Attention Means Attention

"Paying attention may seem like a very simple thing, but when we look at how our minds actually work, it becomes apparent that, in fact, we pay attention much less than we might think. 'For the ordinary man, whose mind is a checkerboard of crisscrossing reflections, opinions, and prejudices,' says Kapleau Roshi, bare attention is virtually impossible; his life is thus centered not on reality itself but in his ideas about it."

Rick Fields
Excerpt | Chop Wood Carry Water