Where Is My Attention?

A Human being’s attention is the most precious treasure he posses. When the aspirant has understood how paramount the question of his attention is for his quest and spiritual transformation – especially if he has already had a foretaste of the reality of his Supreme Nature – then he has to be extremely vigilant and circumspect from that moment on to what he lends his attention to.

– Edward Salim Michael from “The Law of Attention”

This quote, I read recently, jumped off the page to me. And, goes so clearly with where we all are. It certainly is for me.

While being here at Ramanasramam, there is plenty of opportunity to check in and see “where is my attention?” There is so much going on, all the time. The people coming and going, the chanting at the shrine, the monkeys, the peacocks, the street noise from the trucks going by, my neighbor’s chit chat etc. etc. This dynamic starts at 5:00 am and goes until around 8:00 pm. And, that is if I don’t go out for a walk, outside of the gate, onto the street. If I did that, it would multiply the noise, dramatically stimulate the senses and would continue until late in the evening.

Here, to remain vigilant and remain at the Source of thought, sound, and activity is a great opportunity. Not to say there is not a time of quiet here. There is. And, believe me I have found when and where the quiet is and do take full use of it. But, the practice to remain in Silence and Stillness throughout this activity is found to be at the majority of the time. And, I am so grateful for this opportunity.

I asked Ganesan once, “what exactly was the spiritual practice of the old devotees who were at Ramanasramam after Sri Bhagavan left the body?” He said that while visiting with them, they would remain with the “I-I” Current that underlies all activity. And, if there was a question they answered it and then immediately returned back to Silence and the focus of attention onto the “I-I” Current. They expressed that this is the most direct way to burn out all of the latent tendencies of the mind and remain steadfast in the Heart, according to Sri Bhagavan. Even though these old devotees were already Self-Realized, they continued this vigilance.

This was very significant for me to hear. And, being here where these old devotees lived, I can see what they were up against. This is very inspiring, to me.

Sri Bhagavan’s last words to those around him were, “put my teaching to practice.” And, this is what he meant. Those around him at the time heard him and followed it.

I am so happy to be here in the space where such vigilance was lived and shared.

[The picture above is taken from my room and I just couldn’t resist sharing with you my little monkeys…cute eh?]