Maintaining Vision, While Focusing

My family calls me Pancho and you might think that I don't know you, but I'd like you to know that I love you all...

As the mic was approaching this Wednesday, I had flashes of the big picture and the local picture, think globally act locally, think locally act globally... and it all merged into think/actglocally/lobally. Is this a part of the same wholeness and oneness of life, only seen from a different perspective? Is this some sort of awareness of our worldwide interconnectedness? I think/feel so. Here are the 3 points I shared with you this week:

balance

the measure of time given to a task at hand

or the need to be fulfilled

or a desire held deep within

giving equal measure to each

learning to be comfortable

with incremental gain

a fullness of pleasure

observing a wholeness of self

sb 6/20/09

I had the pleasure of sharing another Wednesday evening in the company of like hearted people in the Mehta Family home in the south bay! I’m humbled again and again at the mindfulness of this community, the true consideration that many give to the thought for the week. Perhaps the best part is the joy and laughter that we share too, about the thoughts especially with Thoi, Bhoutik and even Pancho!

This passage makes me think of the vision the Mehta family first had 12+ years ago with the first meditation evening hosted in their home. Did they believe the group would continue these many years later, be in practice around the world, and having touched so many peoples lives? Or do they simply focus on the week in which the Wednesday falls. Preparing the lesson, choosing the food menue…

Interesting how the author simplified the processes of vision and focus to a housekeeping chore- sweeping the floor; something we all can relate too, in one fashion or another. The repetitiveness of sweeping, the necessity of the act, and the strategy of the focus on the task. The analogy is able to be used in regards to so many different things in our lives from our jobs and the companies we work for, to our personal lives and families , mates, children and parents and all we do each day in this circle of people. The process transfers to a students plan for education whether it be for secondary education or post secondary education; the need for a vision or a goal and for focus on the achievement of this goal.

This Wednesday evening the number in attendance allowed for a bit longer sharing when passing the mic though the input and the thoughtful nature of the group was par for our weekly gathering. Several different analysis of the ideas of “focus” and “vision” were shared in ways that we all could understand from the perspective of a software engineer and the constant bigger picture of applications running in the background and the immediate use application in the foreground, to focus & vision compared to a volume button of a radio; all interesting and thought provoking.

Our community welcomed newcomers and returning members alike… I’ve been very focused lately on a particular project of importance, and when I step back and gain perspective of my vision again, I am able to breath a sigh in the realization, that the tasks are doable and that my vision remains reasonable and attainable.

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The heart of the piece is the awareness of attachment to vision or focus. Awareness is what can enable us to realize that we are decision makers and not slaves.

It can be very useful to discover implied vision from the activities we're currently focusing on. For instance, as a student, I might be totally focused on obtaining the best grades possible. The implied vision would be a degree holder who looks good on paper. But that vision is not very comforting, so I try finding a higher vision. Maybe it is about being able to apply knowledge to practical problems, so I can help companies and be gainfully employed. But I could step it up some more. Maybe my vision should be about being a better human being. The kinds of things I'd then focus on learning as a student, and the attitude with which I'd approach knowledge would be very different. 

An experience last week helped me see the switch point between focus and vision. Some researchers from another country were visiting, and I was asked to join a meeting to help them out. As I was a bit late, my colleague welcomed me and said, "Their research is in your area. Why don't you tell them about your work?" I was about to, but something told me, "hold on!" In the past, I have spent a lot of time talking about myself, but at this point, I found myself checking my vision - it wasn't to educate others about my work, it was to help them. So, I started asking questions to get to know what these researchers wanted. As I got totally focused on what they were saying, it became clear that they were going to get into a trap very soon. I brought it up and showed them a way out - by changing their frame wherein, all of their initial questions would vanish. They loved the solution, and the meeting ended in 10 minutes. They had found their vision for the next two years. I was fascinated by the whole process of letting go of my ego, and focusing on others, and how quickly the insight came. If I had started talking about myself, it would have been a waste of time (in retrospect). So, in terms of efficiency, cross-checking with the vision and focusing on things that help the vision is so much better. And of course, the satisfaction of having helped someone cannot be measured.

I was fascinated by the comments that came up today. Viral shared a powerful insight (as he always does), on how awareness is a continuum, and when we take things out of awareness, we call it focus. When we add things to it, we call it vision. Someone else (I think Pavi) added to this idea - it is important to be focused with awareness of the vision. Sam had a powerful insight - he felt all his thoughts had been echoed by others - it was like hearing your thoughts come from so many mouths, and he felt a connection. Viral added another powerful one - we were focused on the center and holding the center together with our thoughts, and yet each one was bringing their own vision. 

I also loved Pavi's workshop story. Two people were asked to do the following exercise: one was asked to speak and the other was asked to listen. After some time, the facilitator would ask the listener to turn their head in a different direction. It turned out that the listener found it hard to listen, and the speaker found it hard to speak. Vision and focus go hand-in-hand.

Building on this, I would call it a symbiotic relationship. No vision can be carried out without focus, and focus without vision is going to get us nowhere. 

On another note, the idea of focus and vision also applies to meditation. I was reading a piece that was very critical of a certain meditation practice. The critic had been asked by the teacher not to get stuck with specific experiences in meditation and to develop equanimity. The critic instead felt that his wonderful experiences were what he liked and wanted to stay with them. It seemed as though he was so focused on his experience that he'd gotten attached to it, and lost sight of the vision of meditation - which is to break attachment and develop equanimity. The critic later claimed to be enlightened, but in the entire piece, there was only abuse for other teachers and no sign of joy. I felt very grateful to this critic because he is indeed a teacher. It is hard to get the lesson unless someone else makes a spectacular and visible error. That is when we get to recognize ourselves in the same spot at some point or the other.