Radical Attention to Oneself

Radical attention means an uninterrupted gaze upon oneself, in every circumstance — in joy, in sorrow, in silence, in noise.

This attention is different from ordinary attention. Ordinary attention is always outward: toward people, events, the future, the past. Radical attention looks inward — toward the self that is experiencing.

When this gaze becomes serious, we begin to see things we never saw before. We see how constructed the “I” is. We see that thoughts come and go without our owning them. We see that feelings, like clouds, arise and pass.

And between these sightings, there is a deep silence. A silence in which the “I” has no place. That silence is God.

Radical attention is the hardest and the simplest thing on earth. It is hard because the ego resists. It is simple because it requires no tools. Only sitting and seeing.

In that seeing, the “I” slowly dissolves. What remains is God.