Sages proclaim that non-distraction is the king of meditation. What are they talking about?
Sages proclaim that non-distraction is the king of meditation. What are they talking about? To understand this better, let’s look up distraction in the dictionary. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a distraction is “a thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else.” With distraction, there is a sense of moving from one thing to another without really focusing on any one thing.
If we have the attitude that we really need to experience the nature of mind directly, and benefit all beings through that realization, then we will have the appropriate attitude towards all the fascinating things that take us away from our purpose.
Distractions won’t have the strength to move us. Without distractions, we won’t be pulled back and forth between different projects and worldly concerns, but instead will engage directly with the Dharma. When this happens, we won’t just be regarding the Buddha and the path of teachings as blank routines, but instead will be engaging them with the appropriate respect and commitment, knowing deeply that they are the only resources that will help us to reach this goal of realization. This attitude of deep respect is what we sometimes call devotion.