Concentration & Distraction

Concentration & Distraction:
THE PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TASK OF FORCING THEIR MINDS TO PAY ATTENTION TO MORE THAN ONE ACTIVITY AT A TIME IS WHAT PEOPLE DO ALL THE TIME WITHOUT REALIZING THEY DO BECAUSE EVEN WHEN THEY THINK THEY ARE DOING JUST ONE THING THERE IS STILL A SIMULTANEOUS COMBO OF SUBSTANCE AND STYLE TO WHATEVER THEY SAY, DO, THINK OR PERCEIVE THAT ARE SEPARATE ENTITIES (STYLE IS NEVER PART OF SUBSTANCE BECAUSE SUBSTANCE CAN EXIST WITHOUT STYLE) THAT MUST BE SEPARATELY SYNTHESIZED AND THEN MERGED AS A CONVINCING COMBO AND THIS IS THE ONLY REASON WHY THEY MUST BE CONSTANTLY NOT FREQUENTLY DISTRACTED. ACTORS FAR UNDERESTIMATE THEIR DEGREE OF DISTRACTEDNESS AS THEY DO WITH THEIR STRESS AND RESTLESSNESS AND ARE ONLY AWARE THEY ARE DISTRACTED WHEN IT IS QUITE SEVERE.
DOING MORE THAN ONE THING AT A TIME IS A SIN, HARMFUL TO SELF AND OTHERS AND NOT A BLAMELESS INDIVIDUAL PREFERENCE OR ADMIRABLE ABILITY.
Drivers get into accidents whilst talking on their hand phones because it is not possible to pay full attention to two things at once but they must always forcibly, stressfully & restlessly alternate their attention rapidly precariously in the nick of time between the two activities OR they do both forcibly without paying attention by rote from a prerecorded mental jukebox (mindless acting). Attention does not switch by itself to and fro but mental force must always be used to switch attention back and forth between driving and talking on the phone which would be unnecessary if one did only one thing at a time.
Therefore whenever the person tries to pay attention to more than one thing at a time, he is applying force on his mind that in time becomes painful (he feels stress) and he is forcefully painfully dividing his attention. In order to preserve his self ease and sanity, he must again use force to reunite his consciousness as soon as possible in a process he does not realize is doomed to ultimate failure because his ability to divide his attention improves with practice, the intensity of the division or distraction he is capable increases on every occasion he successfully applies more force to his division of his consciousness whilst his ability to recover becomes increasingly harassed or stretched to the limit or it weakens with aging.
People frequently smile while they talk; no one can mindfully smile whilst they also mindfully talk but instead the smiling is rendered mindlessly mechanically like the background bass drum thump, thump, thump of a (harassed) one man band as he concentrates more on his crucial trumpet tune and he has to keep switching his attention to the various instruments he is playing at crucial moments if his cacophony is not to unravel.
Similarly (though it may be harder to discern) no one can pay undivided attention to fabricate what they want to say and simultaneously pay undivided attention to fabricate the constantly changing speed and loudness with stretched syllables with which it is said but they must either rapidly forcefully alternate their attention between the two or do both mindlessly by rote. (In real life, people pay no attention to the style of their speech which is why they are not aware they stretch their syllables with constant changes of speed and loudness all the time and they only pay occasional attention to the hackneyed things they have said so many times before from a mental jukebox)
Why speak with added style if it is not intended to be noticed? People do want others to admire their style as well as the substance of what they say and in the process they do not realize they wickedly want listeners to do the impossible; pay attention at the same time to what and how they say it. Because this is not possible, listeners are forced to rapidly alternate their attention between the style and substance of what they hear or they switch off, which they often do.
Apart from the needless stress, restlessness and distraction exacted on the speaker and listener, there are two future dangers involved in this state of affairs.
Because distraction is harmful and dangerous, whenever one forcefully divides one’s concentration (to impress others with one’s style or greedily do more than one thing at a time), one must forcibly limit this forceful division so as not to over harm one’s mind and also after a period of forceful distraction one must forcefully reconstitute one’s divided concentration to retain some sanity and address situations that require the maximum concentration one is capable of eg sitting for an exam or driving a car on a twisty road on a dark and rainy night.
But as a result of lifelong constant dividing of one’s attention between the substance and style of one’s speech, motion and thoughts in addition to frequently doing more than one thing at once (eg talk whilst eating) one becomes increasingly good and dividing one’s attention, the division becomes stronger and harder to forcefully reverse, the foolish actor does not realize he is fighting a losing battle and is headed for the agony of control failure and severe distraction as in a daze, like patients in mental hospitals.
Because no one can render simultaneously the style and substance of what they want to say or do, they must have a prerecorded mental jukebox to render mindlessly either or both the style and substance of what they want to say or do. This mental jukebox can & will ultimately fail to then render incontinently, inappropriately whatever speech and deeds they have recorded so well so often in the past.
There are two kinds of exacerbated distraction that all those who act must experience. One type is gradual, dependent on the duration and strength of distraction eg after animated conversations in social functions, the person finds himself unable to concentrate, unable to register input afterwards, his mind scattered no matter how he tries to shake it off and force himself to but given time and rest, his mind recovers. Another type is catastrophic, for example there is some devastating news or event and the person is immediately distracted, unable to concentrate. These events indicate that the person is an owner of intense distraction that can be immediately triggered by a suitable stimulus and distraction is progressive, gets worse with prolonged and intense exposure and recovery from distraction is a laborious process that may not always succeed.
IT IS PARTLY BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE CONSTANTLY BEING DISTRACTED BY THEIR OWN AND OTHERS’ SIMULTANEOUS STYLE AND SUBSTANCE COMBO THAT THEY CANNOT SEE THE TRUE NATURE OF HOW THEIR CONDUCT IS HARMFUL NOT BENEFICIAL TO THEMSELVES AND OTHERS. BECAUSE OF THEIR SINFUL CONDUCT OF SPEECH, BODY AND THOUGHT, PEOPLE ARE HARRASSED BY THE TRIAD OF STRESS, RESTLESSNESS AND DISTRACTION THAT THEN DRIVE THEM HELPLESSLY TO FURTHER DEBASE THEMSELVES AND OTHERS.
WHENEVER ONE’S CONCENTRATION IS FORCIBLY DIVIDED EG FOR THE SAKE OF IMPRESSING OTHERS WITH A SIMULTANEOUS SUBSTANCE AND STYLE COMBO, IT MUST BE SUBJECT TO CONSTANT SELF PRESERVING CONTROL THROUGHOUT SO AS NOT TO OVERCOOK OR OVERDIVIDE ONE’S CONSCIOUSNESS AND IT MUST THEN BE FORCIBLY RECONSTITUTED BACK TO UNITY AS FAR AS IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE A DIVIDED ATTENTION IS PAINFUL AND DANGEROUS (EG ACCIDENTS HAPPEN TO DISTRACTED PEOPLE). BECAUSE DISTRACTION IS FORCEFUL, EVERY MOMENT’S RESIDING IN DISTRACTION IS EVERY MOMENT’S CONDITIONING OF IT AND ON ANY OCCASION ONE FORCEFULLY INTENSIFIES ONE’S DISTRACTION, ONE IS DEEPENING ONE’S CAPACITY TO EXPERIENCE INTENSE DISTRACTION, THEREFORE THE NATURAL TENDENCY IS TO FORCEFUL RECONSTITUTE ONE’S CONCENTRATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WHEN FORCEFUL DISTRACTION IS NO LONGER REQUIRED, SO AS TO MAINTAIN ONE’S SANITY. BUT AS ONE’S DISTRACTION BECOMES EASIER TO INDUCE AND MORE INTENSE WITH PRACTICE AND AGE, IT GETS HARDER TO CONTROL AND EXIT AND THE FOOL DOES NOT REALIZE HE IS HEADED FOR A RECKONING WITH A MAD PERMANENT INTENSE DAZE HE CANNOT SHAKE OFF.
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Like stress and restlessness, distraction is another fundamental and separate form of mental suffering that afflicts all beings (including animals) in this world and they are likely not even aware their usual consciousness state is scattered or divided except when it becomes quite troublesome.
Although stress, restlessness and distraction are connected with each other (stress can lead to restlessness and distraction) and often occur together, they are quite distinct entities.
Distraction is never a passive state of the mind but it is always a forceful conditioned dividing or scattering of the consciousness and the antithesis of passive, effortless noble concentration or unified consciousness. In order to exit the suffering of distraction, it must be first recognized even in its mild state and then painstakingly reversed or effaced by a gradual process.
Distraction is not something that happens to people some times but it is the unwitting, unrecognized default consciousness state of people with forceful minds. Because they are used to being distracted all the time, they are insensitive to its presence and they forcibly resist and control/limit their distractibility, they become aware they are distracted only when it becomes quite severe that they cannot concentrate even when they repeatedly force themselves to with pressing matters at hand or they are in danger of embarrassing themselves publicly (eg they forget what they were saying in a public speech).
(In the same way, ordinary people experience stress and restlessness all the time but because they are so used to their baseline stress and restlessness, they have significant appetite for stress and restlessness and they forcibly ignore stress and restlessness in favor of worldly pursuits, they only become aware of stress and restlessness when they become too severe to ignore. For instance a person will deny he is restless when questioned when his leg is shaking or he is twirling a lock of hair incessantly)
Do not underestimate the importance of distraction because the Buddha has in many ways and on many occasions emphasized concentration (the opposite of distraction) with wisdom and virtue as the three interrelated fundamental pillars that define a being:
The Buddha: "Such and such is virtue; such and such is concentration (the opposite of distraction); and such and such is wisdom. [9] Great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of concentration when it is fully developed by virtuous conduct; great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of wisdom when it is fully developed by concentration; utterly freed from the taints [10] of lust, becoming, and ignorance is the mind that is fully developed in wisdom."
By saying ‘Such and such is virtue; such and such is concentration (the opposite of distraction); and such and such is wisdom’ the Buddha is saying is that contrary to common opinion that virtue, concentration and wisdom is indefinable or subjective, virtue, concentration and wisdom can be clearly defined and they are not negotiable.
“Great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of concentration when it is fully developed by virtuous conduct” might sound lofty or inspiring but how many understand why what the Buddha said is true?
The Buddha is saying that virtuous conduct and concentration are connected and virtuous conduct fosters concentration and great is the concentration to be gained when it is fully developed by virtuous conduct.
Why is that true?
All speech, bodily and thought misconduct must be performed (unwittingly) with a simultaneous combo of substance that often also false (eg sarcasm) and style that has constantly changing speed and force (loudness) with stretched syllables that divides or distract the attention of the perpetrator and incites others to be restless. Only speech and behavior that has no style, no constant changes in speed and loudness that distracts, stresses and induces restlessness is virtuous. Because the virtuous conduct does not forcibly divides his attention, great is the gain in concentration when it is fully developed by virtuous conduct.
Virtuous conduct is conduct in speech, body and thought that does not harm self and others. In one who truly does not harm himself and others rapture that is not of the flesh arises. In one whose mind experiences rapture, serenity or calmness of the mind arises. One whose mind is thus calmed becomes concentrated.
As one becomes more virtuous, his noble passive effortless concentration correspondingly becomes greater.
The Buddha then says that the wisdom to be gained when it is fully developed by concentration is great.
With one’s attention that is constantly forcibly divided, scattered (by one’s simultaneous combo of constantly changing speed and force style and substance, one is harassed, cannot see things as they truly are (poor discernment). Only when one’s mind has become effortlessly united or centered, not forcibly united can one become effortlessly clearly seeing and thinking (great wisdom). Therefore great is the wisdom when it is fully developed by noble concentration.
GREAT CONCENTRATION IS THE FRUIT OF GREAT VIRTUE AND GREAT WISDOM IS THE FRUIT OF GREAT CONCENTRATION AND GREAT WISDOM HAS ENLIGHTENMENT, THE ABOLISHMENT OF ALL IGNORANCE AS ITS ULTIMATE DESTINY.
Enlightenment is not a state of nihilism or make believe, as the Buddha said:
(Supranormal Powers)
"With his mind thus concentrated (concentration is crucial to enlightenment), he directs it to the modes of supranormal powers. He wields manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes many; having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts & mountains as if through space. He dives in & out of the earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. Sitting cross-legged he flies through the air. With his hand he touches & strokes even the sun & moon. He exercises influence with his body even as far as the Brahma worlds. Just as a skilled potter could craft from well-prepared clay whatever pottery vessel he likes, in the same way -- with his mind thus concentrated, -- the monk directs & inclines it to the modes of supranormal powers.
(Clairaudience)
"With his mind thus concentrated, he directs it to the divine ear-element. He hears -- by means of the divine ear-element, surpassing the human -- both kinds of sounds: divine & human, whether near or far. Just as if a man traveling along a highway were to hear the sounds of kettledrums, small drums, cymbals. He would know, 'That is the sound of kettledrums, small drums, conchs, cymbals, and tom-toms.' In the same way -- with his mind thus concentrated, he hears -- by means of the divine ear-element, both kinds of sounds: divine & human, whether near or far.
(Mind Reading)
"With his mind thus concentratedhe directs it to knowledge of the awareness of other beings. He knows the awareness of other beings, having encompassed it with his own awareness. He discerns a mind with passion, and a mind without passion. He discerns a mind with aversion, and a mind without aversion. He discerns a mind with delusion, and a mind without delusion. He discerns an excelled mind, and an unexcelled mind. He discerns a released mind, and an unreleased mind.
(Recollection of Past Lives)
"With his mind thus concentrated, he directs it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives . He recollects his manifold past lives, many aeons of cosmic contraction, & expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there.
(The Passing Away & Re-appearance of Beings)
"With his mind thus concentrated, he directs it to knowledge of the passing away & re-appearance of beings. He sees -- by means of the divine eye, -- beings passing away & re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings -- who were endowed with bad conduct, held wrong views and undertook actions under wrong views -- after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, in hell. But these beings -- who were endowed with good conduct, who held right views, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.' Just as if there were a tall building in the central square [of a town], and a man standing on top of it were to see people entering, leaving a house, walking, and sitting in the square.
(The Ending of Mental Fermentations)
"With his mind thus concentrated, the monk directs it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. He discerns, as it is actually present, that 'This is stress... This is the origination... This is the cessation ... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress... These are mental fermentations... This is the origination... This is the cessation... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' His heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, is released from the fermentation of sensuality, becoming & ignorance. Just as if there were a pool of water in a mountain glen -- clear, limpid it would occur to one, 'This pool of water is clear, limpid. Here are these shells, gravel, & pebbles, and also these shoals of fish.'
Another Unwitting Sarcasm:
Quote: Thanks to Mr. Bredesen's leadership, Tennessee is dumping nearly 200,000 residents, some of them desperately ill, from TennCare, the state's Medicaid program.
Comment: You must be a disturbed man if you think your thanks for someone what has done harm to your causes is sincere. Therefore his thanks is not sincere or he is being sarcastic, probably without being aware. One speaking rightly might say, “Due to Mr Bredesen’s leadership, Tennessee is dumping nearly 200,000 residents, some of them desperately ill, from TennCare, the state's Medicaid program.
If people examine themselves carefully they might discover far more sarcasms than they concede because to be sarcastic or mocking is an attitude. Such utterances like ‘oops, har, huh, hey, hmm, well’ are all false or meaningless except to express emotions.
Fact Or Presumption?
There may be those who say that the fact that Pat Robertson apologized public indicates he is not all bad but can be quite decent. Whilst it may be so, the statement is based on presumption (a defilement of the mind according to the Buddha) than fact.
It is presumptuous to think that his apology is motivated by contrition because he may be trying to limit fallout; he stuck a foot into his mouth and is trying to make the best out of it.
Willful Refusal To See:
It is no surprise but understandable that even though they stretch their syllables all the time, they change speed and loudness all the time, they are not aware they do so, let alone that they can see this is the key to the stress and restlessness that they must constantly experience.
If I were to ask someone who is supposed to be very intelligent and even good after he has just spoken to tell me whether he realized he stretched all his syllables and spoke with constant changes in speed and loudness, it is likely if not certain that he is unaware and if it was demonstrated to him precisely how he stretched his syllables and changed speed and loudness, how his speech would sound like if there were no stretched syllables, no speed and loudness changes, it is likely that he would be indignant or feel affronted.
Therefore people are very sensitive, proud of the individual ways they speak and cannot see that the ways they speak creates unnecessary stress and restlessness for themselves and others.
Not only can they not see themselves stretching syllables and changing speed and loudness, they willfully refuse to see and get affronted if it is brought to their attention.
As Margaret Thatcher once defiantly said, “This lady is not for turning” and Jesus said “If they will turn so that I may heal them”, there is very strong, even violent implacable force to go against yourself and if you are determined to go against yourself, to hurt yourself, it helps if you forcefully refuse to see yourself doing so, you refuse to pay attention to your stretching of syllables, constant changes of speed and loudness because if you can see yourself changing speed and loudness, you might soon realize it is mad and creates needless restlessness. Initially you force yourself to harm yourself but very soon, you are forced beyond your control to keep doing it, the more you keep doing something, the better you get at it, the more you cannot help doing so. Actors have graduated from having to force themselves to being forced to keep changing speed and loudness.
A String Of Coincidences?
Even if anyone was to deny that there was an extraordinary consciousness change after 1977 (that nobody could have dreamt was possible beforehand) and further extraordinary consciousness changes in recent years (that again, nobody could have dreamt was possible beforehand) that affected and benefited everyone to greater or lesser extent depending on how they still continue to sin and therefore still suffer, if you watch movies and listened to songs before 1977, you may discern that even then people were all stretching their syllables and speaking with constant (unnecessary) changes in speed and loudness.
How come throughout the very long history of mankind it did not occur to anyone that they were all stretching their syllables with constant unnecessary changes in speed and loudness and that this was the only source of the restlessness that universally tormented them? How come it never occurred to Einstein who discovered relativity and E=MC2 that he was constantly stretching his syllables with unnecessary changes of speed and loudness that was the only source of the restlessness that surely beset him? Which would you prefer, knowledge that E=MC2 or a permanent exit from restlessness and suffering? How come everyone and not some practiced constant stretching of their syllables with constant changes in speed and loudness when it should be possible then as now to practice not stretching syllables, not changing speed and loudness when speaking? Therefore, it must be some monumental achievement to discover this truth. I know what I say is true because I have experienced a permanent release from restlessness that I previously could not imagine was possible in this world since I mindfully stopped stretching my syllables, mindfully stopped changing speed and loudness speaking.
Although people crave wealth, fame and sensual pleasures, they were in truth all suffering and even tormented by stress, restlessness and distraction. What greater advantage could there be than if someone pointed out the only true way out of stress, restlessness and distraction that if left on its own will lead to certain madness?
If it was merely coincidence, there are many (not one person) with a similar potential to initiate these changes, then it should be that one man will triggered the previously inconceivable consciousness change in 1977 that affected everyone, another who will elucidate what Jesus and the Buddha said in a way no predecessor or contemporary has done, yet another who will trigger the equally remarkable previously inconceivable consciousness changes in recent years and again someone else will be the first to announce the astonishing news that stress and restlessness are not mandatory to existence but it is possible to exit stress by not applying force on one’s mind, to exit restlessness permanently if one did not stretch one’s syllables with constant changes in speed and loudness. It must be quite some sheer coincidence that what is described above that surely nobody could conceive was possible before they happened never happened through the long course of human history and when they happened today, it fell on one person to do so and it is an indictment of the world that these events are left totally unacknowledged.
Just as throughout the long history of mankind and even today when it is possible to stop acting, to stop stretching syllables, stop moving and speaking with constantly changing speed and loudness and nobody has done so, even those who think they are good and smart continue to do so somnolently after I demonstrate to them how they have just changed speed and loudness and are even crossed, it may not be possible for anyone except the counselor to do or say the things Jesus said the counselor will do. There may be something fundamental in the nature of beings in this world that render them incapable of displacing the counselor.