3 ms·
When you meditate you are aware the whole time, right? What do you define as the difference between awareness and attention?
by Jeff_Brown 3y ago
When you meditate you are aware the whole time, right? What do you define as the difference between awareness and attention?
- swayvil 3y agoI guess I'm aware the whole time. I fall into distraction sometimes too tho. I'm not sure exactly what you mean. I use the terms (awareness , attention) synonymously. To put it another way. It's like a flashlight. I shine the beam upon a river of experience-stuff (sights, sounds, thoughts...) When I pay attention to a thing, I direct the beam at that thing. When I concentrate, the beam narrows. When I refrain from all directing and concentrating, the beam widens.
- tomjakubowski 3y agoI've felt the beam widen a few times on long runs: I'm seeing while not looking at anything, hearing it all while listening to none of it. It's really quite nice
- Jeff_Brown 3y agoAh, so "awareness" for you includes the option of "everything" while "attention" does not. For me "everything" is an option for attention. I agree that broadening the beam is, among other benefits, enjoyable.
- metalcrow 3y agoNot necessarily. One of the Jhanas (states of mind attainable through meditation) is "Neither perception nor non-perception". This can be described as not being aware, but it's complicated.
- Jeff_Brown 3y agoLike Christianity, I think there are a lot of important ideas in Ayurvedic wisdom, but I'm not convinced everything they have a word for exists. Enlightenment is another one.