Tuesday, April 14, 2009

focussed awareness and attention

Awareness, I feel within me like a vast spread of sea, calm and placid at one time, and turbulent, restless at other times. Waves, ripples and froth at the surface are part and parcel. But attention usually is on one particular ripple, a particular wave, or a particular group of ripples. Attention is definitely not the same as awareness. It is a part but not the same. Focused awareness is attention, not the entire awareness focused, but a part of the awareness is focused on a ripple or wave. When the attention is not focused it is just part of awareness, disinterested awareness. Attention remains on a wave, say, on an event only so long as there is interest. Otherwise, the ever alert attention moves on from one wave, one ripple, i. e, one event, one thought to the other to settle for a while on each like a restless butterfly.
Awareness is vast like the limitless expanse of the sky. In that space lies everything of the present, past and future. Yet it looks empty because it is infinite. Nothing can exist without awareness, and for the same reason everything is awareness. Attention is awareness, a part of that vast space which seem to concentrate itself to form attention and flit around looking at itself and other parts of the space by focusing. Awareness is just there without moving, uninterested; but attention is forming and moving from one area of awareness to the other, probing, impatient, restless.

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