Chapter
Seven
Attention
MEDITATION AND ATTENTION
The science of consciousness often feels like a science of unanswerable questions.
Every scientific experiment we discuss in this book tries, in one way or another,
to negotiate the boundary between measurable, objective facts that may or may
not be relevant to consciousness, and the subjective reality of consciousness: the
what it’s like to be. Later in the book we will devote more time to looking at alterna-
tives to the ‘third-person’ science that is standard in most of today’s experimental
psychology and neuroscience labs: ways to bring the first and the second person
(me and you) into scientific practice. For now, in the last part of this chapter, we
will focus on one aspect of this more inclusive science – one inspired by the ulti-
mate first-person practice: meditation.
Meditation is also the ultimate training of attention. There many different forms
of meditation, but the first step in nearly all of them is calming the mind. This skill
can take many years to master, but then it becomes easy to sit down and let the
mind settle. Everything that arises is let go, like writing on water. Nothing is met
with judgement or opinions, and as reactions gradually cease, clarity appears. The
sounds of birds, the sight of the floor, the itch on the hand, they are just as they
are: suchness. Many traditions claim that in this decluttered state, insight into the
mind can spontaneously arise.
Those who practise certain kinds of meditation claim that they awake from illu-
sion and see directly the nature of mind. If they are right, their claims are import-
ant both for the introspective methods they use, and for what they say about
consciousness. But are they right?
Many interesting questions are posed by these practices. For now, we will focus
on their relevance to attention. To start with, we will briefly sketch out what med-
itation is, how it is done, and what its effects are.
MOTIVATIONS AND METHODS
Most methods of meditation have religious origins. In particular, Buddhism, Hin-
duism, and Sufism have long traditions of disciplined meditation, but comparable
methods of silent contemplation are found within the mystical traditions of Chris-
tianity, Judaism, and Islam (Ornstein, 1986; West, 1987). Within these traditions,
people meditate for widely different reasons. The more religious may want to
gain merit, get to heaven, or ensure a favourable reincarnation, while others sit
for insight, awakening, or enlightenment.
Many secular methods have emerged from religious traditions. For example, in
Buddhism without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015), Stephen Batchelor
maps out ways of practising with no religious connotations or commitment to
belief in gods, persisting selves, or life beyond death. Transcendental Meditation
(TM) was derived from Hindu techniques, brought to the West in the late 1960s by
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and is now taught within a large, hierarchical, and highly
profitable organisation which claims that TM provides deep relaxation and inner
happiness, eliminates stress, and improves relationships, sleep, health, creativity,
efficiency, concentration, confidence, and energy. (See our website for material
on the wilder claims made for it.)