Focus - Zen in the Art of Meditation - Lent 2022: Day 18

I have written on numerous occasions about the importance of focus, and how important focus is in life - both the everyday and the spiritual. Outside of monasteries, meditative practice in a state of focus is all but unknown in Western tradition.

Zen Buddhism places great importance upon focus, exclusion of external sources of mental stimuli - extraneous thoughts that tend to distract. From Wikipedia: "The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word ध्यान dhyāna ("meditation"). Zen emphasises rigorous self-restraint, meditation-practice, insight into the nature of mind, ("perceiving the true nature") and nature of things (without arrogance or egotism), and the personal expression of this insight in daily life".

Spiritual practice can take many forms, to a great extent we are shaped by our cultural history. Globalisation has opened us to religious traditions from all over the world - from animistic shamanism to the great religious of the East. Until the early 20th century, few Westerners other than academics or travellers had any contact with religions other than Christianity and Judaism. 

As my brother pointed out to me many years ago, the American experience of the Far East in the aftermath of the Pacific War fed into the 'flower-power' revolution of the late 1960s, as notions borrowed from Zen Buddhism made their way into campuses. The cult philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was written by Robert Pirsig, who served with the US Army in Korea in 1946-48 before returning to the University of Minnesota is a good example. The English-born writer Alan Watts was another significant populariser of Zen at that time.

Zen monasteries would inculcate focus on student monks with physical brutality - any monk whom the teacher suspected of having a wandering mind could count on being struck across the back with a bamboo rod. Sitting in meditation for hours at a time required high degrees of self-discipline. Such an education - the mental equivalent of intense physical training required to become a professional athlete - would bear fruit in maturity.

Focus on the little things. Can I make my morning coffee without spilling any ground coffee between the tin and the espresso machine? As I fill and level the container? Quidquid agis, prudenter agas, et respice finem, as me ol' mum used to say. Whatever you do, big or small -  do it prudently and focus on the outcome.

That's the physical aspect of focus. Zen in the Art of Archery - bow, string, arrow, target and archer must become as one. But how about mental, internal focus, not concentrated on muscle movement and hand-eye coordination?

In a meditative state, one can be truly aware of the subjective conscious experience, detached from the vacuous noise made by the Ego. 

Too many of use suffer from 'butterfly mind' - the tendency to quickly lose interest in one activity or thought process before moving onto another, quite unrelated one. This is a trait associated with being a generalist, rather than specialist - Newton, Darwin or Einstein could not have achieved what they did with minds that would frequently wander off at a tangent.

Training the mind to focus is important. Setting yourself goals and deadlines is helpful. My Lenten goal to post new content to this blog each day has worked well. But Lent encompasses one-eighth of the year - keeping it going all year round isn't easy.

This time last year:
I'm better than you. No, I am!

This time two years ago:
Refutation (I)

This time six years ago:
Before Spin by Keith McDowall

This time seven years ago:
Mill town Łódź 

This time eight years ago:
Today, a tipping point in European history

This time nine years ago:
Church and state

This time ten years ago:
Scrub fire in Jeziorki

This time 11 years ago:
Airbus A380 visits Warsaw

This time 12 years ago:
Lenten recipe no. 7

This time 13 years ago:
Poland's economy - upturn in sight?

This time 14 years ago:
Six weeks into Lent