4 – The Vital Role of Attention

It is from the moment the aspirant have clearly felt the difference between their usual state of “waking sleep,” where they passively follow the associations of thoughts and images which follow one another without respite in their mind, and another state of being where they are attentive, present and conscious of themselves in a way which is not usual for them, that they will know in which direction to carry their efforts forward.
They will then see for themselves the difficulty of remaining in this state of inner presence, because the slightest thought, the slightest preoccupation, the most fleeting desire suffice to sweep them away again and make them plunge back into their “waking sleep.”

The Law of Attention – Chapter 2

The human being’s attention is the most precious treasure he possesses.
All living creatures, including humans, are totally dependent on their attention for the maintenance and safeguarding of their earthly lives.
On the higher planes of life, the human being’s attention plays a particularly vital role in great artistic creations and in the discovery of mathematical and scientific truths.
It is with the attention, when used constructively, that a true yogi or a great creative artist arrives at prodigious achievements. It is equally with the attention, when used negatively, that all evil actions and destructive works are brought about.

Inner Awakening and Practice of Nada-Yoga 

Chapter 7

Habitually, human beings do not realize to what extent nor in what way their attention constitutes a sort of combustible substance, because it is only through their attention that their thoughts and imaginings can find the force to manifest themselves and subsist within them. Without them being conscious of it, their attention acts as the indispensable combustible material through which their minds can dream and wander where they like—just like the oil in a lamp, which feeds and keeps alive the flame of the wick.

Now, the Divine Aspect of human beings also has need of this combustible substance, of their attention, to be able to reveal Itself in their beings and manifest Itself within them.

Chapter 6

In every serious spiritual practice, it is the seeker’s attention that is the ultimate link between the Sublime and herself. What she consents—consciously or not—to give her attention to throughout her earthly existence, as well as the intensity with which this attention is used, plays a preponderant role, not only in determining the direction her life will take, but also in shaping her being into what it will become.

One cannot escape what one is because of the way one has used one’s attention in the past, and the future depends only on the use that one makes of one’s attention in the present moment.

Awakening : a Matter of Life or Death – Chapter 2

The seeker must descend into his innermost being in order to manage to create in himself an intense silence solely from which will it be possible for him to comprehend, in a manner which will disconcert him, that attention, within him as well as every other human being, is a treasure which does not belong to him—it is only on loan to him—and that whatever the thing or person to which he agrees to give his attention, it is there that he will inevitably find himself !
Therefore, should he not be extremely careful in regard to that on which he may afford to use this treasure, his “attention” ?

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