Paying Attention! Forever!

Paying Attention! Forever!             

Only connect. Wherever you are, right now, pay attention. Forever.

Sylvia Boorstein                                                                                                                           Cited in Mystical Hours

As helpful and expanding commentary, Brother Teasdale offers us these words:   

“Mindfulness is the continuous act of being aware in the present moment, of paying attention by extending a meditative state beyond the sitting cushion into all the activities of our lives.

But, as Buddhist teacher Sylvia Boostein, author of It’s Easier Than You Think and Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There, says here, we pay attention so that we may fulfill the further teaching, the goal in each moment of connecting with others, of recognizing in each moment the opportunity and invitation to be present to others.

In this realization, Sylvia Boostein’s understanding parallels that of the great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, who views each moment in life as essentially meeting with others, or the other, a meeting in which we can connect with them as a Thou, affirming their dignity as persons in the image and likeness of the Divine. Although coming from different traditions, the quality of awareness is the same. The work of life is to “only connect.”

In some ways, this could be seen as a Part II… Less theological, given that it comes from more of an Eastern perspective, yet just as penetratingly true. The essence of life is connection. Teasdale mentions Martin Buber, who for me, is as much a theologian as he is a philosopher, who also spoke a similar truth when he declared “all life is meeting.” 

When we can see, feel, experience the other person wholly/holy, as they truly are, the Imago shines through. We connect or encounter or meet without any agenda or preconceived expectations, and so we connect through a sense of a “holy innocence” or without any alienating judgments. There and then, the Imago is reflected, and the soulful connection is made.While this supernal awareness might be fleeting, catching a glimpse and working to refine our awareness so that we can more constantly connect is a universal spiritual goal.