Attention is the key that opens the door to inner peace and awareness. Learning to bring a loving and mindful attention to all the moments of our lives, we find ease everywhere. Without attention we live only on the surface of life. The song of a bird, the beauty of a sunset, the cries of someone who needs us are lost to us. It is only when we are attentive to that we are able to explore our inner landscape and learn the lessons we are asked to learn if we are to live with authenticity and freedom. To be touched by anything in the world, to love and to live fully, we need to be present and awake. If we are to love with compassion, balance and generosity, we need to cultivate the art of attentiveness. . . .

Attention is the common thread that runs through every meditative discipline and art. It enables us to cut through the habits of entanglement and speculative thought and the reactions that trigger agitation. Through calm and gentle attention we learn to cultivate the clarity and sensitivity that allow understanding and stillness to deepen. Wise attention is a gesture of kindness to ourselves, freeing us from the chaos and abrasiveness of a mind that is too easily scattered and divided. . . .

Attention is the art of cultivating happiness and well-being. We do not need to postpone that ease to a time in our lives when there are fewer demands upon our attention. We can discover it now — in the midst of a life of activity, a mind that has thoughts and a world that is ceaselessly bombarding us with a multiplicity of impressions and demands. Attention awakens us — to ourselves and to everything that comes into our world. . . .

Attention in itself is not difficult; it is remembering to be attentive that is challenging. But in discovering that wise attention is the source of deep inner happiness and well-being, our dedication to its cultivation will grow.

— Christina Feldman, Heart of Wisdom, Mind of Calm