Earnestness – using our Focused Attention to set our trajectory
Last night Skyping with a dear beautiful client in the UK, I mentioned that my “current lot in life” is thanks to the persisted Focused Attention over the past 20 years. At that time I had no idea that it will have the effects it had, I was clueless to the outcome of that singular focus, all I knew was that I desire to know. I did not even know what I wanted to know, nor was it a burning desire to find myself, there was a just deep movement to know.
It was not persistent in every moment, nor every day. It was more of a general direction than a straight line. It did seemingly lead my decisions, sometimes after the fact. A consistent trajectory, with many course corrections along the way, ever fine tuning and penetrating deeper.
It lead me through many different paths; from the esoteric to the magical to the mystical: Western Psychology, I AM University, Toltec, Tibetan Buddhism, Kabbalah, Patanjali’s Raja Yoga, Coaching through Inner Life Skills (ILS)* and finally to Vedanta*. The one common denominator in all this time was Focused Attention to know.
It was in Vedanta that I found the puzzle clicking into place, all the pieces on the table rearranging itself in a glorious ordinary whole. Incidentally, BodyTalk is based on Vedanta and both entered my life at precisely the same time.
Vedanta is a science, wielded by a skillful teacher like Colleen-Joy* the logic is deadly to ignorance. Understanding the knowledge offered in Vedanta, it is clear that everything happens by the Intelligence (Ishvara/God) that governs this world, we are in effect not doing anything, we are more being done. Yet, our visceral experience is that of doing, of participating. This seems to be the great cosmic paradox and contradiction.
Pondering all this last night, I realised, it was like standing on a cosmic cliff. On the one side I have an intimate connection to the landscape of happenings and doings of life. Showing up when my presence is required, planning and making appointments. While simultaneously levitating over the cliff in Awareness (as Awareness) not doing anything. Ishvara is moving and doing it all, I merely have a great view of this extraordinary yet ordinary play of life.
Adyashanti* tells of how when the great Indian sage Nisargadatta* was asked about the most important quality to awaken, he said earnestness (one pointed focused attention). It is this Focused Attention that allows us to keep our eye on the trajectory that we feel moved to follow. Focused Attention accumulates and creates a momentum of its own. Over time it has unseen consequences that we could never imagine (more about seen and unseen consequences in a future blog).
Where are you placing your Focused Attention, where do you set your trajectory?
May you ponder your trajectory and place your Focused Attention there again and again.
[I made a clip for my clients in the past week, addressing the use of the Consciousness Scale from Power vs Force (see previous post) to set our trajectory. If you would like a copy of clip, pop me an email and I will gladly share it, as the current format of the voice clip is not compatible for the blog.]
*Credit
Coaching through Inner Life Skills (ILS)* – https://www.innerlifeskills.com/
Colleen-Joy https://www.enlightenedappletree.com/
Vedanta http://www.shiningworld.com/site/
Adyashanti – https://www.adyashanti.org/index.php?file=writings_inner&writingid=39
Nisargadatta – I AM THAT https://www.amazon.com/I-Am-That-Nisargadatta-Maharaj/dp/0893860468