By Reza Ganjavi
A reflection on how modern life pulls attention outward and why observing what happens within the mind, body, and heart is essential for understanding and freedom.
Most educational systems bring up a person whose main domain of attention is to the outer world which means, inner feelings and thoughts come and go and leave their mark and they’re hardly attended to. Most teachers and parents don’t teach their child to pay attention to what is going on inside them. Some do. We had a 10th grade teacher in Tehran who asked us to write a daily journal. So I started at age 14. Writing is a great way of paying attention to what is going on inside. Attention to outside is also important but we’re trained to do that – through study of science, etc.
And what I notice in this day and age with email and SMS (Text) and Facebook and so on, the pathways of attention are totally flooded and move at very high speed. Therefore, it seems like a pitfall that the modern ultra-fast way of living, further removes a person from paying attention to what’s happening inside their mind, body, heart – while that attention is being absorbed by fast moving text messages, emails, posting, shares, likes, and so on.
I was talking to two smoker teenagers this morning and highlighted the fact that to be free from something it has to be first understood.
Likewise, without proper attention to what goes on inside, a person cannot see it, cannot understand it, and therefore, can’t be free from it!!
Seeing what-is, is the key to freedom. Seeing is an art which must involve a non-separation of the seer from the seen.
The subject of change and freedom and all will make this 10 pages long but I’ll stop here.
In the mountains today we have a pancake party! I never cook by heating or frying oil (but since I’m not fanatic it might happen but very rarely) -- but today’s pancakes will be fried in water not oil. Pancakes are a kind of “luxury” food since I never make them at home (because it makes me fat etc. :-) – but it’s yummy for sure. Last time I had a pancake party was with an organic sprouted flower from Sonora when I stayed at a friend's forest home. Today’s feast includes, of course, organic maple syrup and butter (and a touch of miso & cinnamon today).
The quietness of the mountains embraced in snow, trees that are standing tall witnessing being frozen, and a river ever running carelessly and urgently – all embraced in a powerful silence that is love.