Guest guest Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 In our 'Communication Era' seeking distraction is considered normal. Distraction purveyors are not only flourishing, they seem to have taken over the communication industry, so we are bombarded with the banal, the shocking, and the lurid which, media executives, believe we crave. Even if the distraction we seek is a ' cut above' the usual TV fare, to be distracted means not to be wholly present. Synonyms of distraction are: alienation, and dissipation. The antonym of distraction is presence. Another word for distraction is to escape. But escape from what? Ask yourself, what are you fleeing from? Escape and distraction can not be a way to realization. The way to realization is ' global attention.' To be 'globally attentive' is not to pay exclusive attention to one particular thing ( as you do when being distracted) but to pay attention to the whole perceptual landscape. It's a sort of wide angle, unfocussed attention. Vision, sound, touch, bodily sensations, awareness itself is swallowed in one gulp. In this sort of attention, " the Other that is the Self " appears. I'm not suggesting we should always remain in that attentive state, but that we give it a try as a sadhana. I promise you, you'll like it! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 And now take that statement " objects are empty " . Would we seek distraction in " empty " objects ? No, we wouldn't. What we are seeking are " filled " objects, filled with " our-self " , with the self. What you call the global view is only possible when all objects have the same quality: Emptiness ... Werner Nisargadatta , Pete S <pedsie4@e...> wrote: > In our 'Communication Era' seeking distraction > is considered normal. Distraction purveyors are > not only flourishing, they seem to have taken > over the communication industry, so we are > bombarded with the banal, the shocking, and > the lurid which, media executives, believe we > crave. > > Even if the distraction we seek is a ' cut above' > the usual TV fare, to be distracted means not to be > wholly present. Synonyms of distraction are: > alienation, and dissipation. The antonym of > distraction is presence. Another word for distraction > is to escape. But escape from what? Ask yourself, > what are you fleeing from? Escape and distraction > can not be a way to realization. The way to realization > is ' global attention.' > > To be 'globally attentive' is not to pay exclusive attention > to one particular thing ( as you do when being > distracted) but to pay attention to the whole perceptual > landscape. It's a sort of wide angle, unfocussed > attention. Vision, sound, touch, bodily sensations, > awareness itself is swallowed in one gulp. In this sort > of attention, " the Other that is the Self " appears. I'm not > suggesting we should always remain in that attentive > state, but that we give it a try as a sadhana. > I promise you, you'll like it! > > Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Nisargadatta , Pete S <pedsie4@e...> wrote: > In our 'Communication Era' seeking distraction > is considered normal. Distraction purveyors are > not only flourishing, they seem to have taken > over the communication industry, so we are > bombarded with the banal, the shocking, and > the lurid which, media executives, believe we > crave. > > Even if the distraction we seek is a ' cut above' > the usual TV fare, to be distracted means not to be > wholly present. Synonyms of distraction are: > alienation, and dissipation. The antonym of > distraction is presence. Another word for distraction > is to escape. But escape from what? Ask yourself, > what are you fleeing from? Escape and distraction > can not be a way to realization. The way to realization > is ' global attention.' > > To be 'globally attentive' is not to pay exclusive attention > to one particular thing ( as you do when being > distracted) but to pay attention to the whole perceptual > landscape. It's a sort of wide angle, unfocussed > attention. Vision, sound, touch, bodily sensations, > awareness itself is swallowed in one gulp. In this sort > of attention, " the Other that is the Self " appears. I'm not > suggesting we should always remain in that attentive > state, but that we give it a try as a sadhana. > I promise you, you'll like it! > > Pete Is your writing here about distraction and global attention - a distraction? Len Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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