Effortless Focus Part 1 For the second of my articles emphasising the basics, I wanted to look at focus in Spring Forest Qigong. Focus is one of the most important principles which all practitioners should come back to time and time again. Our understanding and attainment with focus is continually evolving and reaching new levels. Focus is like a spectrum with many depths that are sometimes so subtle that we might not even realise we are deepening or progressing. One of my favourite quotes of Master Lin on focus is found in the Level 1 Manual: “The focus of meditation is different from that of office work. When you focus at work you have to concentrate very hard on what you are doing. But meditation focus is different. To focus for meditation, bring your energy inside of the body and concentrate on one point, such as your lower dantian. At the same time use your mind to feel the moving of energy in all parts of your body. Relax yourself into a state of being so that when you do not focus you feel something and when you do focus the feeling disappears.” Many of us are used to a type of focus we often use in our daily life which is quite forceful, using our will power in order to concentrate hard on whatever we are doing. Often people develop this kind of focus and it can help people to succeed in day to day life. But this type of focus can drain energy and even create blockages, at the very least it will leave you feeling tired at the end of a long day’s work. Meditation focus however is different. The aim is to be as gentle, relaxed and effortless as we can be in maintaining the focus of meditation. If we get this focus right then it can be maintained for a long time, to the point that high level Masters live every moment, deeper and deeper, in this type of focus. I remember one talk when Master Nance described it beautifully, he said “when you get it right it’s like the universe focuses you”. The focus is very detailed in every moment. As Master Lin says, we use tunnel vision to feel this focus in each moment. This detailed focus is balanced with deeper and deeper levels of relaxation; physically, mentally and spiritually. As Master Lin says it is like when we “do not focus you feel something”. Effortless focus. The focus we use in daily life often thrives on focusing on one thing only, and often in mental processes, logic, analysis etc. The focus that we use in meditation can be spread across different things, it can be layered. For example, we may focus on the feeling whilst we practice Qigong and at the same time focus on the visualisation that we are using, thus focusing on different senses together. Also the focus can be at one place as well as in the unity/oneness. The focus can be at different energy centres and in the whole body and in the universe. Step by step into the oneness. The key to being able to focus on multiple techniques is to be very gentle. A little focus here, a little focus there and let go of any analysis or judgement that comes up. You can always take a step back to focusing on one thing to lead you into the oneness. I would like to finish the first part of this article with some quotes from Master Lin which highlight the gentle, relaxed focus that we are looking for: “When you can use your focus to relax and let go (instead of to concentrate so hard) you will more easily move into the emptiness and your channels will open much faster.” ~ “People often make it too hard by trying to concentrate harder instead of relaxing more deeply and letting go.” ~ “It is that part of your mind, your subconciousness or consciousness, that you put to use during meditation; but, it doesn’t work like your conscious mind. Instead of concentrating hard, in meditation, you let go.” I hope you will continue with me in this exploration of focus.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:27:39 +0000
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