One of the firsts things you learn when you go to a monastery is to learn how the mind works. Because once you learn that, you can control it, and once you can control your mind you can FOCUS.
You cannot focus or concentrate on something you don’t understand. That’s why it’s important to understand your mind.
Source – Danapani ( a Hindu priest that might change your life ).
When people say “life’s too busy, I can’t simplify”. It’s because they don’t want to change, nobody is holding a gun to their heads saying “You have to do this, associate with that, do more of this”.
It’s not at all like that, you choose to do all those things. When people say “you need to be on Facebook, or Snapchat” they really think that you need to be there, but you don’t if you don’t want to.
What most people must realize and think about is “Can I sustain being on this platform? Or doing this new thing?” Can you sustain the little bit more energy you have to put in every day?
You need to think of energy the same way you think about money. You only have so much to divide it between all the things you need to do.
If you are already too busy don’t take on anything else, think about dropping some energy-consuming habits that don’t help you so much. Like less TikTok or Snapchat.
You cannot create or destroy energy. But you can transfer it from one thing to another.
If you can’t create more energy to give, you need to give up something to take on something else. Otherwise, your battery will be so drained that you will feel drained all the time.
The average person sleeps 7-8 hours. So that leaves 16hours to be awake. Let’s say on average you’re practicing 13 hours a day – 7 days a week distraction.
The law of practice is that you become good at whatever it is you’re practicing.
Whether it’s positive or negative. If you practice it long enough over and over again you become extremely good at it.
That’s why people are so good at distracting themselves because they have practiced it for way too long without even realizing it.
Technology is a great thing, they can also be your distractors, but only if you let them. Technology in itself is not a distraction if you’re in charge of it.
But if every time you’re smartphone “beeps” and you instantly checking it. Then the smartphone is your “Master”. It’s training you to be distracted.
But if you use technology for your own advantage and you take control of it without letting take control of you.
So How Does The Mind Work From A Monk’s Perspective?
There are two things we need to understand.
1. Awareness
2. The Mind
Imagine awareness as a glowing ball of light. And your mind as a vast area with different sections within it.
Different areas such as anger, sex, jealousy, happiness, art, science, school, joy, etc.
Now this glowing bawl of light called awareness can travel within the mind and it can go to any area it wants to go to.
When it goes to a particular area of the mind it lights up that area.
And when awareness lights up one area of the mind you become conscious of it. This is happening all day long.
We allow people and everyone around us to take our awareness from one area of the mind to another all day long.
To be concentrated is to be able to keep your awareness on one thing for an extended period of time.
How do we practice this?
One thing at a time through the day.
The best way to develop focus and concentration is to practice it all day long, every day of your life.
On your average day ask yourself what’s the best thing you can focus and practice your concentration on?
Every time you speak to your partner, spouse, wife, keep that ball of light, that awareness on that person, do not let yourself be distracted.
Every time it drifts away, brings it back, be aware of this.
The more you practice, the better you will be at it.
The more you become better at the concentration.
