6 min read

Last Updated on August 5, 2015

Attention and Intention are two important aspects of Self for those that wish to wake up and live life consciously.

To put it very simply attention is the application or focus of awareness.

Upon what do I place my awareness? Where I place or focus my awareness is where I am holding my attention.

The object of my awareness in any given moment is where I have placed my attention.

One might also be inclined to say that this is “what” I have placed my attention on—and this too would be accurate—yet this does not necessarily embody the fullness of what I mean when I use the word “where”. Spatially all things that I perceive are taking place within my consciousness. Events and phenomena manifest on the intersections or conglomerations of the strands of light (or information, life, intelligence) that are spread throughout the manifest universe (at a non-ordinary or non-physical level) which is actually all taking place within an infinite expanding Awareness. I don’t wish to go into this just now as it is rather complex and I find it rather challenging to explain in writing—and any attempt to do so here would take us deeply off the topic at hand. The only point I wish to make here is to just briefly bring to your attention that WHAT is at a deeper level actually about WHERE. I shall say no more.

On with the topic at hand: Reclaiming your attention
Attention is a blending of Awareness and Intent. I can hold an intention but I must then give my attention (applied awareness) to the formative forces, actions and non-actions that will bring the outcome of that Intention into my experience.

The ego will also pay attention to this which is NOT real. The ego will always pay attention to that which is transitory and passing. The ego also therefore pays attention to the superficial element of reality—to the appearance of things of the apparent level of what I perceive and experience.
Your true Presence will always pay attention to that which is eternal and that which is real. It will also pay attention to that which is at the non-apparent level of reality… that which is within.

For example…
Let’s take a look at something most of us deal with each day, food and eating.
Within the confined context of “food” and “eating” the ego may pay exclusive attention (at the cost of paying attention to what’s on the next list) to the following elements:

  • The taste of the food from the perspective of its effect at a sensory level
  • The effect the food has on my emotions (how it makes me feel)
  • How quickly and cheaply the food can be grown whilst maintaining a socially desirable appearance
  • How quickly and cheaply the meal can be obtained or prepared

I am sure there are many other things I could list but this is enough to make my point.
The ego will pay attention to the above mentioned factors at the cost of paying attention to the following factors (for example):

  • The life-force within the food
  • The organising intelligence that is embodied and therefore imparted by the food to my body and mind
  • Production of the food in such a way that it’s life force and organising intelligence is optimised and enriched
  • The impact this food will have on my state of well-being here within this human form
  • God as the true source of the food
  • …. and many other factors that I could list

Relatively speaking the first list are all things that are very transitory and short-lived in nature. Once I’ve finished that can of soft-drink and satisfied my sensory craving for sugar (something sweat) it then passes immediately. It’s gone. That which I (as ego) gave my attention to has come and gone. A hidden outcome is that this substance I have just put into my body is life-taking in nature. It does not support life. The effect of this is much longer lasting. It to is impermanent yet relatively speaking it is far more permanent than what the ego was interested in.

The life-force within the food that I eat is something quite different. It is an organising, living, intelligent force that is never destroyed. When I bring that life-force into my body/mind it is assimilated and becomes a small yet important element of my Life here in this world, and as that Life is an extension of the Presence that I am (beyond this world) this life-force from an organically grown apple—for instance—will also be assimilated in some small way into my awareness and beyond. I shall keep it simple for now and leave it at that.

Those elements of any particular food that have a life-giving impact on my state of well-being are also ongoing. They don’t pass away and the effect they have on me also doesn’t pass away. It becomes an integral part of that which I am here in this world and beyond.

I’ve kept the above point very simple and rudimentary. A lot more could be said and many questions might come to your attention after reading the above simply example. It is my wish that this example be explored within the small-scale context that I’ve placed it. Please keep in mind that my intention here is not to illustrate the effects of different foods, but rather to use illustrate how the ego and the True Self will give attention to quite different aspects of whatever it is I am relating to in this apparent world.

So the point here is that the ego and the Soul will focus on or give attention to quite different elements of your day-to-day experience.
I invite you to start exploring in each given event, experience, object or phenomena that you encounter just what you are giving your attention to. How aware you are will determine just what you discover in this sort of exploration. The good news is that no matter where you are at within your perspective this sort of exploration will lead to greater and greater awareness. Once you become aware that you are going with the egos take on reality (which is always LIFE-TAKING in nature) you will have the option to make a different choice and to go with the Souls take on reality (which is always LIFE-GIVING and supporting).

The only other point I wish to make here is that by switching from the first attention (that of the ego) over to the second attention (that of the Soul) does not mean that the object of the first attention becomes obsolete. So coming back to the above example of food and eating, just because I start to pay attention to the non-apparent level of the food I choose to eat does not mean that I will now ignore the apparent level of the food (i.e. whether it actually tastes good and I enjoy it). Both elements are valid. The key is simply that I will no longer give my attention solely to the taste (for example) at the exclusion of the other factors involved (such as the few I have mentioned here).

May love and blessings extend into your world…

Jonathan

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