Unwavering focus

During my childhood, I often faced teasing due to my frequent distractions and inability to concentrate. If I were born in recent times, I might have been labeled with acronyms like ADD or ADHD and possibly subjected to medication as a remedy for my concentration challenges. However, it wasn't until my early twenties, after graduating from university in Australia, that I embarked on a transformative journey. I traveled to Hawaii and joined a traditional Hindu monastery led by a guru who taught me the art of concentration. This experience emphasized the importance of being taught how to concentrate, which, in my opinion, is lacking in today's society. Most individuals struggle to concentrate because they have never received formal instruction on concentration techniques and fail to practice concentration regularly. Reflecting on my audience, I inquire how many of them were taught how to concentrate during their school years, and unsurprisingly, only a few hands are raised. It is astonishing that we are often told to concentrate without being shown how to do so. I recall being told to concentrate countless times, whether it was on eating my food or doing my homework, but nobody ever demonstrated how to achieve it. Similarly, many parents tell their children to concentrate without providing guidance on how to do it, leading to a lack of focus. To excel at anything, we need both instruction and practice. For example, if I aspired to join the Chicago Bulls or dance with the San Francisco Ballet company, I would need to dedicate countless hours of practice. Similarly, if we spend hours every day practicing distraction, we become experts at it. However, the truth is that we practice distraction far more than we realize. With technology at our fingertips, distractions have become even more pervasive. While some blame smartphones and the internet for hindering concentration, I believe that technology itself is not the issue. It is how we interact with technology that determines whether it becomes a distraction or a useful tool. We must choose to engage with technology consciously and selectively. To improve concentration, we must first understand the workings of our mind. Sadly, there is no manual for the mind, despite it being the most powerful tool in the world. Upon joining the monastery, I learned about the mind and how it comprises two key elements: awareness and the mind itself. Awareness can be visualized as a glowing ball of light that can move within the vast expanse of the mind, which consists of various sections representing different aspects of our thoughts and experiences. When our awareness shines upon a particular area of the mind, we become conscious of it. Concentration is the art of keeping our awareness focused on one thing for an extended period, constantly bringing it back whenever it wanders. This exercise of understanding the mind and its relationship with awareness can be practiced by anyone. In a simple exercise, I guided the audience to become aware of their surroundings, recall specific memories, and observe the shifting of their awareness. By demonstrating this separation between awareness and the mind, I aimed to show that concentration is attainable through deliberate practice. Concentration can be cultivated by engaging in one task at a time throughout the day and continuously bringing our awareness back whenever it drifts. This practice can be applied to various aspects of our lives, such as giving undivided attention to our partners or spouses, thereby improving our ability to concentrate. Ultimately, concentration is a skill that can be developed through instruction, practice, and a conscious choice to focus our awareness on the present moment.