~ Bruce Lee
In many endeavors, there are always people who seek to become the best in their craft. They train and train, practice and practice, day in and day out. Some of us may believe the 10,000 hour rule to attain some mastery over our art. However, even devoting all of our time available to our chosen art can lead to nothing if we don't do it with deliberation. In the above quote, Bruce Lee put it aptly: though the mechanics of any particular technique are important in the beginning, we must always strive to express what we perceive the technique to be, from a place of awareness and understanding.Through constant refinement or fine-tuning of a technique, we can begin to shed the very technique and manifest something uniquely our own.
Without being aware of ourselves, and our action on the space around us, we lose the gift that is our unique expression of an art. This being said, mental awareness requires two elements to develop the proper foundation: focus and intention. These two elements alone could take up multiple volumes, and even then it likely is not enough. Focus itself is rather self-explanatory: to focus is to hold one's attention on something like meditation or work, without distraction or falter. However, this doesn't mean that we don't pay attention to what may be occurring outside our inside of ourselves. Rather, this means that we learn to acknowledge, and then let go. Meaning, when we begin to think about what we want at the grocery store, or what Suzie said to you at work earlier today, we acknowledge the thought or feeling, but move no further. We acknowledge, and let go. Once we learn this through practice, we can come back to our point of focus (meditation, work, blog, etc.) Through this process, we develop our focus and are then able to be present and open.
Without moving too much further into focus, I want to touch on intention.In reality, focus and intention are interconnected and inseparable. As intellectual concepts, yes we may separate them. As living functions of our life, they are not separable. That being said (without too much elaboration), all of the terms I threw at you above, like letting go and being present and open, lead to a basic understanding of letting our intention guide us. When we learn to move with intention, or in other words with deliberation, we learn to act unquestionably. We stop questioning whether our decision was right or wrong, what Suzie said to you, what your grocery list is going to be. Through our focus our intention is then developed further. With confidence we move through our world, able to change with the change, without falter or question.
It's all great stuff to write about and contemplate, but until you begin to develop your own practice focus and intention will never be developed. I once had a teacher tell me, "It doesn't matter what your practice is, just practice." If we don't practice, we never learn what our intention was or is in the first place.
Though this is an elementary description of developing awareness, nonetheless it can be a starter for those of you who may have never reflected upon the concepts presented. I urge you to find something in your life you enjoy, and practice it! If we have nothing else in this world or the next, we have our passions and our chosen art.
For those of you reading my blogs, I ask that you comment and give me feedback or suggestions on the material if at all possible! It is always greatly appreciated. If you have further questions about meditation, awareness, or my practice, you can always email me at firstgenfighter@gmail.com
Many blessings to you all!
Without moving too much further into focus, I want to touch on intention.In reality, focus and intention are interconnected and inseparable. As intellectual concepts, yes we may separate them. As living functions of our life, they are not separable. That being said (without too much elaboration), all of the terms I threw at you above, like letting go and being present and open, lead to a basic understanding of letting our intention guide us. When we learn to move with intention, or in other words with deliberation, we learn to act unquestionably. We stop questioning whether our decision was right or wrong, what Suzie said to you, what your grocery list is going to be. Through our focus our intention is then developed further. With confidence we move through our world, able to change with the change, without falter or question.
It's all great stuff to write about and contemplate, but until you begin to develop your own practice focus and intention will never be developed. I once had a teacher tell me, "It doesn't matter what your practice is, just practice." If we don't practice, we never learn what our intention was or is in the first place.
Though this is an elementary description of developing awareness, nonetheless it can be a starter for those of you who may have never reflected upon the concepts presented. I urge you to find something in your life you enjoy, and practice it! If we have nothing else in this world or the next, we have our passions and our chosen art.
For those of you reading my blogs, I ask that you comment and give me feedback or suggestions on the material if at all possible! It is always greatly appreciated. If you have further questions about meditation, awareness, or my practice, you can always email me at firstgenfighter@gmail.com
Many blessings to you all!
