Our attention is the vehicle of our consciousness. It represents and manifests the states of our consciousness. These states include deep sleep, waking, regular existence and the higher state of consciousness that we reach during Sahaja meditation. In this higher state, we perceive the spiritual realm of the universe by connecting our spiritual being with the all-pervading energy of the universe.
Most other forms of meditation lead to benefits, with attention being in the lower and regular states of consciousness. Sahaja is characterized by the fact that she directs our attention to the higher spiritual realm, which renowned psychologists such as Carl Jung also refer to as the collective unconscious.
This makes monitoring and controlling our attention the most important aspect of our meditation practice. And not just during every meditation session, but during the entire time we are awake. Focusing on and controlling our attention is vital for a meditator; although in Sahaja a large part happens spontaneously through the power of the ascending Kundalini energy.
Real meditation requires good attention control.
“Watch out,” our teachers said at school. This is what is necessary for good meditation – constant and focused attention. During our meditation, we should not only focus our attention on the moment and on certain parts of our subtle energy system (our chakras and energy channels), we should also regularly monitor and regulate it, even when we are not meditating.
Our attention control and our meditation success are interdependent. Better attention control leads to better meditation and vice versa. It is a spiral effect and we can go up or down the spiral depending on our focus, perseverance and persistence in our meditation routine.
Attention control problems can prevent precise movement into the meditative state. It can create oscillations between our usual cognitive state and the higher state of consciousness. These vibrations or fluctuations are the reason why we keep getting thoughts when we meditate, when we should feel a complete inner silence. Many meditators report that their greatest challenge in meditation is to consistently remain in the state of thoughtless awareness.
Our attention can gradually stabilize over time, aided by the practice of Sahaja meditation. This, in turn, can make the Sahaja meditation experience even deeper.
It is also important what we pay attention to when we are not meditating.
Our thoughts are waves or disturbances in our attention that result from our engagement and enjoyment. Living an everyday life means we have to be involved in many things, but over-focusing on certain things or our attachments can cause these waves to rise in our attention. Past memories or thoughts about the future can distract our attention and come back during our meditation. Focusing on negative news or generally negative can also disturb the balance of our attention. Excessive enjoyment of trivial or material things can also cause this. In general, our attention can swing from emotional to cognitive activity, leaving very little space for it to relax and enjoy the silence or stillness within us.
The remedy is to control our attention so that we are largely focused on positive things, events, and aspirations in life. We should regulate our attention through introspection whenever we find that we are overly focusing on something. Where we direct our eyes is also extremely important as much of the negativity in our attention enters through our eyes and then affects our Agnya chakra. The quick detachment of insignificant things and events can also be very helpful.
Longer and deeper meditation sessions
While our attention control can give us a great experience during our meditation, the consistency in our meditation routine and longer meditation sessions so the Kundalini energy can cleanse the chakras leads to a better state of our chakras. These in turn can lead to a stronger connection to the higher state and stabilize our attention. The stabilized and more even attention then gradually leads to even deeper meditation. Then the positive upward spiral effect begins in our life.
Collective meditation sessions quickly charge and refine our attention.
It is obvious that when left to our own devices we are likely to do more of the same things that tend to worsen rather than improve our alertness. Watching Netflix or catching up on the troubling news around us is much easier than exploring spirituality. Making collective meditation sessions a priority and attending as many as possible will invigorate, refresh and redirect your attention, bringing it more to a higher purpose and spirituality in life. Adding collective meditation sessions to your weekly schedule will help you maintain your priorities in life.
Using nature to clear attention
Being outside with nature, especially sitting on earth with a view of the vast sky, is a great way to clear our attention and our chakras. In general, if our attention had a greater share of nature and natural things compared to screen time and man-made things, it ends up being enlivened.
The role of the liver
The liver is the seat of our attention and the most important organ for filtering toxins and removing heat from our blood. When the liver becomes heated or overworked (not only due to poor diet or physiological health, but also due to poor attention control), we begin to wiggle and sway our attention. Regular meditation stabilizes our attention, eliminates anxiety, anxiety, worry and therefore causes fewer thoughts, which helps to reduce the pressure on the liver and attention. Cooling the liver down through meditation and using ice packs helps the liver a lot. Eating the Right Foods – Restricting foods like red meat and other hard-to-digest, unnatural, or highly processed foods or toxins in the diet can reduce the stress on our livers and improve our alertness. Be wary of mental exhaustion and over-thinking – these can overheat your liver again.
After all, good quality and rest and sleep also make a significant contribution to stabilizing attention.
Our attention, and especially the enlightened attention attained through spiritual meditation techniques, can be the greatest asset in our lives. It is central to our meditation practice and our general wellbeing. Maintaining it can make a huge difference in our quality of life.