ad-free
Channel / Source:
TEDx Talks
Published: 2016-01-19
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O2JK_94g3Y
I'm when I was growing up as a child I was teased very often for being so distracted teased for being distracted teaser not being able to concentrate and you know had I not been born a few decades ago I probably would have been given one of those colorful acronyms like eighty DR eighty hits dean branded on probably dropped for not being able to concentrate right was
until I was in my early twenties when I graduated from university I grew up in Australia and I left and went to Hawaii when I joined the gruesome on the street was a cloistered traditional him on a street where he taught me how to concentrate that's really what I wanted to keep in mind this concept of being taught how to concentrate it's in my humble opinion
that most people called concentrate today for two reasons one is we never taught how to concentrate and second this we don't practice concentration so how can you do something if you never taught how to do it and how can you be good at something if you don't practice let's take a little survey him how many of you here in the audience growing up in school will
formally taught how to concentrate commercial have a show of hands like formal training in concentration in school like classes every week okay one person and she people when this entire audience right so here's a question for you how many of you in this room here growing up were told to concentrate in that amazing people tell us to concentrate but they don't tell us how to and
I got told to concentrate all the time down the pony concentrate on eating his food down upon a concentrate on doing your homework anybody wanna show me how to do it how many of you have children okay how many of you tell your children to concentrate do you show them how to no right and then you wonder why they hung concentrate you can't expect somebody to
do something if you don't teach them how to do it and then if they want to be good at it they have to practice it right so if I wanted to play for the Chicago Bulls so dance to the San Francisco ballet company in I'll ask people this question all the time and I talk to house them how many hours a day you should I practice
general ons is usually about eight hours a day six days a week and then I asked him softly six months can I play for the bulls grams is usually no after yeah no but I'd be better at basketball right a bit better about ballet dancer C. medicine if you practice distraction eight hours a day it's days a week what would you be good at after six
months after you you do you really get a distraction after a year and a half you've been expeditors fraction you'd like you'd write The New York Times bestseller and distraction Tadic's would invite you to come and give a keynote on distraction you get on stage should be so distracted you forget what was suppose to talk about right that's how good you are and I but the
truth is we don't practice distraction eight hours a day six days a week tresses who probably practice it more like sixteen hours a day seven days a week the average person sleeps what seventy eight hours to say roughly soon awake for about sixteen hours of the day what's to say on average of practicing it thirteen hours a day seven days a week distraction and then you
wonder why you're so good at it that's the law practice the law practices that we've become good and whatever it is we practiced whether it's positive or negative it doesn't matter if you practice something over and over and over again you become really good at and that's why people are so good a distraction because that's what they practice why aren't people greater concentration because they never
taught it and they never practices they don't need to be dropped they just need to be taught how to do it children don't need to be drug they just need to be taught how to concentrate and then they need to practice it just like anything else to become good tennis player to become a good dancer a former any sing practice practice practice and then people say
things like technology are great distract us right smartphones I have this thing so distracting my smartphone the internet are they distract us I like to say no first and then yes but mostly know why let me tell you a story so when I left Australia after university and went to Hawaii to be a monk I was very traditional honestly so when you join a monastery like
the one I did you literally have to give everything up your family of friends everyone you know everything you don't and we got them on the street you're given a settler ropes are a set of beads and a macbook pro laptop yes I did say mac so I every month got a mac and then when I phones came out we had a knife on this wall
and it's it's really interesting it's always fascinating to me to see people's reactions when I tell them about months at Max you know and I I remember this this lady once that came to visit them on the street and down she asked me a question and I said to her went to send me an email and now I can email you back a response my teacher
rode up and down it will give you some nice insights she looked at me constraints Lynn finally asked is it okay for months to use email I said of course it's okay for months to use email as long as the no attachments some people just getting it now technology in itself is not a bad thing it's actually a beautiful thing as long as we're in charge
of it but if every time you iPhone beeps %HESITATION makes a sound and you tend to it and you go yes monster how can I sit here today then you live in that world of distraction you training you to be distracted but if you actually use technology and technology is not a bad thing when I say yes earlier the technology can be distracting there are some
aspects of technology that can be distracting for example in the mac you have notifications that drop down but that's as easy as clicking on it and turning it off turning off those notifications and not responding by choosing what you want to engage with so technology in itself is not a bad thing the question is do we choose to engage in that are not so how do
we become good at concentrating we start by understanding the mind right all of us have the mind it's the most powerful tool in the world built a smartphone extra machines the drive itself on Mars yet there's no manual for the mine right when was the last time you saw manual for the mine yet you you buy a point and shoot camera whose only purpose and duty
is to point and shoot it comes with a hundred page manual yeah we have the most complex tool in the world on mine and there's no manual so the first thing I learned when I went to the ministry was to learn how the mind works because once you know how the mind works you can control it and once you can control it you can focus hot
focus of concentrate something you don't understand so how does the mind work from the monks perspective when the monks experience of the mine death suit two things that you need to understand one is this awareness and one is the mine so take a few moments to explain this to you and share what they are see magic awareness is a glowing ball of light like in all
they can float around a case that's wins now imagine your mind S. vase space Bahasa area with many different sections within one area of the mine is anger jealousy food sacks happiness joy signs are and this glowing ball of light called awareness can travel within the mine and he can go to any error of the mind it wants to go to and when it goes to
a particular Arab the mine is lights up that area when it lights up the air of the mind you become conscious of it to give you an example your friend invites you to go see a movie for example okay he dug you wanna go see mission impossible sixteen sure let's go cases you go to the theater watching you know you sit down the lights all on
you chatting with a friend the lights dim the movie starts if it's a really great director producer he or she can take your awareness to any area of the mine they want you to go to right they can take you to a salary of mine to have beer of the mind movie can get really exciting thrilling suspenseful scary and it's nineteen minutes later you you see
to what's on the screen and it says the end and you turn to your friend and you don't like how that was an amazing movie had you paid thirteen or fourteen of fifteen dollars whatever it is to allow the director to take you when this different areas of the mine and this happens on a daily basis each day we allow someone or something throughout the day
to take awareness from one area of the mine to another when we allow a person or something to do that would being distracted the art of concentration is the art of keeping awareness that ball of light on one thing for an extended period of time every time the ball of light drifts away we bring it back trip so we can we bring it back right so
that's the theory you have awareness and you have to mine you are not the mind and people say my mind wanders all the time technically that's a false statement what wonders is the awareness awareness is moving within your mind so that's a theory of it so let's do a simple little practical exercise to see if this actually works out to some monk booty talk okay so
for that I need audience participation I need all of you to sit up straight and you check so if you have anything in your lap or hands place it down on the ground sit up straight in your chat with your spine straight if you leaning back to sit forward a little bit want you to close your eyes slow deep breaths and and I want you to
become aware of the room become aware of the chat you sitting on become aware of any sounds you might hear the sound of my voice humming of the projector at conditioning now I want you to become aware of the most recent wedding that you attended Jim number whose wedding it lost who was getting married did you approve of the marriage trying think everything you can about
the wedding did you go by yourself you go with the family was it a large wedding hundreds of people was it small and intimate with maybe twenty thirty people how was the food was it good was the alcohol did you drink a lot you've been a member remember how much you drank remember what the bride was wearing if you make a good choice now I want
you to remember the most recent holiday that you went on the most recent vacation that you went on your number weight loss what kind of vacation was it anyway was it a yoga retreat was that %HESITATION wellness stripped wasn't educational was an adventure how long did you go for what was the weather like over there trying think everything you can about this vacation spend a lot
of money how's the food spicy bland bad get sick eating the food now your isa still close I want you to become aware of the room again become aware that the chat is sitting on sound of my voice humming of the air conditioner projector now slowly open your eyes and soul back in his seat Hey that was a very simple exercise to prove two things do
you wanna stress a clear separation between awareness and the mine second this you can actually take your awareness and move it to any area of the mine that you wanted to go to because you just allowed me to do that I secure when us from this room becoming aware this chat is sitting on the sound of my voice that conditioning projector and you went to the
waiting area of the mine and the longer you state that the more you thought about the wedding how do I know you're thinking about it because I had my eyes open and when I ask you a question like the bright make a bad choice some of the only with address yes so I knew you were thinking about the wedding right and then you went from the
waiting area of the mine and you traveled all the way to the kitchen area of the mine can you state then while you and the vacation area of the mind you in thinking about the wedding all about the room and then you mentioned a vacation here of the mind back to the room again and I do think about the chat the room anyone thinking about the
wedding on a vacation then and that's what's happens all day we allow people and things around the city co when a stick from one area of the mind to another all day long from the time we wakeup and therefore we become distracted he concentrated is to be able to keep your awareness on one thing for an extended period of time how do we practiced this we
practice this by doing one thing at a time throughout the day what's the best way to develop concentration the best way to develop concentration is to bring that practice into everyday life look at opportunities throughout your day in your average day I ask yourself what's a great opportunity to practice concentration how many of you have a spouse or partner that you live with quite a few
of you every time you speak with your spouse or your partner keep that ball of light that awareness on that person it trips away bring it back it chips away bring it back the more you practice the more you become better a concentration give her or him your undivided attention if you speak to your spouse for two hours a day what a great opportunity to practice
because information every time you speak with the child practice concentration parents come up to me all the time and say down the honey how can I teach my children to concentrate very easy you learn to concentrate for us members all saying that's goes monkey sees monkey do you know and if you Kankan some trait Yukon expect your child concentrate and if you don't teach your children
how to concentrate how can they possibly learn how to concentrate the con benefits of concentration not endless right when you're able to concentrate you're able to focus all your energy into a single given point life is a manifestation of where your energies flowing and if you Kankan Centralia energy the things that you want to manifest in your life becomes very very challenging so Lynn to concentrate
by doing one thing at a time bring this practice into everything that you do throughout the day make it a part of your life practice practice practice keep bringing awareness back keep it focused on one thing at a time share this knowledge with two children be an example for them so they can grow up let's stop drugging our children and solved a simple problem by teaching
