Has anyone ever said to you, “Can I have your undivided attention?”. Half demand, half question, so many things in the world today vie for our attention. Lurking in your handheld device are zillions of sound bites, clips, reels and adverts. You are always one swipe away from becoming the target of a massive algorithm grab. Everything you pull up aims to hit on your awareness. In today’s commodification of attention, the question always remains, how will you pay attention?
Where you put awareness is central to yoga and meditation as well. Most yoga disciplines tout undivided awareness as supreme. Now there are many ways to practice undivided awareness– you can play music, read, knit, go square dancing or do macrame. My favorite is playing ping-pong. Because it is of the highest rank, undivided awareness is given many colorful and poetic terms in yoga texts: Naked Awareness, Original Mind, Total Absorption, All-Pervading Wisdom. In Sanskrit it is known as advaita meaning “non-dual”, but better translated as “undivided”  (the prefix “a” meaning non and “dve” divide). Your undivided awareness is the only thing that can never be taken, given away, or “had.”
Thus when someone demands you give them your undivided attention, it is best to respond, “No Way!” Now we must inquire, what is undivided awareness and what is it like to embody it? First off, we wonder is it smooth or choppy? Long lasting or short-lived? Pure or sullied? What is its color, shape and dimension? When we practice meditation we usually try to get a handle on it, try to steer it in the right direction. But this is like rodeo yoga, trying to lasso your attention and pin it to the ground. Impossible! The amazing thing about awareness is that it is like space, formless, and empty. And while it sounds really hard to do, undivided awareness is really just the nature of awareness itself. Like fire is hot and water is wet, awareness is transparent and clear. You cannot divide awareness like you would slice an apple pie. There is nothing there to divvy up. And undivided awareness is the same the world round. Whether you live in Tehran or Texas, Tallahassee or Tucson, undivided awareness is the One Mind common to all. So yoke to your undivided awareness and be sure to never to give it away to anyone, anytime.
