The Spiritual Practice of Attention

The practice of giving attention is related to the practice of being present.  It is a specific way of being present.  It is what you do when you are present with someone or something.  You give them your attention.  You pay attention.

So, do you give your attention or do you pay attention?  At first, I struggled with the idea of paying attention.  But the etymology of “pay” comes from the Latin word that means to please or to satisfy.  It comes from the same root as the word for peace.  When you pay attention, it offers pleasure, satisfaction, or peace to yourself and the person, or even the object, you look upon.

 “Pay attention” can be a command.  Imagine a parent or a teacher wagging their figure and saying, “Pay attention.”   The command is okay, even important; something important is happening and they don’t want us to miss is.  But “pay attention” can also be an invitation.  It can be a welcoming into the presence of someone or something.  And it is in that invitation and welcoming that you see the importance of what you are attending to.

As a spiritual practice, attention is giving attention in a certain way.  It is often equated with mindfulness.

  Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “the awareness that arises by paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, in an accepting, non-judgmental way.”  There is a simplicity to mindfulness, but it is not easy.  For example, most of the time, we don’t pay attention on purpose.  We pay attention for a purpose.  We pay attention so we can get somewhere, get a point across, get something accomplished.  Paying attention on purpose is different; it invites an attitude of non-striving.

Or consider paying attention in the present moment. The way we look at our lives and the world around us is easily shaped by the past or the future.  Think of someone you know standing before you.  Before either of you speak, you are forming a picture of this person based on past encounters or where this conversation might go.  You give them a label: friend, acquaintance, coworker, grocery clerk.   That person speaks and at some point, you start formulating a response.  It happens quickly and unconsciously, but, in many ways, you are no longer really present to person before you.

One of the reasons we do not pay attention to the present moment is we don’t like what is there.  The present moment may contain something joyous; it may also contain something painful, challenging, or fearful.  It may contain something so ordinary that it is boring.  Whatever is there, we give it our attention.

But we do not just tolerate the present moment.  Giving attention to the present moment involves accepting it.  Acceptance means seeing things as they actually are in the present.  Acceptance doesn’t mean that you like everything; it is not taking a passive attitude toward everything.  It does not mean that you are satisfied with things as they are or that you are resigned to tolerating things as they have to be.  It doesn’t mean that you stop trying to break free of bad habits or give up a desire to change.

Acceptance means simply, sooner or later, you come around to a willingness to see things as they are.  Why is acceptance an important part of paying attention?  This acceptance sets the state for acting differently.  You are much more likely to know what to do and have the inner conviction to act when you have a clearer picture of what is actually happening versus when your vision is clouded by your mind’s self-serving judgments, desires, or fears.

Which brings us to non-judgmental. Our minds are problem-solving machines that are always working on solutions to problems. Part of that is evaluating and judging any situation, thought, attitude, person, or group.  But there is a place for being receptive and open to whatever we are feeling, thinking, or seeing, and to accept it.  Because that acceptance can be a source of insight and wisdom.  

It is easy to live a lot of life from the place of not being attentive.  We can live our lives on autopilot, going through the routine of life without any one moment or encounter really registering.  We are learning that living on autopilot, where nothing really registers, can drain our physical and emotional energy.

So what are some simple ways to experience the spiritual practice of paying attention?

1. Many religious traditions use a sound to invite us to pay attention.

The Buddhist tradition and many monastic groups use a bell to call to attention.  A bell will signal the beginning and end of a period of meditation.  A bell will ring, signaling the monks to stop what they are doing and to enter a time of prayer.  Muslims have the call to prayer five times a day.

You can make this practice a part of your life in simple ways.  Set alarms on your phone for two or three times during the day.  When the alarm sounds, stop what you are doing and pay attention what is happening in your body, in your mind, and in the setting around you.  Just pay attention for 3-5 minutes.  If your work does not include a lot of meetings, you can set random times.  If you have a more structured schedule, you can set times when you know you will not be in a meeting.  Or you can do this on days away from the office. 

Do this for a few days.  Notice what you feel when the sound happens, when you enter into the time of mindfulness, and as you leave that time and return to work.

2.  Pay attention to one object.

Settle into a room in your house.  This is a room that you are familiar with, where you spend a lot of time.  Close your eyes and take three deep breaths.  Open your eyes and let them move around the room.  Let your eyes land on one object in the room.  Spend a few minutes paying attention to this object.  Notice its size, its shape, its color.  Be aware of its place in the room and its place in your life.  End your time of paying attention by expressing gratitude for this object.  What is it like to pay this kind of attention to something that is there all the time?

3. Notice things that you have missed.

William Carlos Williams would carry a notebook around with him where he listed “Things I noticed today that I’ve missed until today.”   Try this practice for a period of time. When you wake of in the morning, set your intention to notice something new, or to notice something familiar in a new way.  At the end of the day, review what you have written down and be mindful again of the things you have written.

Another way to do this practice is with the camera on your phone.  As you go through the day, take a picture of something new or something familiar that you are looking at in a new way.  Don’t just point and shoot.  Take a moment to frame the picture in a way that captures more fully what you are observing.  Again, at the end of the day, review your photos and experience again these moments or scenes.  

When you pay attention in intentional and mindful ways, you open up a physical and emotional space for a person, an event, or a moment to be present in your life.  One person describes these simple moments of paying attention as the rests in music.  Without rest, you have a collection of notes played one after the other.  But with the rests, you have a moment to be present to the music that has gone before and the music that is to come.   

So accept the invitations all around you to practice paying attention.