Almost without exception when you try to divide your attention, you will be keeping one part of your attention on your internal world—your thoughts, emotions, reactions, etc—and keeping the second part of your attention on the external world—what you are observing or doing. This ability to keep your attention on the world and, at the same time, on your reactions is a key element in being present and self-remembering, and in almost all exercises that are designed to awaken a higher centers.
With a little self-observation, this distinction between our internal world and what we observe externally can be used to make our divided attention more powerful. All of us sometimes become identified or lost in what’s going on in our internal world, and, at other times, we all sometimes become fascinated with activities outside of us. For instance when I write I have a tendency to observe my thoughts, but to forget to see the room where sit. On the other hand if I watch a movie—one that I actually enjoy—I tend to become lost in the movie and forget to observe my reactions or the simple fact that my body is sitting in a chair watching a movie. By recording these observations, I can teach myself to compensate for my tendencies by focusing the main part of my attention on the external if my tendency is to be internal and on the internal if my tendency is to be external.
Here’s what I mean: if I am watching a movie, since I know that I am likely to identify with the movie, I can actively try to be present to my body sitting in the chair. I can to some extent allow my attention to be passive in relation to the movie because I know my attention will be held there mechanically. Here’s another example: I have noticed that when I walk I tend to be in imagination. I have observed many times that moving on foot or in car usually evokes imagination. So when I walk I try to be present to the scene around me, which is fine for me, especially when walk in mountains near where I live. Because my tendency is to be in my head, I actively take in the sky, the trees, and the hills where I walk.
Like all legitimate actions, divided attention requires three forces to be successful. In the example of watching a movie what we’re doing is making our attempt to be present to our body sitting in the chair the first (or active) force, which makes watching the movie the second (or passive) force. The third force in this triad is whatever is motivating us to make the effort. I won’t go into this anymore except to say that these ideas fit very well into the Law of Three, and that if you have studied the Law of Three, you should be able use it to help you understand what I saying.
Divided attention is a marvelous exercise: it teaches you how to be present while going about your life. It is also a wonderful way to teach yourself to keep your focus or your grounding while, at the same time, extending consciousness beyond the body.
Dividing attention in the way described is a good preliminary exercise that shows our erroneous understanding of the “waking state”. It shows that more attention is available and that we rarely use that attention. Unfortunately it is mostly a mental exercise, and as soon as the energy of the mind is used up, it is not possible to continue. Repetitions of the exercise will show how much energy (and hence duration) the mind can sustain, which amounts to very little.
Luckily, the body and the emotions have access to much greater amounts of energy.
A good next step is learning to transfer attention to these other parts that make up our whole presence. In the scenario described in the original post, the sensation of the body on the seat, the visual reception of images and auditory reception of sound are encompassed by the attention of the body. The various emotional states that occur are apprehended by the attention of the emotions and the minds’ outlay of energy is greatly economized as it is occupied more correctly with monitoring and maintaining the separation between the emotions and body sensation.
The triad is complete, and separate from the external world even as the individual elements participate in what is going on there.
“Now I fourfold vision see
And a fourfold vision is given to me
Tis fourfold in my supreme delight
And threefold in soft Beulah’s night
And twofold Always. May God us keep
From Single vision & Newtons sleep”. W. Blake.
Ho formulated in the same exact ways as Ouspensky and Collin, of course.
the same Eternal Reality.
While brushing my teeth I use to kp my one hand still..like it shd nt b moved till I finish my brushing. .ths is one of d exc. I do to b in present n not flowing in d thought n monologue stream.its a dividing attention.
Like ryt nw ..one of my attention is on my typing fingers n otr on my rhythmic breathing.