If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

Great horned owl - Photo from Savannah Bird Cam

          High among the trees on Skidaway Island are two bird cams that record the birth of new generations of great horned owls each year. The live feed allows bird lovers to watch the parents as they raise their owlets, keeping them warm, fed and safe. On the nest, the mother appears relaxed but watchful as she scans the marshy landscape and skyline continuously. Though she stays busy taking care of her little ones, her alertness never wavers. In the same manner, the twenty-second slogan encourages us to stay watchful as well. Moving through our day can be like walking down the sidewalk of a crowded, busy city. There is much to attend to and do, yet we should be on the lookout for familiar faces. Do we recognize the faces of clinging and aversion? Are we aware when we've lost our openness and kindness? Noticing our distraction is not meant to be disheartening. Rather it is simply a cue to wake us from our inattention. 

You may well be distracted. But there’s nothing wrong with that. As soon as you know your state of distraction, you are practicing, you have remembered your practice. 
~ Norman Fischer

For more information on the twenty-second slogan, go here.

Slogan Twenty-two

If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

From the Lojong for the Layperson booklet:

            Meditation allows us to see just how jumbled and busy our minds are. The goal of mindfulness is to learn how to develop one-pointed attention, so we can choose what to be focused on rather than be at the mercy of whatever arises. This discipline of the mind is not meant to be harsh but gentle and relaxed. Instead of waging war on our distracting thoughts, we can use them to return us to the “default setting” of mindfulness. It is similar to daydreaming and driving; we suddenly wake up when the tires run off the smooth road onto the shoulder. Instead of struggling with distraction, we use it as leverage to help us resume our focus. It parallels the Zen saying: “When you fall down on the ground, you use the ground to get up.”

Photo: Quartz point surrounded by autumn dogwood leaves and pine straw.

            Frequent beach-goers, particularly those who are fond of getting in the ocean, are well aware of rip currents. Breaks or low points in sand bars can create a channel for water to flow rapidly back out to the sea. A snorkeler caught up in undersea sights or a person on a float enjoying the sun might suddenly find they have been pulled many yards out to sea. If they panic and try to swim back to shore, they will find this current moves much faster than they can paddle. Trying to fight it will only result in exhaustion. Experienced ocean swimmers know that the neck of the rip current is usually not very wide. They will swim parallel to the shore rather than perpendicular, allowing them to move out of the current and eventually back to the shore. Using the slogans in all of my affairs can help me become an experienced practitioner. When I find myself caught up in distractions, I can use them to wake me up. Instead seeing them as an adversary, I can view these disturbances as a reminder to “Keep Calm and Carry On.*”

*A 1939 British motivational poster produced by the government in preparation for World War II.