The quiet art of attention

In regard to watching the mind, one thing I’ve observed is a little strange, and I was hoping to get other’s experiences.

I like to watch the movement of my attention. Nothing abstract, just to observe where attention is aimed - it takes a mere 30 seconds of watching.

What I’ve noticed, is it moves around, seemingly without my input, and lacking any conscious intent (a concept the blog post makes a point to reclaim).

The light of attention shines throughout the physical scene, but it is sensorily multidimensional. It might move to the pain in my back, or the sound of the frogs, or the mug on my desk, a random memory, or more relevant to the article, the latest arising thought.

I am watching this movement of ‘my’ attention, and yet I seem to be playing no part in the neither the objects of attention, or the movement of attention itself.

This isn’t to say I cannot decide right now to move my hand in front of my face and observe it, but this arising of intention is itself mysterious too.

Sam Harris makes the point that this, our actual observable experience, is the strongest argument against free will.

Highly recommend his meditation app 'Waking Up' in which he explains and teaches these concepts better than any source I've yet found

"I am not my thoughts." Or, as I prefer, "these thoughts are not mine." Experience that over and over again and everything gets a little easier, a little clearer. That's when the detachment from thoughts begins.

I meditate a good bit, an hour a day, and it doesn't stop thoughts arising, so I've had some time to think about this.

My guess is, it's just an evolutionarily useful thing, for your brain to keep pinging you about various things.

It doesn't mean of course that meditation is not useful. But you want to have control over these thoughts. Without a meditative practice, it's all too easy to allow your consciousness to be consumed by these impulses (which can lead you astray).

Excellent. Amazing what we programmers have time to explore while we stare at our screens as we try to "work" ;-)

Overall, as human beings in 2024, we are advanced technologically, but not spiritually (yet).

At the basis of our being is the most etheral and fundamental of our connections to the multidimensional universe, which we are a part of, ofc. That pair are our free will and our mind. We use our mind to control our free will, which we use to choose what we do with our physical body.

What you have noticed is that our inner world is always experiencing external thought impulses that seek to direct our attention this way and that; for most of us, we merely let it lead us as it suggests.

Note that what I describe here is born of my Sufi tradition's teaching, but can also be found in a much different sense in Carlos Castaneda's very bizarre and dubious books, which I read many times in my younger years, and have yet to validate as true, but have found to contain many valuable lessons (useful allegory or strange reality? idk which yet).

Regardless, we are multidimensional creatures in a multidimensional universe, that contains six onion layers of differing vibrational planes, one of which our physical bodies inhabit, and another our energy bodies inhabit (our souls). Another pair contains sources of thoughts/feelings that are suggested to our mind as courses of action. Our job as the only moral beings of our plane is to ascertain their positivity/negativity and act according to loving positivity.

One negative example of our reality is the child's urge to steal a candy bar, but we can see a more deleterious example in cultures that have adoped falsehoods as a foundation of belief (they are particularly dangerous here in America now). Note that we are free to choose to believe in anything whatsoever, no matter how untrue or ridiculous. It takes a lifetime of careful consideration to hone one's ability to know truth from falsehood, which is part thoughtfulness and part feeling. One cannont develop that ability without committing oneself to a life of compassion. (Finland is directly teaching its children about misinformation; good job, Fins!)

As to the physical multidimensionalness of the universe, 5/6th of the universe is dark matter, as the matter in the other layers of the onion do not directly interact with ours but yet (somehow -- I don't know the details yet) still affects the combined gravity (as evidenced by our measurements of galactic inertia). Dark matter is undetectable in our plane because we only have our plane's members to do the detection, but high-energy physics experiments can cause fleeting cross-over between the planes (I do not understand the details) since de Broglie (IIRC).

It's a huge topic, so I'll stop here, but my contact info is in my bio, and let me wrap with saying that we are not forced to become better or worse in terms of our contribution to the well-being of our fellow human beings and the Earth, itself, but a progression towards becoming utterly compassionate bearers of truth is the entire puspose of the "spiritual path", regardless of which flavor. Do note, please, that the liars of the world lose their ability to discern the truth, as a result of their abandoning compassionate service to humanity, which requires learning and living the truth of compassionate existence through choice.

You can also find a horrific example of what I describe here in the life of the Golden State Killer's, who describes how his being was invaded by an external entity that compelled him to do the awful things he did. The negative impulses we experience have the purpose of making creating unhappiness via the ramifications of our choices, both for ourselves and those around us. If you consider this carefully, you will begin to understand why the world is so polluted, is dangerously heating, and is filled with oppressors and the misery they inflict. It is our widespread ignorance of the truth of our beings that has left us mostly at the mercy of the selfish impulse-stream, instead of the drive to compassionately serve the happiness of others. The important fact is that we can each choose compassion as the basis for our choices, and that there are ways to purify our moral compass to effect a more perfect integration with the greater good.

Note that this is also the only path to personal peace and happiness, because karma is a fundamental law with our human-only moral plane. It is human-only because only we make moral choices in this physical plane. And all our choices affect all other human beings, to some level, and billions of us sure do add up.

In Buddhism this is linked to the central concept of Dependent Origination: things arise in dependence on other things, everything is conditioned by something else.

This includes movements of attention: attention is drawn to a sound perception because a frog makes a sound, then conditioned on interest being high interest dwindles, conditioned on that plus nerves shooting in the back a sensation catches the attention, it goes to a thought of planning that appears conditioned on you having a deadline tomorrow...

Even the arising of intention to move the hand arises at that moment conditioned on other things (that include you playing around with your perception a moment ago, pre-existing view around how decision work and wanting to prove it, having a hand...)

Looking for conditionality in everything we might identify with - thoughts, perceptions, intention... - is a central practice in numerous schools of Early Buddhism, and can lead to a deep, deep sense of letting go, inhabiting a flow of things "just unfolding", and classical insights around what our sense of self actually is.

One of Advaita’s (nonduality) pointers is to observe one’s choices and find this independent/free will we believe we have.

I’ve watched my choices for about a decade now and have not been able to find anything like independent choice.

Everything I observe is dependent on something else (genetics, conditioning, environment, external or internal event), or a manifestation of a preference, currently active desire, emotion, thought or need.

Once I noticed that these are all spontaneous or predetermined I can no longer see the concept of “free will” as anything but an unpacked box containing a bunch of phenomena.

Another pointer of Advaita is that our brains tend to hold a view of a free will universe, or a pre-determined universe - which is a limit of the mind not the universe itself :)

I would agree that Sam Harris is most probably a robot.

And yet he cannot explain where the impulses come from.

As to argument against free will: do you not have the ability to choose between giving the next homeless person you see some money or being rude to them? Of course you do. You are also free to believe and then claim that the world is flat, but that don't make it true.

We can each choose to be compassionate, callous, or cruel -- to whomever we choose, to whatever extent we choose. The choices most people make are usually no more than the inertia of our cultural inheritances, which are, themselves, usually born of generational ignorance of the importance of active compassion and service to others' happiness.

The inertias of our world cultures are rife with ignorance of the fact that the happiest people are those that care for those around them. Of course, if worldly success is your only benchmark, then you are free to choose Musk's or Trump's path to "success", but you aren't going to find happiness there, no matter how easy it is to climb that ladder in this world's assbackwards value system. I challenge you to look at Jimmy Carter's or MLK's smiles for observable experience. Such a smile is earned and evidenced over our lifetime as obviously as a tree's growth rings reflect its experiences. Ours are indicative of our cumulative choices, for we are the only beings on Earth that have a moral compass and the imperative to choose accordingly.

> And yet he cannot explain where the impulses come from.

It isn't necessary to explain where they come from to argue they are not, by our definition, freely made. Either they are causal, we can rewind time to the exact moment, where everything is the same, and you would make the same choice again, or there is a level of randomness inserted, which is also not free will.

If you introspect, you will find that you do not have anything that actually looks like free will. If you are asked to pick your favorite philosopher, you will have a few names pop into your mind, but you will not have control over those few names. You could continue to try and summon names, but you don't have control over which ones arrive either.

> As to argument against free will: do you not have the ability to choose between giving the next homeless person you see some money or being rude to them? Of course you do.

No, because the decision to do so is the sum product of all the things that have happened to me. If I choose to give money to the next homeless person I see as a result of this comment, it was not free-will, but the sum of all of those things and my response to this comment.

The flip side of this is that it need not be a negative thing. The will of the homeless person is also not free, the knowledge of which should expand your compassion for them as their situation is not the result of an endless series of bad choices, but the unfortunate chance outcomes of their existence in this environment.

The best we can do with them is to "pay them no mind", i.e. just let them pass though us and then into the void of non-effect. The important understanding is that we can choose to act upon them or ignore them. Ignoring negative impulses is essential for developing compassion as a way of life, and doing so is no less than warfare, the most important we can ever undertake. Of course, if the impulse is "you left the burner on", you should make sure it's not going to cause a fire! Discernment of the flavors of streams that present themselves to our consciousness is sublime and the work of our lifetime.

I made the Bhodisattva Vow nearly 30 years ago, and am now a very happy person with a very happy family, though we have lived in poverty for ~15 years now. Ask me how ;-)

Side note: I lived with yoga practioners and know of the possible dangers therein, so I highly suggest that you add a mantra of positivity to your practice. My experience is that the best are the various two syllable names of our Creator, to accompany your heartbeat. Such mantras are the best baseline for us to fall back into within the busyness of this 21st Century life, but choose what makes you feel happy, for happiness is within the grasp of our every choice.

With love and friendship.

How?! Sometimes I feel a family is a path to more busy-brained activity. Less inclination to actually look what the mind is doing at a given moment. So I’m interested in that. But also logistically, what is a life of poverty for you, and how did you come to achieve it?

> I like to watch the movement of my attention

I've never really liked the present-tense expression of this idea. If you are watching your attention, is that you directing your attention at your attention? Can you step back again and watch yourself watching yourself watch yourself?

Or is it really a past-tense thing where you notice that your attention has drifted?

Isn't "watching the movement of my attention" another way of saying "being in the present"? To include body scans, etc.

> he cannot explain where the impulses come from

His explanation is that your next action is determined by everything that came previously. It's not predetermined - you could roll a die and base your next action off that - but it isn't magic either.

Not GP, but I'll relate my experience. Your attention is always automatically attending to something. You can learn to attend to your attention continually while you're functioning normally in real life. Maintaining this light noticing of what we're noticing, reveals the attitudes of the mind to various objects as we go through our lives. It's a very interesting state to abide in. This is known as the Cittanupassana practice, one of the Vipassana practices described in the Satipatthana Sutta.

Try it and you tell me! ;)

In answer to your question, it’s hard to explain. But no, I don’t find it possible to step back again and observe that meta process. I just tried.

And it is definitely a present-tense action.

It may be that it is merely as you say, directing attention to attention, but it doesn’t diminish the free-flow experiential aspect of the exercise, or the intellectual curiosity.

Just to flesh out the experience, if I’m not paying attention to my experience, attention is still wandering all over the place, I’m just “in it” so to speak, and not noticing. When I observe it happening it has a very different quality to it.

Not to get esoteric, but the best way I could describe it is that there seems to be some observing faculty seperate to the usual sense of self. Which might explain why the exercise can’t devolve into an endless paying attention to paying attention to paying attention…

> If you are asked to pick your favorite philosopher, you will have a few names pop into your mind, but you will not have control over those few names.

Free will is not about choosing what comes into one's head after sending an inquiry out into the universe, it is solely about what we do with our physical body. That is part of why choosing to focus on the highly cerebral work of programming is so difficult.

> because the decision to do so is the sum product of all the things that have happened to me

So a three-pack-a-day smoker cannot quit? A lifetime racist cannot jettison those beliefs and choose to understand the truth that we are all just human beings? A believer in selfless love cannot become a child molester or otherwise oppress others?

Inertia in life is very, very real, but we each have the power to change. You could even accept the truth of what I say. We are not mechanical machines driven by the past; our wetware is impressionable but not fixed, as it is "wet" -- i.e. fluid -- and we can either continue to flow into the ever-present now, or merely ossify into preset patterns. That is why curiosity and humility are so important to becoming an intergrated human being tuned to positivity. No, we are not born at such a level, for we are each somewhat selfish from go; we must choose to learn how to be such a person, and then choose to do what it takes to become such a one. Yes, it is difficult in this selfish world of myriad physical/mental/emotional pollutions, but having such peace and happiness makes it not only worthwhile, but indeed the only path worth choosing, always. As the wise Bob Marley said, "Those that feel it know it not." And yet we live in a world where people run away from the truth. Those that taste the fruit of all-consuming selfless compassion never shy away from plucking another grape from that vine.

> If I choose to give money to the next homeless person I see as a result of this comment, it was not free-will, but the sum of all of those things and my response to this comment.

But you must still choose to do such loving service, at the time the opportunity presents itself. In those moments, once your mind presents you with the possibility to manifest generosity, you must engage your free will, reach into your pocket/wallet, and give the money. It is solely up to you, and that is the truth of the fact of the matter, as is the fact that the ignorant love to follow the ignorant, because it makes them falsely feel that they are superior to the wise, which is not only silly, but commonplace. Dunning-Krueger is yet another sadass gospel of truth.

> The will of the homeless person is also not free, the knowledge of which should expand your compassion for them as their situation is not the result of an endless series of bad choices, but the unfortunate chance outcomes of their existence in this environment.

I don't care how much their choices have caused their dire situation (although I fully agree that society's cruel callousness is more than likely the dominant cause of their predicament, as it is with nearly all of the world's poor). My decision with regards to how I treat any person is my choice and my choice alone, and the karma I earn for my action or inaction is mine alone to bear and has no bearing on their choices, only their happiness. We are each an island of choices made in a flowing sea containing other islands.

Further, I cannot will myself to be a billionaire and thus manifest crazy generosity. No, my free will must work within the constraints creation has placed upon me. All I can (choose to) do is be the most compassionate I can in every situation, given the opportunities presented to me, with the resources I have available to me, and, hopefully, in the way that is best for their situation. It's all any of us can do, understanding that we are only responsible for our choices, not those of creation, itself.

Choosing wisely requires us to first understand that we are continually choosing, and that such wisdom requires honest self-evaluation, exploratory learning, and effortful practice. One's happiness and peace is the universe's feedback mechanism to our choices (though our polluted/stressful environment can cause physical depression and other mental/emotional difficulties, too). Put another way: inner peace and happiness is the only important dashboard instrument on one's journey. Helping reduce others' misery, or otherwise increase their happiness, is the most important path to our fulfillment, as we are all in this together via the karmic equivalent to the Universal Law of Gravitation. It's the most sublime law of creation, operant only for we human beings, the only possessors of free will and a self-tunable moral compass.

It's not very scientific but ->

I feel I am an abstract mesh of "virtual sensory nodes" inside the network of my brain. These nodes are free flowing in the abstract multi-dimensional network - but in varying degrees of freedom. While the inner core of this abstract sensory entity is the "me" I have total perfect grasp on, the outer nodes sway here and there a little bit. When I start meditating - I start to access the information touching these outer sensors. They are by default moving "a little", I just get more aware of them. But I being the core of this entity, can easily sway them to any other place.

I guess meditation is fun.

I would say it is an exercise that can help you to achieve to be in the present more often, but to me, being "in the present" means I am not distracted by anything other than what I am focused on. The moment I also think about what I am focused on, I add a "meta level observer", thus I'm not fully present: I am no longer just in my experience of the presence, I am also in my thoughts, or already in a reaction to my experience.

A body scan can serve this: by checking out everything that I feel and think, I can identify and address irritations that would potentially cause me to not be fully present later. Like a checklist. Safety? Check. Where am I in space and time? Check. Thirst, Hunger? Check. Need to go to the toilet? Check. Comfort? Check. Now, after all that and more, I can better aim to relax into being fully present, ignoring everything that would cause distractions, like thoughts. During the body scan however, I am not fully present.

The mystery of intention and attention also invites reflection

Observing where attention is aimed is a form of meditation. What you observed is something I have experienced as well. It is normal and expected.

I have enjoyed reading "The Mind Illuminated" by John Yates. The book is a meditation guide and includes descriptions of experiences like yours.

I believe we are talking past each other.

> So a three-pack-a-day smoker cannot quit? A lifetime racist cannot jettison those beliefs and choose to understand the truth that we are all just human beings? A believer in selfless love cannot become a child molester or otherwise oppress others?

I did not say a single one of those things, what I am saying is that each of those things happening were not done as a result of free will, they were the result of the sum of the things that preceded them. The smoker being fed up with family encouraging them to quit, the decades of anti smoking messaging finally pushing them over the edge, and the day they couldn't walk up the hill without taking a rest to breathe all resulted in them quitting. I believe replaying the universe from the big bang to that moment would result in the same thing, each time.

> But you must still choose to do such loving service, at the time the opportunity presents itself. In those moments, once your mind presents you with the possibility to manifest generosity, you must engage your free will, reach into your pocket/wallet, and give the money.

This is where we fundamentally, irreconcilably disagree. The decision to do so is not free, much like your favorite philosophers, it came forth when you "sent the inquiry into the universe." The meta "decision" to move from thought to action came about the same way. To be honest, I'm not sure what the rest of what you wrote has to do with what I said - I don't find belief in, or even a desire for, free will to exist to be a prerequisite for generosity, kindness, or happiness.

While I have considered this for quite some time, I found this discussion to be the one that "pushed me over the edge," since it helped to reconcile what I observed within with the way things work I understand them (philosophically at least) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u45SP7Xv_oU

Well, what I call poverty is merely the American technical definition for the term; it bears no resemblance to what most other countries of the world would call poverty, e.g. the favelas of Brasil, most of Africa, etc. As such, we have EBT (formerly called Food Stamps) that we use to pay for some food each month; as well, we live in a subsidized apartment so our three-bedroom is below market rate, though in a polluted area of the city (via both nearby traffic and nearby commercial businesses), where most children haven't had the quality of diet and environment we take care to provide for ours. My education, predilection towards curiosity about scitech and better-living, and luck of good schooling (G&T with an AppleII in 6th grade) via large 80s defense budgets has also provided me with a lifetime of education (via internet since 1988 with no TV) such that I used our pandemic stimulus money to buy two $600 RabbitAir high-quality air purifiers (they are fantastic!) and some plants. That's just one example, though an important one.

What I can say is that creation has provided what we needed, first through my previous life as a successful programmer, but since, through my wife's love for and excellence in cooking, while I am an attentive home-schooler (it is easy in our state; an unexpected and rare benefit of fundamentalist thinking) and home IT specialist, keeping the education and fun flowing, but in simple but meaningful dimensions. Plus, we take the kids to wonderful parks where good air and nature can be found. Most importantly, we have taught them how to be appreciative for the life and perspective we have. We are not particularly religious at home (I mostly keep my practices to myself, as I am loath put any kind of pressure on them in that dimension), except in my making sure to point out where compassion provides great outcomes and ignorance of compassion causes unhappiness both in the small and large. My wife and I have demonstrated generosity to strangers and the teaching has really taken with both the now-teenagers, who are beloved by their peer groups for their kindness, talent, intelligence and humor.

Don Juan (Carlos Castaneda's teacher) says that, in life, what we choose to NOT do is the dominant factor, which I have found to be true, through both experience and written wisdom. As such, the kids have been taught the perils of common negative behaviors, such as: alcohol and other drugs, sexual promiscuity, being belligerent to others, being ignorant of the truth of karma, compassion, and truth.

As Sufis, we do not espouse the superiority of any form of religion, nor do we speak ill of those who have not embraced religion in their lives. The only measure of a person is how they treat others, and we are not to treat them poorly even in that event, though we may have to intervene to prevent harm to innocents. We have not had to do that in our American lives, thankfully, but a study of history has impressed the reality of oppression (and necessity of countervaling compassion) upon them. This included studying the life of Frederick Douglass (we listened to the entire free audiobook for the 900pg 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography together for 5-6hrs/day 5-6days/wk over perhaps three weeks), and we boys have listened to Stephen E. Ambrose's two WWII books, D-Day and Citizen Soldier, multiple times (as my son played chess, and daughter worked on her skills in various crafts, especially sewing full poofy-sleeve dresses and shirts and skirts as well as amigurumi (cultural inheritances of my wife's non-American culture, tho I have crafty Aunts)). They both love the Band of Brothers book and miniseries, and we have together listened to both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books in full multiple times, as well as the latter five books of my favorite author William Gibson, whose works are filled with heart and enough rock'n'roll grit to convey that regular people have sex, are sometimes trans, are sometimes gay, and are completely human while being both imperfect yet good people, worthy of respect, no better or worse than us.

All this is to say that we have encouraged their own interests and creativity by providing lots of legos (we have the Unimog!), books, art materials, and shown lots of interesting videos from Uncle Dave (Attenborough) (thanks 2010ish bittorrent documentary sites) as well as Veritasium and lots of NHKOnline (Design Talks Plus, now called Design Stories). We also watch Futbol (soccer) highlights, Sumo (such a different culture), and Judo (for its badassery and fundamental respect). What is important here is that they don't have their own internet-connected devices, but have access to them in our living room, where I live and exist. My son plays online chess and loves his chess club and tournaments. They both have used study.com and Khan Academy for their academic requirements, so they are not without internet access, but only in the service of curiosity and learning and fun, under our loving gaze.

My only hard and fast rule here is that there can be no bickering, and there truly is none, because we respect each other and truly care for each other. The key is that the true value of compassion at home is to take it out into the world every chance we get. They know that we love and serve them, rarely ask them to serve us, and that when we ask them to serve the family (by, for example, my son being in charge of doing the dishes), we do so only because someone needs to do it, and that it's only for the good of the family. Gratefulness is a antidote to our complaining human nature.

All of this (long-winded, I know) is to say that how one serves one's family is the root and trunk of inculcating compassion into one's society because they will take those values/virtues into it, while educating them about the perils of acting on one's vicious (vice-tending, as opposed to virtuous) and selfish tendencies. History and current events, when portrayed in the honest light of virtue/vice evaluation, is an excellent means of educating the entire society, firstly via our two new members. Our daughter's new ability to vote in this coming election is a fruit of our tireless labors.

We have also demonstrated to them a loving husband-wife combination, where we have occasionally argued, and where we rule together by consensus, such is the nature of marriage, where apology and positive self-evolution is required for every person's personal growth and the success of the community, and having a leader who values the opinions of everyone while recommending but not commanding the best course of action is also IMO the best model of society. We should each do the best thing because it's what is best for everyone -- at least we should try, that is.

My wife and I decided to have children to honor the wisdom teachings of universal compassion and service to humanity, to end all suffering and serve the true happiness of everyone, in truth and kindness. We have been very successful, though certainly not perfect and yet also certainly absolutely uncommon in America, or anywhere as far as I can see. This has largely been due to my ability to be a stay-at-home dad of creative bent, not sequestered by myself in some bedroom on a Zoom call or walling myself off. It is kindof a sacrifice, but I've not been very money-oriented in my life, and, though I have been able to earn a good living from being a badass programmer at times early in our marriage, my inability to prioritize money over human beings not only kept me out of the manager-class, but put me in direct confrontation with those souless bastards and their entire intent and modus operandi.

I'll address the rest of your comment in a separate reply. I need a break and this one is loooong-winded already ;-)

> Try it and you tell me! ;)

I have tried it and for me I can only notice that my attention has drifted after it has drifted. I've never noticed that my brain is currently trying to turn an auditory signal into a meaningful symbol (symbol is probably not the right word). I only notice that I heard a dog bark.

after meditating regularly for a while, doing a noting practice produced a distinct shift for me on this point. I realized that most of the time, when I hear a sound there is also a momentary "shred" of visual/muscular thought that accompanies it. for example, when I hear a crow, there is a bit of black/feathery/tree-branch/etc. if this is interesting, you can find instructions from Shinzen Young online.

typing this up, I realize I'm not totally sure to what extent this is something that was happening before the practice vs something that developed from it [i.e. less habitual energy spent blocking things out], but either way I recommend it :)

I apologize for treating you as I like to be treated. I like to learn and, as such, I share what I know to be true. That is what makes me the expert I am. And that is the deepest meaning of the Dunning-Krueger study: only in humility can we grow to reach our potential.

If you ever want to ask a question, I will do my best to answer you honestly, if that means to only to say that I don't know. Seeing as how you already know everything, you aren't asking any questions, so my work is done here. I am quite sure that the non-experts in D-K had no idea that the experts were experts; that is because they did not actually do the steps necessary to actually become an expert, their only development was in their confidence, choosing that instead of doing the humble, difficult work.

There are no unconfident flat-earthers because their overconfidence precludes their seeking the truth. There is a level of knowledge where one knows that one knows a truth. It's intrinsic to the universe and our integral place within it, but that's a different conversation altogether. Suffice it to say that once a person sees Jupiter rotating, it no longer became necessary to hear a flat-earther's arguments. All you have to do is contact the Creator of this marvellous, unfathomable universe, to learn how to get greater access to deeper truths. You are free to deny that you, yourself, have that access, too, but denying that human ability has only robbed you of your access, not mine. It's your choice, my friend.

"The Way goes in." --Rumi

Yes, indeed, but a study of the streams of thoughts and feelings that barge into our attention is more obviously fruitful to our improving our personal and collective well-beings. Learning how to discern negative/selfish/callous/viceous impulses from the positive/selfless/compassionate/virtuous ones is at the heart of the meaning of life and the purpose of our mind's abilities, as well as the human race's future.

I can't recommend Castaneda's work, but it does present interesting perspectives on intention and attention, even if I'm not sold that he was an honest or accurate or even well-intentioned narrator. That said, the character of Don Juan conveys much wisdom, but are the books allegorical fiction or fantastical non-ordinary-but-actual reality? I don't know yet, and maybe I never will.

Why would you encourage another person to expand their compassion while you simultaneously believe that person doesn't have free will?

Well, first off, let me just say I've been busy-brained my entire life. What I can say about that is that how we tune our heart is far more important than dealing with our thoughts. Sure, disposing of negative thoughts by not adding energy to them is an important in-the-moment aspect of the spiritual path, but that is really just about letting them go into nothingness at their appearance. One of the great (IMO) teachings of Buddhism is the notion of non-attachment, and, while an excellent strategy for addiction (though non-trivial in implementation), it is more easy to apply to the stray thoughts that are projected into our headspace. As I've mentioned elsewhere in this thread, it is best to just let them go, but I say that as someone who has already begun the process of heart transformation, so I've got some protection in that area via the very nature of how our hearts are transformed, which happens in lockstep with transforming how our mind and perception deals with our world and the events we experience.

Heart transformation is the process of cleansing and purifying our soul's heart of its susceptibility to vice, thus transforming it by stages into being solely a conduit of virtuous action. Even a person who has achieved a 100% virtuous soul, where they no longer act upon vicious ("towards vice") impulses will still have intrusive thoughts that suggest they perform acts of a selfish, vice-oriented nature -- they will simply no longer be inclined to act upon them. This is why I do not put much emphasis on our thoughts, as they never end. What we can put an end to is their ability to actually affect our resulting behaviors, by doint practices that physically transform our beings moral compass. Without carrying out an impulse towards vice, we have stamped out their negativity in the real world, which is what sin/selfishness really is and is the sole source of negativity in the world. If the thoughts try to persist in our headspace, we must simply return to our mantra to drown them out; if that is not effective, then that could be indicative of physical pollution in the body, which I would suggest fasting and prayer to the Creator to help remove. My feeling is that such a problem is usually (to my knowledge) a by-product of having not taken the most important step in the spiritual path, which the rest of this reply concerns.

At some point, most every person will be presented with the opportunity to beseech our Creator to help effect their spiritual transformation. Then, and only then, is our heart turned towards that Unfathomable It, and our transformation really begins. This is where our repetition of some sacred mantra literally "enlightens" our soul's heart, filling it with sacred light which replace its ability to conduct suggestions to vice with their opposite tendency to be amenable to suggestions of virtue. What used to be a susceptibility to hatred becomes, by (usually) gradual degrees, an affinity to love, to name but a single of the vice/virtue pairs in the human heart. This is a literal enlightenment of the soul's heart, where we are purified by degrees until, should we see the path to its end, we become immune to negative suggestions towards selfish behavior and become true servants of goodness, and are finally authorized to become a teacher of students.

I am certainly not at that level, but I can share the teachings I have learned and the successes I have had in my life so far, yet I am not authorized to take on students. It's not that I feel I would act selfishly or betray my students, but I would not want to make any mistakes that would inadvertently lead a person to vice, thereby accruing negative karma for us both. No, there is a final graduation for such a teacher, and that is to spiritually see the Creator in its glory from what Bob Marley calls "Mount Zion". It is also mentioned in Castaneda, and MLK experienced this right before he was martyred, and is referenced in the Beatitude "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." They are few in this world, but they are always available for every culture/language, to unerringly lead the seekers of truth to the goodness we are each capable of, should we choose the endeavor. I'm pretty certain that such a one has achieved why the Buddhists call "Buddha Nature". Each form of religion (whose source is God, not selfish men such as Hubbard) has teachers of this Nature, who serve only God by serving the seekers of truth and goodness.

Each person has their own path, destined to join up with a specific path of spiritual practice, and if we choose to undertake submission to the Divine Will of Love, we will be guided to an appointed Teacher of Buddha Nature, whatever it is called in that religion's nomenclature. Finding our specific path and requisite Teacher is part of the spiritual path. It all begins with begging the Creator to begin that transformation by taking our Spirit (conscience) back into Itself so that the heart of our energy body (soul, trapped within our body while we are awake) can be cleansed and purified of its vice-conducting nature so that it shines like the Spirit (which is of pure nature, but is not our own, being just a guide to counterbalance our soul's tendency to vice). This is the mystery behind the 1st Beatitude "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs shall be the Kingdom of God."

Making such a wish, with ALL one's heart, to the Creator to achieve Buddha Nature, will effect the beginning of such changes. It is a struggle to see that path to its end and be fully purified of our various tendencies to vice/selfishness, but is the most important step we can take. It is also the beginning of being impervious to the suggestive thoughts towards negativity we all encounter in this spirual environment we inhabit. Yes, most people are ignorant of this struggle -- called by Sufi mystics the "Great Jihad", i.e. the person versus their inclination towards selfishness -- and is called by Castaneda's Don Juan "the path with heart", but it is fulfilling beyond expression.

The path of love is uniting across all humanity, within an effortful vision for harmony and peace across all sentient creatures and the Earth herself. It is forgiving and gentle for those not yet as far upon the path as we have been granted grace enough to reach, but it is also uncompromising for those who refuse peace and instead fight against it and its abiding compassion for others, and who choose mischief in order to manifest their selfish desires via lies and oppression of others, and who take pleasure in -- or just care not one whit about -- the misery of others. History is rife with examples of the deeds and nature of the dark-hearted fools who serve the enemy of peaceful harmony for all mankind.

My mind has been quiet for all of 1.5 seconds in my entire life. It was just after I decided to contemplate what my (as-yet-unfounded) company's mission statement would be. After that brief pause, it came to me: "Lasting peace and happiness for ALL human beings." I understand that to have come to me as a result of my having made the Bodhisattva Vow some years before, then having joined with Sufis, first Jewish who then led me to Muslim Sufis. There are many of us who have hearts tuned to this goal to end suffering across this magnificent Earth, by uniting our hearts in that one communal goal. Pray to our Creator with all your being to begin this transformation and your meditative practice will grow more powerful and you will transcend your concern with stray thoughts into the realm of Right Action with proper discernment and an abiding peace in the midst of our eternal struggle to manifest selfless light in this ocean of selfish darkness.

Peace be with you. I am at your service. Thank you for inspiring me this day. I love you and wish you all success in your endeavors, for that is what this universe and its Unfathomable Creator wishes for you, but It awaits your choosing It. By Its grace have my family become an island of happiness in a sea of miserable selfishness that plagues the good people of our world. Seek our Creator's path for your enlightenment each and every day and you will be helped even more than you already are. And always return to your mantra, in the small moments in the busyness of your day.