Concentration Is Concentration, Concentration Is Concentration

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Distraction is when something or someone outside of you moves your awareness from one thing to another without your permission. We're training our awareness to be distracted all day long, and that's what we practice all day long. So I let TikTok take me to a happy earth of the mind because I see a dancing cat but then two seconds later it takes me to a sad area of the mind for no reason. And three minutes later taking me to an angrier of theMind because I see something that I don't want to see. That's distraction. You surrender where awareness goes in your mind to your environment around you.

When you were a kid, teachers and parents probably told you to concentrate. And as an adult, you likely often think about how much more productive, present, and happy you'd be if only you had better focus. But despite how much we think about our desire to improve our focus, no one ever gets any training in how to do it and even explains what focus is, exactly.

My guest today is an exception to that rule. He was taught the secrets to concentration when he spent ten years as a Hindu monk, and today he's on a mission to share them with others. His name is Dandapani, and he continues to live as a Hindu priest, though he's now also an entrepreneur and author, with a book just published called The Power of Unwavering Focus. Today on the show, Dandapani defines focus and shares the existential reasons why developing yours is so vital. He explains how that development begins with understanding how the mind is different from awareness, that where awareness goes, energy flows, and the need to bring awareness to attention. We walk through how to stop practicing distraction and start practicing concentration by making each of your daily activities a focused practice, and ultimately, making your whole day a practice. We also discuss how daily sessions of meditation are inadequate for developing focus, how mindfulness is different than concentration, and how the ability to control and direct your awareness is one of the greatest powers you can possess.