on fire, its perfectly normal to feel stressed at that. Your stress is often valid and comes from a valid place.
So like you said, its written in this 'spiritual master' kind of way to give it gravitas it doesn't deserve, to make it seems more important than it is, and to fool people into thinking they're the problem and their lack of "mind mastery" is the problem, instead of the system that causes all this pain. Why are you so worried, those are valid worries! Why do you rush through things? You're not given enough time! Why are you dealing with trauma and burnout? Because that's what our system leads to, especially for skill workers and other types of workers weighed heavily on productivity.
"Mind mastery," is the new 'stiff upper lip' or 'skill issue' or 'quit complaining.' That is to say, its the new con to keep the status quo working as-is to benefit the few. You should be complaining and advocating for change that allows you more downtime, rest, "detigering" yourself, and such so that "mind mastery" isn't this ridiculous task but something that can start coming easier for us because we are then given the resources, time, cultural norms, and buy-in to achieve it. Look at how many retired people get into things like time in nature, slow burn experiences, writing novels, making art, meditation, contemplation, spirituality, a slow lifestyle, etc when before they are rushed and stressed 24/7. When we give people room, they will naturally gravitate towards stuff like this. We should be giving more room to the workers who haven't retired because they want this too and they won't get it via flowery essays, but via downtown, less work hours, better workplaces, better benefits, more social buy-in, more regulation that benefit the working class, valuing low stress and slower lifestyles, investment in mental health resources, medicine access for all, longer vacations, guaranteed long maternity/paternity, etc.
If you're denied many of these thing all the 'mind mastery' junk in the world doesn't work. You'll just float between guys like this, books from Buddhists, books from Stoics, Sun Tzu, Toaism, New Age, secular humanism, theraputic models, various psychiatric drugs, etc and none of it will really work because the system isn't giving you the space and resources to actually become a "mind master" or whatever you want to call it. In fact, being a "mind master" may be a fool's errand, at least past a certain level of practicing meditation. Sad things are supposed to make us sad, hard things should stress us, vulnerable things should be said and respected for being said, etc. Being "above it all with no feeling" is a ridiculous maladaption to a harmful system.
Yes, meditation and mindfulness are nice but they're a bandaid, and a lot of people, I'd say 99% of us, don't need bandaids we need surgery, that is to say, the system is injuring us faster than we can heal and at that point, the path to actual healing, having a relaxed mind, etc is systemic change, not these little essays that say very little, if anything, of substance. This is why people float from new age stuff and self-help stuff and back and forth and back and forth with new 'gurus' and 'truth tellers' and such discovered and discarded their whole lives and never get relief. This stuff doesn't work because their boats are filling with water faster than they can empty it. No flowery prose changes that reality.
So if your skeptical meter is going off, this is probably why, and you're valid to question these narratives and their presentation.
I agree with some of what you say, although I think it idealizes the past more than it deserves. My mother fled small town America exactly because it was intrusive and allowed very little divergence from small-town values. The embrace and care came with a price tag.
Being a human has always been hard. Peasants struggled with material scarcity, a system that was brutally unfair, and very constraining social expectations.
And I have suffered from depression, particularly post-divorce. I know what it is like. Mindfulness won't eliminate that, but it does help, and it's far more than a band-aid. Mindfulness is, in many ways, clarifying your thoughts... realizing that you have have a tape loop repeating things that don't seem useful or related to the circumstance. Seeing that your emotional weather comes and goes. We don't escape the weather, but to be aware of it allows us to better account for it in our thinking.
This might seem very vague but a discussion on something so first-person as the mind is ripe for that kind of thing.
Which is resolved with dialogue. If the contradictions are brought up.
In my experience noting contradictions usually leads to evasive memes and anger/unhappiness.
Or, how about if science had only received 1% of the total funding it has?
"It (seems like it) is my opinion that {some opinion}" has very few ways of going wrong, and has the side benefit of reminding one that they're dealing with a subjective map, which is in part the goal of most authors of such pieces, imho anyways.
I think mindfulness gang could up their game.
Sometimes you just need a footnote in your profile of "thoughts are of my own" and to not worry about the peanut gallery.
> "It is tempting, in moments of ambition, to think that we must change everything all at once, that the path to mastery or peace requires a sudden, dramatic shift. But this is rarely the case. In truth, most lasting changes come from small, deliberate actions."
For people trapped in abusive relationships, drug addiction, or unsustainable economic positions, this is terrible advice - a dramatic shift is precisely what is needed. For those in stable situations where improvement by increment is entirely possible, this is great advice. The challenge lies in figuring out which is which.
This essay is taking a philosophical tack, but what came to my mind was a practical reality of my favorite hobby: road cycling.
You can wear all the safety gear, cover your bike in flashing lights and your body in high vis, but the only thing really keeping you safe is your own focus on the road and the other vehicles.
What about the OP specifically appeals? Happy to point you at some other things if I can.
I have no affiliation and get no kickback. It has simply been quite useful for me.
I also noticed that your previous blog's name (stormrider) is somehow similar to mine (cyclinginthewind) haha.
Similar to knolling, it methodically arranges ideas and concepts in an orderly way, encouraging the reader to appreciate each in its own space. The writing is intentionally uncluttered, asking the reader to focus on the essentials, without rushing through or trying to grasp everything at once.
The writing itself serves as an exercise in mindfulness, requiring the reader to approach it with the same careful attention that the author advocates for in life.
It started to rain again, just a light rain. The people from downstairs called up to me once again to hurry. And my thoughts became more urgent, more strange.
I asked myself, what is true about a person? Would I change in the same way the river changes color but still be the same person? And then I saw the curtains blowing wildly, and outside rain was falling harder, causing everyone to scurry and shout. I smiled. And then I realized it was the first time I could see the power of the wind. I couldn’t see the wind itself, but I could see it carried the water that filled the rivers and shaped the countryside. It caused men to yelp and dance.
I wiped my eyes and looked in the mirror. I was surprised at what I saw. I had on a beautiful red dress, but what I saw was even more valuable. I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts inside that no one could see, that no one could ever take away from me. I was like the wind.
I threw my head back and smiled proudly to myself. And then I draped the large embroidered red scarf over my face and covered these thoughts up. But underneath the scarf I still knew who I was. I made a promise to myself: I would always remember my parents’ wishes, but I would never forget myself.
Took a while to kick it out.
The thoughts expressed aren't entirely new; indeed Buddhism has been teaching this for millennia (or two). But, good to read this now and then to be reminded of a more deliberate, slow(er) and intent-ful life.
Kudos! <3
Sherlock Holmes seems to have read this article as well :-)
- Buddhism's mindfulness
- Taoism's natural flow/simplicity
- Stoicism's control of own's mind
- Mindfulness teachings from Jon Kabat-Zinn and/or Thich Nhaat Hanh
- Cognitive Behavioral Techniques
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's flow states
- Literature/poetry from Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Also, a left out item that we have direct access to sense, manipulation, cultivation: our bodies.
you won’t be free from hunger, but it may reframe our relationship with food so there is less compulsion and mindless consumption.
it won’t take away fear in the face of imminent danger (that’s a good thing, we have to survive) but it may reduce background anxiety that’s present in our daily lives.
like, I cannot freely choose to do X today, because (iE: capitalism environment) demands me to do certain other things that bring in money to live comfortably. I could make a tradeoff somewhere, but that very tradeoff itself limits actual freedom.
therefore to maximize actual freedom, we're looking at eliminating constraints that limit freedom, like the need to make money somehow, which would be a dramatic society change not everyone agrees to.
its hard. and wonky. so everyone uses it only through a personal belief lense.
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Is this not trivially obvious at all moments of consciousness? The assumptions here make no sense.
Your heartbeat is a constant 24/7 but you rarely notice it outside of moments of quiet contemplation. Same deal here, we’re really good at ignoring most things because we would be unable to function without blocking just about everything else out. Arguably a great deal of our economy is based around people actively trying to avoid actually contemplating anything deeply.
I didn't find the article particularly pretentious, or "self-scripture", whatever that may be.
Perhaps dive in, reflect, and then ask after you've read the whole article whether it was pretentious "self-scripture" before assuming it is. As a heuristic, your current method seems a bit over-fitted to a false premise.
I’ve stopped reading the news for a while now. There are times I only catch up on big news, weeks after they happen. The media tends to mix the important and the irrelevant, often adding sensationalism to stories that don’t really matter to you, and an unguarded mind can easily fall for it. If something major happens, it’ll reach you eventually. Everything else is mostly irrelevant and just a distraction. Worrying about things we can’t control is a waste of our attention.
While ideas are often exaggerated, actions are undervalued. Yet small, intentional actions are the key to mental well-being. Adding a simple 10-minute routine to a part of your day can naturally help structure the moments before and after that routine. I believe these small steps are essential for cultivating balance in one’s life.
one of my favorite books about this that i can not recommend enough is “the miracle of mindfulness” by thich nhat hanh.
And our bodies.
Our information-technology driven culture does not help; the algorithms and shiny objects they push undermine our attention-ability.
I’m not working on it toooo hard. This is something I think some AI software tool might swoop in and solve before I can build something I’m happy with.
Ultimately, it comes down to why one consumes news at all. If it's to have something to discuss around the water cooler or dinner table, that's a very different use case than someone trying to pattern match on world events for trading stocks or selling their wares.
"Today ChatGPT read 6997 news articles and gave 0 of them a significance score over 6.5."
It’s why sensory isolation is valuable.
Shut out the world and hear what’s being drowned out by the mad scramble to control our attention…
> step by step... Just as a mountain is climbed not in great leaps but in steady, measured steps
Umm, why does it need to be like a mountain climber and not a multi-core GPU with parallel processing? In fact when thinking about a difficult problem it's best to abandon a narrow incremental way of thinking for a much wider holistic one.
> It asks that we slow down, that we look more closely
What if not all brains are equal and some can move leaps and bounds where others are just able to barely scratch the surface?
> This process of simplification is not an escape from complexity. It is, in fact, a way of engaging with it more meaningfully.
No, pretty sure it is an escape from complexity and it doesn't make it not so just because you added that sentence. You are saying cut down the stuff that goes on in your brain at any given instance, you have two choices to do that a. speed up your thinking b. reduce the number of things going on. You certainly did not advocate for a so b it is.
> It is tempting, in moments of ambition, to think that we must change everything all at once, that the path to mastery or peace requires a sudden, dramatic shift. But this is rarely the case. In truth, most lasting changes come from small, deliberate actions.
I like this bit and I think clarity does come from deliberate actions. But again very much sounds like something that someone with ADHD would say.
> This is not about control in the traditional sense, but about clarity. To act, not from reflex, but from intent.
That sounds like control to me, to act from intent means you are in the driver's seat and not a merely reactionary passenger. Yup I know there is stigma against control and more so in recent times, but in essence you're saying control without actually saying it because of the fear of negative associations with that word.
I abhor deepity, pseudo-profundity that provides no path for the average.
Tell me, the dullard, what is the practical approach?
How do I recognize or pay attention to the present? What does truly matter? Again, how do I recognize quiet spaces in between? Finally, how do I recognize state of clarity, of peace, and of freedom? What is the benefit to me and what are the steps for a simpleton to achieve said state?
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if you lost your health, you have lost something
if you lost your peace, you have lost everything
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Aio-lrVo8
(Gus Van Sant's first short movie, definitely HN worthy)
That isn't to say I fully discount mindfulness but rather the art of people being able to say a lot about ultimately nothing.
I am partial to the mindfulness idea. But that doesn’t mean that I like everything that it is written on the topic. Some pieces on the topic are a bit too opinionated on what exactly mindfulness and attention are. Too opinionated to be short pieces on it. But this one just says that you can be curious about what the mind does and observe that it has a mind of its own. Which is true in my experience.
Your critique is fair of course.
[0] https://hms.harvard.edu/news/half-worlds-population-will-exp...
Can we stop discouraging comments in the comment section? It gets so tiresome.
My intent was not to moralize and I'm uncertain to what part of my original comment could be interpreted as a moral stance.
The two situations are simply not comparable.
Who are you and how are you privy to what I can and cannot do without intervention? Where do you get off?
Your experience may be different, and that is fine and valid. The point I'm trying to make (and that you're also making) is that things that are fundamental truths for some are not always applicable or valid from the context of another person's lived experience.
Now you say that. But you made a very clear, absolute statement that these people “cannot have full control of their minds without medical intervention”.
And everyone’s lived experience is eventually respected with some back and forth in these exchanges. But making absolute statements about what people can or cannot do cuts both ways. So it’s best to make your vantage point clear from the start.[1]
I’m personally much more offended when someone says that my “type” cannot do something. Compared to assuming that I can.
Thanks for the clarification.
[1] For all we knew you could have been a medical researcher.
Learning to be okay with medication has taken a long time. But the last couple decades of research have made a few things clear. Importantly, ADHD has been shown to be a genetic disorder, wherein your brain simply doesn't produce the same amount of dopamine receptors as a normal person.
This has a profound impact on your mood, executive functioning skills, motor function and more. Drugs which increase the dopamine available in your system can have negative effects (some extra dopamine gets shunted to your motor cortex and causes motor dysfunction/aggravates tics) but when you consider that 60% of ADHD sufferers are also diagnosed with depression, or in my case a large comorbidity with OCD and bipolar disorder, it becomes clear how valuable medicine can be.
ADHD is beginning to be understood as a reward-deficiency syndrome [0] and in this light, meditation/mindfulness and good habits are only coping mechanisms for an underlying condition which is ultimately genetic and massively aided by dopaminergic drugs. The result is literally night and day for many people, especially those who did not get diagnosed until adulthood and never developed coping mechanisms.
> But making absolute statements about what people can or cannot do cuts both ways.
I just lost one of my best friends last year because I moved in with him and experienced incredible prejudice around my disorder, which he was convinced was made up and not real. He would wax on and on about mindfulness, and constantly get defensive and aggressive at the slightest, most inconsequential manifestations of my disorder, and it rapidly deteriorated my mental health at a time where I was already in dire need of a safe space. His bias and increasingly erratic response to my disorder made me feel unsafe until I had no choice but to leave. The entire experience was very traumatic and reminded me of all the times as a child that my disorders lead to punishment and physical abuse. Some people have mild ADHD and it might be a slight convenience for them, but in my case it has been a major defining aspect of my life with a long list of consequences over the years.
The OP says "exert some mastery over", which is a far cry from the "full control" you say some people cannot have.
With mindfulness it's even worse because there is no way to track how strong your equanimity is. You can't know if you are making progress or just deluding yourself.
Now getting rid of the bad habits and keeping only the good ones, that is the hard part.
Any serious psychiatrist will confirm that medication is immensely helpful to the majority of ADHD cases if not all. Our brains are just different, chemistry-wise.
I don't know why people get so offended by this notion.
The world isn't limited by your imagination.
I don't even understand what your point is.
Which is my opinion. Which doesn’t silence anyone.
Definitely not all. Medication doesn't work for something like 10% ~ 20% of us. In my case it worked well for 6 months and gradually I acclimated to it and the effects went away, I switched medications and had the exact same experience. I gave up after that.
Right - hence "might", not "do"; and "some", not "full".
The title, and quoted passage, are fully applicable to those with the listed conditions and without. The advice from the post supplements medical intervention for folks requiring it.
Well, that's not true at all.
When people make sweeping simple statements about matters that can't possibly be trivial - it makes me wonder how much most people resemble LLMs.
I'm sympathetic to spiritual matters but the field is littered with people who are deeply confused.