The mind: focus and concentration

[Darkpagan666]

Today during lecture, we learned about the mind and how most of us lack the necessary concentration and focus when it comes to actually process necessary information and overall learning. We are too easily distracted. As this sort of like are already written in the JoS, it is a nice reminder. Especially for newer people, but also for the more advanced. The mind is a tricky place, and for us Satanists, we have to be keenly alert on this.

The use of smart devices with push advertisements from media have serious negative effects on our overall focus and concentration. While smartphones and related mobile technologies are recognized as flexible and powerful tools that, when used prudently, can augment human cognition, there is also a growing perception that habitual involvement with these devices may have a negative and lasting impact on users’ ability to think, remember, pay attention, and regulate emotion. [1]

How long are you able to read a book, an article, watch a series, documentary or film without being disrupted from looking at your phone or so called smart tablets? Scrolling through popular apps like newspaper, twitter, snapchat, instagram, facebook, what have you.

It takes only a little time, in fact, extremely little time until the drawing compulsion, magnetism and urge to reach out your hand and look at your phone or change apps. If you try to resist, the mind may trick you to "watch the time". Just so you can look if there are any notifications. And usually, you only see and read halfs. The mind doesn't learn to process wholes. This is an addiction and compulsion. The mind is tired, exhausted, not to mention untrained and uncontrolled. Unfocused.

When you see something such as all the likes on a picture you shared or cute cat videos, your brain release a chemical, dopamine, that is rewarding your action. Dopamine is a chemical produced by our brains that plays a starring role in motivating behavior. It gets released when we take a bite of delicious food, when we have sex, after we exercise, and, importantly, when we have successful social interactions. In an evolutionary context, it rewards us for beneficial behaviors and motivates us to repeat them. [2]

The constant distraction and feed of information affects our memory, learning process and concentration for the worse.

When we meditate, we increase our overall bio-electricity i.e. life force. With this we strengthens the neurological patterns in our brains. And this include the already existing patterns such as mentioned above.

How many times have you went to bed and you cannot fall asleep because certain songs, commercials, conversations or even scenarios are playing through your head non-stop against your will? This is nothing more than a symptom from an untrained and unfocused mind. Your mind is addressing you to solve this issue.

When you have the power to still your mind, you will find yourself at ease. When you are at ease, you will sleep much faster and gain a better sleep quality that is also good for the health. Another benefit is, you are the one who controls your thoughts and emotions. This is imperative with advancement through meditations and the use of magick. The mind needs a lazer-like focus.

Through Void meditation, you train the mind to hold it still. When practiced everyday, you will learn to "still your mind" for longer periods of time (link below). In the beginning, this can be extremely difficult, as thoughts will come into your head continually. Before you know it, you will again be thinking about something. Don't get upset with yourself as this is very normal and even for advanced practitioners, certain meditation sessions may not go as smooth as usual. Just keep bringing your mind back to focus. Patience and persistence are the keys here. [3]

The results of practicing Void meditation are exceptional benefits. You will gain better memory, process information better, thus understand information better, concentration and focus will increase, control your thoughts and emotions, and you will be able to deal with stressful situations much better. Your overall cognition improves.

In nowadays society we live in, it is already an overwhelming access with information, and with the distracted mind? This can prove disaster for many things.

Easy things to do in order to improve your life from this, is controlling the notifications from your smart devices. Remove the notifications or "silence" them. My only notifications are actual phone calls and actual messages, the rest is turned off. This has helped me tremendously, as well from the benefits of Void meditations. Void meditation is mandatory for every Satanists that are serious.

I hope this makes people think a little more about how they spend their time, focus and motivate them to improve themselves!

Take care,
Dark pagan 666.

Sourses:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403814/
2. http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/ ... ttle-time/
3. Void meditation:
https://www.joyofsatan.org/www.angelfir ... ation.html

[HP. Hoodedcobra666]

Most problems are the results of the lack of attention and one's mind not being focused on the subject. For example, accidents during driving, or mistakes in the workplace.

Indeed, it's facts what you state. It's almost as if 99% of things done today [and in particular things teens etc] are exposed, are meant to distract the mind and break the attention span. Which is extremely important.

Void and focusing on the Flame meditation, can help a lot. Millions would benefit and save themselves from disastrous ADHD medication worldwide just by doing these two meditations for 5 to 10 minutes a day for a long period of time.

[Shadowcat]

...

I hope this makes people think a little more about how they spend their time, focus and motivate them to improve themselves!

Take care,
Dark pagan 666.

Sourses:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403814/
2. http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/ ... ttle-time/
3. Void meditation:
https://www.joyofsatan.org/www.angelfir ... ation.html

Thank you very much for this! The timing too for this is impeccable. It is extremely relevant at the moment for me.

[Darkpagan666]

Most problems are the results of the lack of attention and one's mind not being focused on the subject. For example, accidents during driving, or mistakes in the workplace.

Indeed, it's facts what you state. It's almost as if 99% of things done today [and in particular things teens etc] are exposed, are meant to distract the mind and break the attention span. Which is extremely important.

Void and focusing on the Flame meditation, can help a lot. Millions would benefit and save themselves from disastrous ADHD medication worldwide just by doing these two meditations for 5 to 10 minutes a day for a long period of time.

Exactly! When it comes to performing important tasks like you mentioned driving, operating on a patient's brain, writing an important report, or other critical tasks that need great concentration and focus, it's very important to be in the moment. In the here and now. I mean, how many times does your mind drift away while driving or sitting at an important meeting. I know I struggled a lot with this. Way less now thanks to Void meditation.

I should have included the flame meditation, here:
https://www.joyofsatan.org/www.angelfir ... ation.html

Thank you so much!

[V12-POWER]

what is the "consensus" here about modern phones? cause I've been growing a deep hatred towards them, and it's not only because of social media

you see, when the iphone wasnt even a thing, the only way to be connected to the internet was using a pc or a laptop wwith an usb dongle. I remember that saying "Lets go outside" was really going outside, nowadays one might be "outside" but still just another npc in the jewtrix

I mean, im not against having devices to stay in communication, but aside from being able to send a text message, make a call and MAYBE take a picture, what's the point for all the added bs these current phones have? do people really need all that stuff?

social media stuff used to be "healthier" when the only way to use them was a pc, this was the norm back then, I remember when the only reason why we used jewbook was to organize when we would go outwith friends and stuff, nobody really gave a damn about your amount of likes or whatever, its really, really different now

(this doesnt mean I like jewbook, I hate that piece of crap, but at least 8-9 years ago it wasn't what it is now)

honeslty, I see no point to have social media apps in a cellphone, aside from the fact that they're ALL flawed, I could go one by one listing why they suck, and why the negatives outweigh the positives, but that's not the point

I watch the apple arm chips and think, such processing power and such potential only to go into a device that's literally made to brainwash you

[CB666]

I HATED VOID meditation, who's with me on this??? I bet almost everyone is.

So what I did (and it worked) is I started doing it for a about 2 minutes at a time, at least twice a day. After a few days or so, I noticed, hey, I did it for almost 4 minutes, WOW!! then 6 minutes and so on. Guys, just start small and you will naturally be able to do it longer.

Another thing, I had a such a hard time with is spinning my chakras. Those little bastards would flop over or spin for a few seconds then stop. Don't even ask me about the color! I decided that I was going to win this battle. So I just kept doing it as best as I could and moving on to the next chakra (even though I knew I hadn't done the last one exactly right). In less than a week, I could get them pointing in the right direction and spinning properly (slowly, but hey, they were spinning). Now I've got those little sweethearts spinning without any problems.

Everything has been a challenge, but patient and believing in myself has helped me overcome these challenges The KEY is... Keep doing it even when you think (or you know, like me) it's not working properly or at 100%, keep doing it. You will eventually win. Success is attained in 2 ways - DON'T GIVE UP and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

[Satan_is_our_Father666]

....

Knowing this would help me think about my own biggest shortcomings, I read your post gladly. To this day, after much longer than I care to admit, I have HUGE problems focusing and my successful Void meditation sessions have been extremely low in number. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I realize this lack of ability to focus is the one thing that kept me away from Satan and my Guardian Demon for so long. I don't know why I have such a hard time (way harder than most for what I could see) letting go of thoughts, but I suppose it's got something to do with my freakishly significance Elemental imbalance in the Soul (basically, I'm air headed).

I've been trying to fix this since I learned about it (last year) and it worked some, but I have LOTS of work to do yet before I can feel I can call myself a SERIOUS Satanist, regardless of the Spiritual Warfare I do or my past dotted with 'miracles' here and there.
The mind is the first thing. Without a focused and strong mind, nothing can truly be achieved and built.

Thank you for your post. It helped as a reminder that I need to motivate myself more also. I realized a couple things when you mentioned the Dopamine effect, I seldom thought about that but realize it's part of the problem (same as those that have addiction with nonsense stuff like videogames, compulsive eating, smoking or porn).

HAIL SATAN FOREVER! HAIL LERAJE! HAIL HAURES!

[Jack]

I didn't know this before but apparently it shows your online on WhatsApp if you just have your mobile data on (and are not using the app). I was doing something yesterday and a girl called me and angrily screamed at me that I wasn't reading her messages and she instantly wanted a photo of an item I had. I was like wut ,and I went to the app and there was like 10 messages and she was typing why I was online and ignoring her. They want instant gratification and quick fixes. I would just go to the Himalayas if it wasn't for my duty to my parents and this war situation.

[Lydia [JG]]

Excellent post. For those who have trouble with void, or simply dislike it, try doing it while in a yoga asana. Pick any pose you want (easy, medium, or difficult), and focus fully on yourself in the pose. Breath in, breath out, keep the balance. Then try it again in another asana.

[Tirnenn]

This kind of explains things. I'm pretty sure I have ADHD, but I always thought my lack of wanting to read long stretches of text was simply due to being forced to read things in school I had 0 interest in. I mean, perhaps it does, but still it's food for thought.

[Usthepeople666]

Excellent post. For those who have trouble with void, or simply dislike it, try doing it while in a yoga asana. Pick any pose you want (easy, medium, or difficult), and focus fully on yourself in the pose. Breath in, breath out, keep the balance. Then try it again in another asana.

How about vibrating Satanama with it?
I remember when I was short on time I would often just extend the 3rd pose in the Hatha Session Pdf for 5-10minutes or even just repeat Satanama in my mind or focus on any point on the floor. Feeling the asana though is tremendously better , helped me lose a shit ton of weight when I actually got the flow and was enjoying each asana.

[OhNoItsMook]

This kind of explains things. I'm pretty sure I have ADHD, but I always thought my lack of wanting to read long stretches of text was simply due to being forced to read things in school I had 0 interest in. I mean, perhaps it does, but still it's food for thought.

You don't have ADHD. No one does. I know, I was officially "diagnosed" with it as a kid too, as were many others in the world. The creator of ADHD, admitted that it was fake as he lay dying. Interesting to think what all that medication against "ADHD" really did to me and everybody else, then.

Also, of course reading something that would interest you, would encourage you to fully get through it, even if it were to be long. Other way around too; if it was boring and had nothing to do with what you resonate with, you'd wanna stop.

Anyway, to give my own input to this thread, there was a recent study that determined that people's attention spans (especially millennials and younger), has been strongly regressing in comparison to generations prior. If you've ever uploaded a Youtube video, you'd be able to see the amount of time that people have viewed it, and even on short videos of like 2 minutes, you could see that people watch only up to half. Even a 6 minute video is too long for most people, and the comments of many videos on Youtube will always have "skip to x:x" or something along similar lines.

Or just like how you can't expect most people on the Internet to read even relatively long amounts of text, because some moron will only glimpse it for half a second and just comment "TLDR".

If it isn't the length of a fast-forwarded meme or TikTok video, most people won't have the attention for it.

[Tirnenn]

You don't have ADHD. No one does. I know, I was officially "diagnosed" with it as a kid too, as were many others in the world. The creator of ADHD, admitted that it was fake as he lay dying. Interesting to think what all that medication against "ADHD" really did to me and everybody else, then.

Well, I have... some kind of issue regardless, maybe "executive disorder" is more the right term.

[NDo]

Hello I'm a bit afraid right now because my neck tends to shift always and anytime I'm doing any meditation it also shifts and my neck hurts also like I'm carrying a bag of load or something.. please what may be the cause and what can I do...thanks

[Satan_is_our_Father666]

. If you've ever uploaded a Youtube video, you'd be able to see the amount of time that people have viewed it, and even on short videos of like 2 minutes, you could see that people watch only up to half.

Strongly agree there. I checked, to understand what worked and what didn't, not just the views but also the age and country of those that watched my videos, but the thing that really baffles me is the duration. Even stuff that is just meant to be funny or entertaining and lasted 1 minute only had like 9 seconds of watch. Makes you think you should start doing 10 second videos, tops. Video making can be very time consuming and hard work, the fuckers could even just watch 30 seconds before switching to porn or whatnot, but no.. they have the attention span of an eggplant.

This generation is just lazy, used to be easily spoiled and doesn't even begin to realize what MIND POWER could mean.

It takes a strong mind to train oneself and actively do daily spiritual warfare. Most people live like plants, bathed in bullshit and lies and giving 'Likes' to those that slow down their brains the quickest.

One saying I like is "Rule your mind or it will rule you".

HAIL SATAN FOREVER!

[Satan_is_our_Father666]

doing it while in a yoga asana.

This post and your reply come at the perfect time. I tried to do more determined yoga today while focusing inward, trying to banish my thoughts and focus on the Void instead. Somehow I completely stopped feeling the pain of stretching. Mixing the physical and the mental (and purely spiritual) seems to work in unison, possibly helping switch the attention in a constructive way. I've noticed that a lot when Void meditating while vibrating a rune or mantra and getting better mind silence and visions.

And speaking of asanas... looking forward to your remaining asanas for specific chakras.

HAIL SATAN FOREVER!

[NinRick]

I didn't know this before but apparently it shows your online on WhatsApp if you just have your mobile data on (and are not using the app). I was doing something yesterday and a girl called me and angrily screamed at me that I wasn't reading her messages and she instantly wanted a photo of an item I had. I was like wut ,and I went to the app and there was like 10 messages and she was typing why I was online and ignoring her. They want instant gratification and quick fixes. I would just go to the Himalayas if it wasn't for my duty to my parents and this war situation.

Funny you said that, my original plan was to go to the himalayas when I turn 30, and start to meditate there and focus solely on spirituality.
No need for that anymore.

[Aquarius]

Excellent post. For those who have trouble with void, or simply dislike it, try doing it while in a yoga asana. Pick any pose you want (easy, medium, or difficult), and focus fully on yourself in the pose. Breath in, breath out, keep the balance. Then try it again in another asana.

My own personal experience is that with void one really gets to know oneself and the influences that govern you, it's hard because sometimes facing reality is more difficult than staying in wonderland.

[mercury_wisdom]

I HATED VOID meditation, who's with me on this??? I bet almost everyone is.

So what I did (and it worked) is I started doing it for a about 2 minutes at a time, at least twice a day. After a few days or so, I noticed, hey, I did it for almost 4 minutes, WOW!! then 6 minutes and so on. Guys, just start small and you will naturally be able to do it longer.

Another thing, I had a such a hard time with is spinning my chakras. Those little bastards would flop over or spin for a few seconds then stop. Don't even ask me about the color! I decided that I was going to win this battle. So I just kept doing it as best as I could and moving on to the next chakra (even though I knew I hadn't done the last one exactly right). In less than a week, I could get them pointing in the right direction and spinning properly (slowly, but hey, they were spinning). Now I've got those little sweethearts spinning without any problems.

Everything has been a challenge, but patient and believing in myself has helped me overcome these challenges The KEY is... Keep doing it even when you think (or you know, like me) it's not working properly or at 100%, keep doing it. You will eventually win. Success is attained in 2 ways - DON'T GIVE UP and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

Great advice. I experienced the same with the spinning. Consistency is key even when you really don't feel like it.

[Jack]

I didn't know this before but apparently it shows your online on WhatsApp if you just have your mobile data on (and are not using the app). I was doing something yesterday and a girl called me and angrily screamed at me that I wasn't reading her messages and she instantly wanted a photo of an item I had. I was like wut ,and I went to the app and there was like 10 messages and she was typing why I was online and ignoring her. They want instant gratification and quick fixes. I would just go to the Himalayas if it wasn't for my duty to my parents and this war situation.

Funny you said that, my original plan was to go to the himalayas when I turn 30, and start to meditate there and focus solely on spirituality.
No need for that anymore.

Why don't you need it anymore.

[Blitzkreig [JG]]

Well, I have... some kind of issue regardless, maybe "executive disorder" is more the right term.

Some people are innately better at strong focus, whereas others are better at quickly changing between tasks and therefore being more flighty. This would explain more of the mental side of things.

Besides that, there are physical reasons, such as yin deficiency, that can further destabilize a person's mind and make them unable to sit and focus.

The main point is that none of these are really a medical issue, they are just an imbalance or constitutional weakness that needs attention. They are also definitely not fixed by giving someone a stimulant, which only imposes a stress-based laser focus. This stress response then drains the yin of the body, creating a long-term problem.

You would want to make void meditation a highlight of your routine, for example. You also want to focus on yoga and other dietary means of calming your mind.

[Blitzkreig [JG]]

Interesting to think what all that medication against "ADHD" really did to me and everybody else, then.

The medication is more retarded than you would think. ADHD can be characterized by the mind unable to channel its energy properly. Looking just at the physical level, this can be found as yin deficiency, where the body is simply lacking the "structure" to channel energy effectively, therefore it disperses.

What the medication often does is simply use a strong stimulant to recreate the focus one attains from high stress scenarios. Not only is this not addressing the actual problem, but it actually worsens it by forcing the body to use up even more yin resources to maintain this unnatural laser focus.

People who are a vata/air type are already susceptible to yin deficiency, so this sort of treatment is disastrous, especially carried out for years and years. Modern life is already very prone to producing yin deficiencies, let alone for someone who is taking amphetamines for years on end.

----------------------------------

Besides this physical component, you nailed it with the attention span and modern entertainment. The brain gets so desensitized to this sort of stimulation that everything else becomes boring in comparison. The good news is that the brain can adapt back to normal if these unsafe entertainment sources are removed, however.

This problem becomes really bad when little kids are given phones or tablets as a means of placating them. Their baby brains are being deeply impressed upon with this sort of stimulation. It is no different than if someone gave a toddler alcohol and wondered why they kid grew up to be an alcoholic.

[Theserpentrises1666]

I HATED VOID meditation, who's with me on this??? I bet almost everyone is.

So what I did (and it worked) is I started doing it for a about 2 minutes at a time, at least twice a day. After a few days or so, I noticed, hey, I did it for almost 4 minutes, WOW!! then 6 minutes and so on. Guys, just start small and you will naturally be able to do it longer.

Another thing, I had a such a hard time with is spinning my chakras. Those little bastards would flop over or spin for a few seconds then stop. Don't even ask me about the color! I decided that I was going to win this battle. So I just kept doing it as best as I could and moving on to the next chakra (even though I knew I hadn't done the last one exactly right). In less than a week, I could get them pointing in the right direction and spinning properly (slowly, but hey, they were spinning). Now I've got those little sweethearts spinning without any problems.

Everything has been a challenge, but patient and believing in myself has helped me overcome these challenges The KEY is... Keep doing it even when you think (or you know, like me) it's not working properly or at 100%, keep doing it. You will eventually win. Success is attained in 2 ways - DON'T GIVE UP and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

I honestly relate to both of these things man! I struggle with chakra spinning and it annoys me because I know I can visualize but for some reason it’s hard for me to “see” my chakras. I hate void meditation also.

[NinRick]

I didn't know this before but apparently it shows your online on WhatsApp if you just have your mobile data on (and are not using the app). I was doing something yesterday and a girl called me and angrily screamed at me that I wasn't reading her messages and she instantly wanted a photo of an item I had. I was like wut ,and I went to the app and there was like 10 messages and she was typing why I was online and ignoring her. They want instant gratification and quick fixes. I would just go to the Himalayas if it wasn't for my duty to my parents and this war situation.

Funny you said that, my original plan was to go to the himalayas when I turn 30, and start to meditate there and focus solely on spirituality.
No need for that anymore.

Why don't you need it anymore.

Because I have understood what really important is. And this is omnipresent, at all times, only here I can give it my best. Nobody says it’s easy.

Anyone can say they care. But not everyone can prove it.

[Darkpagan666]

what is the "consensus" here about modern phones? cause I've been growing a deep hatred towards them, and it's not only because of social media

you see, when the iphone wasnt even a thing, the only way to be connected to the internet was using a pc or a laptop wwith an usb dongle. I remember that saying "Lets go outside" was really going outside, nowadays one might be "outside" but still just another npc in the jewtrix

I mean, im not against having devices to stay in communication, but aside from being able to send a text message, make a call and MAYBE take a picture, what's the point for all the added bs these current phones have? do people really need all that stuff?

social media stuff used to be "healthier" when the only way to use them was a pc, this was the norm back then, I remember when the only reason why we used jewbook was to organize when we would go outwith friends and stuff, nobody really gave a damn about your amount of likes or whatever, its really, really different now

(this doesnt mean I like jewbook, I hate that piece of crap, but at least 8-9 years ago it wasn't what it is now)

honeslty, I see no point to have social media apps in a cellphone, aside from the fact that they're ALL flawed, I could go one by one listing why they suck, and why the negatives outweigh the positives, but that's not the point

I watch the apple arm chips and think, such processing power and such potential only to go into a device that's literally made to brainwash you

The problem by using these smart-devices are in the how and why you use them. Smart devices can be used for good things as well. But with these push notifications and advertisements that is distracting you every 5 seconds are not good.

I use mine to read and keep track on JoS, ancient-forums and the like. But only in particular situations where my concentration isn't needed elsewhere. I would never use my phone while driving as many do, or walking the side-way, suddenly you crash your car, being hit by a car, bus or whatever destruction you put yourself into.

[Darkpagan666]

....

Knowing this would help me think about my own biggest shortcomings, I read your post gladly. To this day, after much longer than I care to admit, I have HUGE problems focusing and my successful Void meditation sessions have been extremely low in number. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I realize this lack of ability to focus is the one thing that kept me away from Satan and my Guardian Demon for so long. I don't know why I have such a hard time (way harder than most for what I could see) letting go of thoughts, but I suppose it's got something to do with my freakishly significance Elemental imbalance in the Soul (basically, I'm air headed).

I've been trying to fix this since I learned about it (last year) and it worked some, but I have LOTS of work to do yet before I can feel I can call myself a SERIOUS Satanist, regardless of the Spiritual Warfare I do or my past dotted with 'miracles' here and there.
The mind is the first thing. Without a focused and strong mind, nothing can truly be achieved and built.

Thank you for your post. It helped as a reminder that I need to motivate myself more also. I realized a couple things when you mentioned the Dopamine effect, I seldom thought about that but realize it's part of the problem (same as those that have addiction with nonsense stuff like videogames, compulsive eating, smoking or porn).

HAIL SATAN FOREVER! HAIL LERAJE! HAIL HAURES!

I am glad you enjoyed it.

Another method that is excellent, mentioned by Lydia: "For those who have trouble with void, or simply dislike it, try doing it while in a yoga asana. Pick any pose you want (easy, medium, or difficult), and focus fully on yourself in the pose. Breath in, breath out, keep the balance. Then try it again in another asana."

[Darkpagan666]

I didn't know this before but apparently it shows your online on WhatsApp if you just have your mobile data on (and are not using the app). I was doing something yesterday and a girl called me and angrily screamed at me that I wasn't reading her messages and she instantly wanted a photo of an item I had. I was like wut ,and I went to the app and there was like 10 messages and she was typing why I was online and ignoring her. They want instant gratification and quick fixes. I would just go to the Himalayas if it wasn't for my duty to my parents and this war situation.

Yup, people like this are everywhere, and they do absolutely nothing to change their behavior because they love their parasitic-quick-fix-entitled-lazy natures. "Ugh, that's not my problem I broke my car, door, ruined my hair, clothes, everything, u has to fix it! GIVE ME YOUR EVERYTHING!!!".

[Darkpagan666]

Excellent post. For those who have trouble with void, or simply dislike it, try doing it while in a yoga asana. Pick any pose you want (easy, medium, or difficult), and focus fully on yourself in the pose. Breath in, breath out, keep the balance. Then try it again in another asana.

Thank you so much!

[Darkpagan666]

This kind of explains things. I'm pretty sure I have ADHD, but I always thought my lack of wanting to read long stretches of text was simply due to being forced to read things in school I had 0 interest in. I mean, perhaps it does, but still it's food for thought.

I rebelled against school at a young age too. I didn't like the things I were taught and the way the teachers were "teaching". Some of the teachers were and still is excellent. Very talented, but some of them made the whole experience for the worst. Pedagogy wasn't a thing back then. Teachers could say extremely cruel things, and for a child to hear it? This can shape their life for the worse. Children are extremely susceptible, one should be very cautious around them. They are our future.

My suggestion is you work on your focus and concentration and find something you have great interests for or want to challenge yourself at. It sets great goals and as you find it interesting it is way easier to learn and grow through the subject of interests.

[Darkpagan666]

This kind of explains things. I'm pretty sure I have ADHD, but I always thought my lack of wanting to read long stretches of text was simply due to being forced to read things in school I had 0 interest in. I mean, perhaps it does, but still it's food for thought.

You don't have ADHD. No one does. I know, I was officially "diagnosed" with it as a kid too, as were many others in the world. The creator of ADHD, admitted that it was fake as he lay dying. Interesting to think what all that medication against "ADHD" really did to me and everybody else, then.

Also, of course reading something that would interest you, would encourage you to fully get through it, even if it were to be long. Other way around too; if it was boring and had nothing to do with what you resonate with, you'd wanna stop.

Anyway, to give my own input to this thread, there was a recent study that determined that people's attention spans (especially millennials and younger), has been strongly regressing in comparison to generations prior. If you've ever uploaded a Youtube video, you'd be able to see the amount of time that people have viewed it, and even on short videos of like 2 minutes, you could see that people watch only up to half. Even a 6 minute video is too long for most people, and the comments of many videos on Youtube will always have "skip to x:x" or something along similar lines.

Or just like how you can't expect most people on the Internet to read even relatively long amounts of text, because some moron will only glimpse it for half a second and just comment "TLDR".

If it isn't the length of a fast-forwarded meme or TikTok video, most people won't have the attention for it.

Very true and a great example! Thank you.

[Darkpagan666]

Well, I have... some kind of issue regardless, maybe "executive disorder" is more the right term.

Some people are innately better at strong focus, whereas others are better at quickly changing between tasks and therefore being more flighty. This would explain more of the mental side of things.

Besides that, there are physical reasons, such as yin deficiency, that can further destabilize a person's mind and make them unable to sit and focus.

The main point is that none of these are really a medical issue, they are just an imbalance or constitutional weakness that needs attention. They are also definitely not fixed by giving someone a stimulant, which only imposes a stress-based laser focus. This stress response then drains the yin of the body, creating a long-term problem.

You would want to make void meditation a highlight of your routine, for example. You also want to focus on yoga and other dietary means of calming your mind.

Yes. A lot can be corrected by balancing the soul through meditations and yoga.

[Artisan]

I didn't know this before but apparently it shows your online on WhatsApp if you just have your mobile data on (and are not using the app). I was doing something yesterday and a girl called me and angrily screamed at me that I wasn't reading her messages and she instantly wanted a photo of an item I had. I was like wut ,and I went to the app and there was like 10 messages and she was typing why I was online and ignoring her. They want instant gratification and quick fixes. I would just go to the Himalayas if it wasn't for my duty to my parents and this war situation.

Sounds like that girl is crazy. In my experience, whenever someone feels entitled to me messaging them back when I haven't explicitly said "I will message you back as soon as you message me" they only cause problems. I don't know your situation, nor do I know this girl, however I would definitely view that as a red flag if I were you.

[OhNoItsMook]

Interesting to think what all that medication against "ADHD" really did to me and everybody else, then.

The medication is more retarded than you would think. ADHD can be characterized by the mind unable to channel its energy properly. Looking just at the physical level, this can be found as yin deficiency, where the body is simply lacking the "structure" to channel energy effectively, therefore it disperses.

What the medication often does is simply use a strong stimulant to recreate the focus one attains from high stress scenarios. Not only is this not addressing the actual problem, but it actually worsens it by forcing the body to use up even more yin resources to maintain this unnatural laser focus.

People who are a vata/air type are already susceptible to yin deficiency, so this sort of treatment is disastrous, especially carried out for years and years. Modern life is already very prone to producing yin deficiencies, let alone for someone who is taking amphetamines for years on end.

----------------------------------

Besides this physical component, you nailed it with the attention span and modern entertainment. The brain gets so desensitized to this sort of stimulation that everything else becomes boring in comparison. The good news is that the brain can adapt back to normal if these unsafe entertainment sources are removed, however.

This problem becomes really bad when little kids are given phones or tablets as a means of placating them. Their baby brains are being deeply impressed upon with this sort of stimulation. It is no different than if someone gave a toddler alcohol and wondered why they kid grew up to be an alcoholic.

That's baffling. Children are already very susceptible to influence, yet things like this are introduced to their minds at such crucial periods of their psychological development.

Furthermore, if many people are raised to accept this form of deterioration from a young age, it'd create a generation of people whose levels of focus and concentration is simply appalling on average, and therefore normalized. Well, it has already.

At restaurants for example, I have often seen entire families of at least 4 people all be on their phones, including the toddler.

[Satan_is_our_Father666]

I am glad you enjoyed it.

Another method that is excellent, mentioned by Lydia: "For those who have trouble with void, or simply dislike it, try doing it while in a yoga asana. Pick any pose you want (easy, medium, or difficult), and focus fully on yourself in the pose. Breath in, breath out, keep the balance. Then try it again in another asana."

Seen that. I've already tried this when I first decided to seriously do the 40 days training and can tell it works. I guess in this end the only REAL effort lies in "bringing yourself back to focus".. when you realize you haven't done it in a while, you can assume you've Void meditated efficiently. I can never realize how long I meditated if I've been doing it properly.. a lot of the time I used a 5 or 10 minutes alarm clock just to know how many times I had to bring myself back to focus.
Actually, I should really go back and add that to my daily training cuz it was getting me results.

One thing I'll add is a technique that seems stupid perhaps, but worked with me for as long as I used it: in computer/technology terms we can just call it "click counter". You start an alarm clock, say 10 minutes, and click your mouse while running this. Every time a thought arises and you become conscious of it being an unwanted thought, you click your mouse and bring yourself back to focus.
After 10 minutes the alarm goes off and you read how many times you got distracted. That way a certain psychological factor prompts you to want to do better (the Dopamine thing upon completion, perhaps, in some measure) and next time you'll aim for less distraction.

The first time I started with 10 minutes I got like 26 or something lol. But I had sessions of 5 minutes with 3 distractions. The important thing is to be honest with oneself and, if unsure, consider the uncertainty as a thought and click it down.
I found this helps get a feel for "knowing" when thoughts are raising and prevent yourself from engaging in them. The mind is the most tricky thing to master indeed...

HAIL SATAN FOREVER!

[Tirnenn]

...

I remember taking those meds as a kid, but must not have been for very long... or, my mind wiped those memories.

I'm not so sure I'm an air type (only 1 air in my astral chart), but I definitely was scatterbrained earlier today when trying to do a void meditation. Doing other meditations first helped a bit, but I was still only able to maintain a clear mind for... 10 seconds or so? Not sure.

But hey, it's progress.

[Apprentice]

honeslty, I see no point to have social media apps in a cellphone, aside from the fact that they're ALL flawed, I could go one by one listing why they suck, and why the negatives outweigh the positives, but that's not the point
I watch the apple arm chips and think, such processing power and such potential only to go into a device that's literally made to brainwash you

For years already, I think exactly the same. When I'm at home working or out and about, I always have mobile data turned off. I turn it on only when I need to use it. I don't have any social media apps installed. And I hate push notifications. I use my phone professionally for calls, messages, e-mails, online banking, news, weather and reading our forum. Since Galaxy Note comes with a very precise stylus, I also use the phone for our warfare (blotting out the nasty letters) and personal meditations as a tally counter instead of a rosary. When I do warfare or meditations, the phone is in airplane mode to avoid any distractions.

And yes, such a waste of processing power... used only to throw birds at pigs (remember Angry Birds?) and post utter garbage on soc.media.

[NinRick]

I didn't know this before but apparently it shows your online on WhatsApp if you just have your mobile data on (and are not using the app). I was doing something yesterday and a girl called me and angrily screamed at me that I wasn't reading her messages and she instantly wanted a photo of an item I had. I was like wut ,and I went to the app and there was like 10 messages and she was typing why I was online and ignoring her. They want instant gratification and quick fixes. I would just go to the Himalayas if it wasn't for my duty to my parents and this war situation.

Just don't give a shit. Is she important to you? I don't think so.

Yesterday at around 18:30 I was on my phone, and texted someone, then a girl texted me.
I ignored her, as I wanted to do yoga, and meditations.
next time I was on my phone was at 9 in the morning, she is pissed, I don't care.

It is not your job or duty to make everybody feel good.
Focus on yourself and what is important for you.
If people are getting upset, let them, who cares?
I don't.

Same goes with clients, a client from China sent me a message, I replied like 10hrs later. But Chines people are so nice, they never get upset, or maybe they get, but don't show it.

You don't need to go to the himalayas, I meditated yesterday for 5 hrs. With no distrubance.

[tabby]

Wasn’t sure where to share this but I think it may fit alright here.

Yesterday whilst doing the killing of the tetragrammaton, I had some trouble keeping my thoughts focused. Usually, I use the Dhyani mudra when completing the ‘silence’ parts, and this seems to help quite well.

For one of the repetitions, I felt a rush of anxiety whilst vibrating the letter and felt I was about to mess up the counting. I said “no” in my head and managed to push past it and do it correctly, but after I felt this strange snapping or breaking sensation in my head.

For the rest of the ritual, my thoughts were so quiet and still as if I was doing void med. and my head felt lighter.

Any thoughts about this?

[hailourtruegod]

Wasn’t sure where to share this but I think it may fit alright here.

Yesterday whilst doing the killing of the tetragrammaton, I had some trouble keeping my thoughts focused. Usually, I use the Dhyani mudra when completing the ‘silence’ parts, and this seems to help quite well.

For one of the repetitions, I felt a rush of anxiety whilst vibrating the letter and felt I was about to mess up the counting. I said “no” in my head and managed to push past it and do it correctly, but after I felt this strange snapping or breaking sensation in my head.

For the rest of the ritual, my thoughts were so quiet and still as if I was doing void med. and my head felt lighter.

Any thoughts about this?

I have something similar. It's been very easy to have a silent mind during the key parts in the tetra RTR.