A matter of focus
Here in the west, focus refers to narrowing down to single dimensions; in the east, focus refers to expanding to include a universe of possibilities. Considering how we puctuate our lives with self-admonitions that we “need to focus”, it’s an interesting contrast to say the least. We torture ourselves with a constricting version of focus when we could just as easily liberate our vision.
Given that higher levels of consciousness are always more inclusive, we achieve optimum focus when we expand our consciousness to include the universe beyond any small scope of attention. Waking up is waking out.
October 31st, 2005 04:21
As my dear granny always told me, “don’t miss the forest for the trees.”
October 31st, 2005 08:04
Any photographer could tell you that focal length goes both ways, I agree that most people go telephoto when they should be wide-angle.
October 31st, 2005 23:07
Great metaphors - wide-angled and telephoto lens. It is all about the lens.
November 1st, 2005 04:35
Just came across this from Joseph Goldstein’s Insight Meditation:
“When perception is stronger than mindfulness, we recognize various appearances and create concepts such as “body,” “cat”, “house,” or “person”. . . On some clear night, go outside, look up at the sky, and see if you can find the Big Dipper. For most people that is a familiar constellation, easy to pick out from all the other stars. But is there really a Big Dipper up there in the sky? There is no Big Dipper up there. “Big Dipper” is a concept. Humans looked, saw a certain pattern, and then created a concept in our collective mind to describe it. That concept is useful because it helps us recognize the constellation. But it also has another, less useful effect. By creating the concept “Big Dipper” we separate out those stars from all the rest, and then, if we become attached to the idea of that separation, we lose the sense of the night sky’s wholeness, its oneness. Does the separation actually exist in the sky? No. We created it through the use of a concept. Does anything change in the sky when we understand that there is no Big Dipper? No.”