One Pointedness

Reading from Wednesday, June 17, 2015 yoga class

I have a deck of intention cards in a basket at the studio.  A few weeks back someone picked the card, one pointedness.  What does that mean?   I smiled and said, well, what do you think it means?   I am reading a book, entitled "Passage Meditation" by Eknath Easwaran and came across the following:

"Let us imagine that you are a student and have just settled down to study for your finals.  You have everything you need--sharpened pencils, textbooks, class notes, calculator, and a willing spirit--and you know you must really work at it because there is a lot of material to absorb.  Turning to your economics test, you begin to read about the law of supply and demand...Suddenly, through a door on the far edge of your consciousness, a desire comes creeping in.  It smacks its lips and whispers, "How about a pizza?"  You have a serious purpose--these finals count--so you courageously reject the temptation and return to your reading.  But the door is open now, so in rushes a memory of last week's rock concert, followed by a daydream about the swimming party next weekend.  Again you return to your reading...or try to.

The mind lacks one-pointedness.  In Sanskrit, this is called ekagrata.  Eka mean one and agra means point or edge.  The one-pointed mind gives us tremendous loyalty and steadfastness.

We must develop some voluntary control over our attention.  We must know how to put it where we want.

Watch people reading in libraries.  When somebody walks by--perhaps every few seconds--many people will lift their heads to watch.  Divided attention can lead to physical exhaustion.

Many stories are told about Albert Einstein, though I don't know if they can all be verified.  Once, it is said he received a check for a thousand dollars.  A check like that makes a convenient bookmark, and that is how he used it until a librarian found it when the book came back.

So... as we train ourselves to be one-pointed, we should strengthen our discrimination and will at the same time, so that we know where to put our attention and how to shift it when necessary."

Doing one thing at a time.  I CERTAINLY have work to do on this subject.  :)