All spiritual disciplines boil down to this - that I need all my attention to study all my attention.
Very simply, if I cannot 'pay' attention, then I cannot be conscious of anything.
If my attention is captured involuntarily by everything around me and in me, then I only live unconsciously in a deep sleep of churning mental associations. I am identified, consumed and imprisoned. My attention is not strong enough to break free or be available for anything else.
The primary objective of marketing and advertising is to 'capture' people's attention - it is its stock and trade. Interestingly, the industry of influencing people to manipulate their behavior for a commercial gain - synonymous with the marketing and advertising industry - is called "Black Magic" in the occult sciences.
Spiritual development, by its very nature, can not progress unconsciously. The ability to pay attention is a pre-requisite for a conscious life. The permanent expansion of consciousness is commensurate with the power of attention.
Attention is the oil in the lamp of consciousness
This old Persian saying above alludes to the potency of attention. It is a creative energy of a very high order that supports, and is the vehicle for, the application of 'Will'. We can verify this in our experience.
The initial, voluntary act of paying attention to anything we choose is effortless. Attention is pure, immediate and activating. However, to 'sustain' attention for more than a moment requires considerable effort as the purity of this energy meets with the incessant movements of the object of attention.
For example, the application of attention (or focus) in meditation brings an automatic relaxation, a more collected state - a 'presence'. In essence, a quiet, directed and sustained attention can bring order or harmony to the body.
To say that the simple act of attention can change one's physiological state is a miracle, is an understatement. What clearer evidence could there be that the 'invisible, hidden world' can directly and visibly impact the material processes of the body?
Conversely, when I am 'scattered' or 'dysfunctional', it is because my attention is scattered or dysfunctional, impacting and disrupting the functions of the body, and vice versa. When I am in this state, it is natural to seek solitude, quietness or a warm embrace to 'bring me back to myself' because I cannot do it with my own attention.
If there was no guarantee that we would wake up from a night's sleep, it is a fair bet that the practical exploration of 'waking' and 'sleeping' would be a focus in our lives - exactly what spiritual teachers and mystics have been advising to focus on for thousands of years.
I cannot 'see' my attention, only what my attentions rests on in the contents of my consciousness. In a concrete sense, my attention is the true me - 'I AM' my attention. The foundation, then, to Soul creation is to grow my attention to enable a larger embrace.
The Life of Attention
The implications of a vibrant or inactive attention are enormous. Everything we do, from building communities to space rockets, requires some degree of attention. It is our choice whether this is at the level of sleep or a higher quality.
Indeed, the whole web of life, extending to the biosphere, solar system and beyond, can be seen through the eyes of attention. If attention, that creative property of the 'inner-verse', serves as an agent of exchange, to bring order to chaos and chaos to order, then the role of attention becomes clearer - it is a fundamental currency of the cosmic economy.
A conscious attention can become the instrument of the Will of God, the great sustainer of everything. I can participate in God as God can participate in me. To develop my attention, and apply it consciously in an ever-growing understanding of myself, others and the world, is to acquire in oneself the potential to render a great service to creation and the Creator.
For modern science, attention, like consciousness, is still a mystery. It is the only thing we can really 'know' yet cannot prove to exist.