“Attention is the beginning of devotion.”---Mary Oliver
Pay attention. Pay attention. There’s a good chance that you heard this familiar command when you were a child. There’s also a good chance that you were never taught how to pay attention. It has been said that “attention is the new currency”.
Countless apps, websites, etc are designed to steal your attention.
The booming popularity of Mindfulness raises the question -What is Mindfulness?
A commonly used definition of mindfulness states that mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to things as they are in the present moment, with kindness and non-judgment.
The practice of mindfulness is a practice of learning to stay in the present moment
through developing our capacity to pay attention. Thich Nhat Hanh talks about how listening to the bell reminds us to come home to the present moment and to enjoy our breathing. He continues in saying:
The sound of the bell brings about appropriate attention, the kind of attention that turns on good things like mindfulness and joy. But there are other sounds and sights that bring our attention to negative things like craving, fear, anger, distress
Attention and time are two of the most precious things. The practice of mindfulness and meditation shines a light on the quality of our attention. As we sit in stillness with our thoughts, memories, plans and worries, we begin to learn more about what we are
paying attention to. As meditation practice develops we may also become more aware of how this relates to how we are spending our time.
In her piece entitled Upstream, the poet Mary Oliver writes about being separated from her parents in the woods as a child. Rather than feeling panicked she achieved a sense of attentiveness that she recalls, began “her life as a noticer”. She sees, “One tree is like another, but not too much. One tulip is like the next tulip, but not altogether. More or less like people--a general outline, then the stunning individual strokes.” This discovery of the “harmonies and also the discords of the natural world” fills her with ecstatic joy. The piece ends, “Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
As we meet this Monday we will reflect on the following--
How would you describe your recent experience with attention and being pulled by distraction(s)?
What practices contribute to your ability to pay attention?
What does attention is the beginning of devotion apply to your practice of mindfulness and meditation?
I look forward to our time together.
--Mick
“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh
Poet Mary Oliver said, “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” You cannot love something you do not (really) see.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/05/mary-olivers-poetry-captures-our-relationship-technology/589039/