Meditation Is about Paying Attention

摘要

The way I got involved with meditation in part involved studying with Buddhist teachers and sitting for periods of time in meditation centers. But it was quite clear from the beginning that the essence of what they were talking about wasn't particularly or exclusively Buddhist; it's universal. It has everything to do with being human and being awake, and it has everything to do with attention. None of that is the exclusive domain of Buddhism or any other ism for that matter. When it comes right down to it, meditation is about paying attention. It involves purposefully refining our capacity for paying attention, ultimately to anything and everything that might be relevant to navigating in the world with your eyes and your heart open. As you practice, it tends to move from an effort that is formal and deliberate to a much larger field that is more like an effortless attending to the unfolding of life itself; a shift from "doing something" to simply "being." In a very real way, meditation is simply the way one lives, rather than a technique one does.