Top of the day to you, dharma-friends!
I suggested a couple days ago that as a sangha we take a good look at our relationship with distraction. I plan to make a space during our usual Thursday evening meditation and discussion group to talk about this important issue…. What do we mean exactly by ‘distraction’? Where, how, and why do we distract ourselves? What needs are we trying to meet when we indulge in distraction? How else might we meet those needs? Stuff like that.
In the meantime, I’d like to offer something that’s been on my mind these past couple days. In a conversation I had with someone the other day the question arose: is there any external thing that is inherently distracting?” The answer, it seems to me, is “No.”
Culturally, from what I can see, that’s not the way we tend to look at distraction. We tend to assume that certain things are inherently distracting, and if we want to avoid being distracted we need to avoid those things. That’s not the way I see it, however. Distraction is a process. It is a way of relating to things, it is not a thing itself. If I am distracted, it is because I have voluntarily or involuntarily abandoned the present and have allowed my attention to become lost in conditioned mind in one way or another. It’s something that I do, not something that happens to me. Now, it is true that we tend to use external things that compellingly attract our attention in order to aid us in distracting ourselves, but we can’t put the blame on those things. If we are distracted it is because we have allowed ourselves to become distracted; it is because we have allowed our attention to leave what is here and now, and have allowed it to wander into imaginary places.
If no external thing is inherently distracting, then one might ask, “Is there no decision to be made in terms of the kinds of things we engage with?” There is very much a decision to be made! Things in themselves are not inherently distracting, but things in themselves have varying degrees of power to attract our attention. There’s a really big difference, for example, between sitting beneath a tree in the woods and sitting in a movie theater. In the first instance, a person has to work fairly hard to be distracted. We are supremely good at distracting ourselves, and we can manage to become lost in thought even about birds and flowers and the sunshine, but it takes a high degree of willful effort. In a movie theater, however, to become distracted requires almost no effort at all. And so yes, it is important to make conscious choices about what we will engage with, depending upon the capacity we have to be aware of our attention and to direct our attention.
Unless a person has maintained a strong meditation practice over time, it is unlikely that person will be able to remain here, in the moment, in the presence of media of all kinds, of other humans who are speaking, of cars and people and noise, and other stimulating things. Most people are like hungry fish and are easily caught by thoughts about the things they perceive. With practice, however, we can learn to be aware of our attention, and we can learn to remain aware of our attention even in the midst of bustle and activity; even when we ourselves are moving around and accomplishing things. In the meantime, though, it’s good to stop and be still; it’s good to sit formally in meditation, in order to practice being aware of our attention and to practice putting our attention where we choose. In my experience, as I said, if we become distracted it is because we have chosen to become distracted, but it requires a strong practice to make a different choice.
I look forward to talking with you about these things tomorrow evening! I look forward to hearing about your own experience with distraction, and how you practice with distraction in our noisy and busy world. In the meantime, pay attention! Be aware of your attention and practice being here. Avoid distraction as best you can, and notice the happiness that follows. Be well, my friends! Perhaps I’ll see you tomorrow evening!
In peace,
David