without distraction and finally experience Nirvana. Your personal rhythm becomes not actual anymore, because Nirvana contains Samsara.
IV. Attention
We come closer to a “meditation’ which is originally the Latin term for translation of the Sanskrit “dhyana’. However, there is suggestion for another English translation, namely, “contemplation’. It was essential polemic for its practical subject. The so-called “meditation’ is rather an attention to reality (vision as such) than thinking about something (a reflection of some image composed during vision of the particular object). This is a principle difference since Descartes’s “Meditationes de Prima Philosophia’, where the “meditation’ became the obvious background of Western philosophy. Due to this differentiation, we can discriminate between “applied meditation’ as a form of psychotherapy and “real meditation’ as increasing spiritual practice up to Samadhi. Western psychology use meditation as exchanging negative images for positive images. Anyway, there are images. While dhyana brings to total annihilation of all images (chitta vritti nirodha) proceeding to contemplation of pure conscious reality without any images. The main point is developing attention to Reality as such. There are many technical variations in different traditions which we can use for our spiritual benefit freely.
However, looking for traditional methods developing attention to Reality, do not forget about Reality itself! Otherwise, you will deal with religious but not spiritual practice. It happens often when it becomes more important to be a Christian than to realize the Christ himself in your heart. Limitations are formed as “credo’ by attracting attention to one object (even some “god’) without extending attention to non-objective stage. For example, “There is no god – only Allah!” or “Believe to One God, Almighty Creator’. Usually, it reminds me great Adwaitic saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who was devotee of goddess Kali at the beginning of his sadhana. He worshiped her until she appeared as living Goddess herself. Step by step, he got visions of all gods performing services of all religions. When he got self-realization as unity with Reality as such, suddenly he saw image of dear Kali. What did he do at that moment? He did not bow down, but took a “sword’ mentally and cut the goddess in half; finally, she would not shadow bright light of Reality. Then his attention became holistic without duality of “object’ and “subject’ in attention.
Yoga and Buddhism
The classic Yoga develops attention according to deepening and extending duration of objective contemplation. The inner work with consciousness starts from Pratyahara; that means returning sense organs from external appearance to Reality. The merging into Reality is called as Samyama including tree stages: Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (contemplation), and Samadhi (integration). In the whole process, it is difficult to separate each of three steps, while careful analysis can accentuate eight stages in Samadhi only. After the total unity with Reality, highest consciousness cannot join anything unreal again. The ability to discriminate between real and unreal is Buddhi (intelligence), which is different from Manas (mind). We will discuss the difference in the next part. An attention (samyama) is activity of reflection (buddhi) which is developing its own form. Nobody can be intelligent without practical attention. In this case the intellect is a possibility, while human life is going at the level of sensual mind only.
Attention is the base for Vipassana in Theravada Buddhism. Meditative practice means namely simple attention to any happening or activity: attentive prostration (concentration on hands), attentive walking (concentration on feet), and attentive sitting (concentration on breathing). Attention to unreal appearances makes obvious their transitory and unreal character. As result, your consciousness becomes absolutely empty (Shunyata). Meditation is real when there is nothing anymore. Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism) makes attention clear in Maha-Mudra (the great “seal’) which is the form of emptiness while Shunyata is its content. Finally, the form is equal to its content! All human states are just endless flowing dharmas as permanent activity which is really empty. Being is Nothing. Buddha gave Vipassana as the main practice for enlightenment and liberation. When you develop attention itself, there is no need in other techniques. Similarly, Jnyana-Yoga (getting unity in knowledge) uses self-requesting as pure attention to Self. Vedantists accept it as the “direct way’, or the most difficult Yoga for everybody. A few great saints succeeded in this way: for instance, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Maharshi etc. They got self-realization by direct way of complete attention to Reality.
Taoism and Warriors
The Taoist practices developed mostly in Marshal Arts and became popular as “dynamic meditations’ nowadays. In this methodology your attention is totally concentrated within holistic volume of your body keeping personal axis and center. Some Taoist masters constructed many systems, based on deepened attention during dynamic practice where consciousness is united with body. Tao is Self-Being as such. Tao is recognized by itself or naturally as the only eternal “low of being’; that is a Strategy. Primarily the low supports the dynamic balance of two oppositions (Yin and Yang). Chinese tradition developed attention to human body and created elaborated map of subtle channels and structure of subtle bodies (similar to Indian Yoga). Previously, we mentioned the main attention to central axis as the basic structural principle for any spiritual practice. Taoism uses attention as an instrument for inner alchemy where it plays active role for energy accumulation and conscious transformation of whole human structure, in order to collect and purify all additional energy, developed during practice. Finally, the activated attention becomes a total consciousness of your body itself. It culminates in the phenomenon of “physical immortality’.
Let us find some links to distant spheres of European classic philosophy and American “way of warrior’. Best of all, the notion of attention was explained in Husserl’s concept of “intentional consciousness of temporality’. The intentional consciousness is just an “attention’ in common sense. The modern phenomenology prefers a description rather than the visible world. It clarifies connection between consciousness and visible world. Moreover, it reflects the same consciousness as a visionary of the world. It is not a static object but dynamic connection as a reconstructed “object’. As result, the modern philosophy became the most adequate system for description of shamanic practices. American anthropologist Carlos Castaneda used it during his research of some magic experiences with native shamans. We have a philosophical analysis of Castaneda’s work by his follower and unpublished academic works by Castaneda himself mentioned in interviews (ten volumes of Castaneda’s review on Husserl’s phenomenology). Basically, attention plays technical role in the way of warriors, namely, as a stalking (reflection of your own activity in each particular circumstances) and a dreaming (contemplation of “diverse reality’). The perfect attention is necessary in order to find “break between two worlds’; and direct vision of Reality itself is required in any other spiritual practice. Finally, the warrior disappeared in “inner fire of consciousness’ or merged into ultimate Reality. So, magical training is based on development of attention too.
Attention Techniques
How to develop attention until its technical characteristics will allow the vision of God? Attention can be increased by some attentive activity only; this process does not depend on anything external. Each spiritual tradition has some simple exercises as a preparing meditation. If you become attentive using one system then you will not lose your attention working with another system. Trataka is the most well-known Yogic technique in order to develop attention to an outer object. Commonly, it is fixed concentration on the flame of a candle. When you proceed to purification of your consciousness from all inner objects, you can use the method of “coming back to the very beginning of thinking’, tracking every thought till its appearance from nowhere. Then you restore the initial moment of appearing fluctuation in surrounding vibrational field of the pure being. For example, Sri Aurobindo got Nirvana within three days of highly attentive
