#404 Bringing the Spotlight Back, Again & Again & Again

     The focus of our attention is much like where a spotlight shines in the dark. We mainly see only where the spotlight is shining. Our attention is known to flit about quite rapidly & randomly - as if the spotlight were on a swivel and there's a windstorm raging. It's like a small active puppy running all over the place, or monkey jumping around the branches of trees - "monkey mind."
     If we're learning to focus our attention steadily on one object ie stabilize our awareness, we have to quickly notice when attention has drifted off target, and quickly bring it back on target. So we train to notice when the spotlight is off on something other than what it's supposed to be on, then we gently take hold of the spotlight, and point it back onto the object of our attention, again, & again, & again, & again ... We build the "muscles" - really the awareness & intention - that bring attention back. This is how we gradually, progressively stabilize awareness.

Shad Bay area, Nova Scotia, early morning, September 28, 2013