I’ve always had the feeling that I don’t fit in. I felt this as soon as it was possible to feel it, as a very young boy. This feeling of alienation and strangeness has been my constant companion, placing me at odds with a culture whose first rule is “Fit in” and whose second rule is “Do what you’re told.” But this, finally, is where I live. I’ve never not known that the culture is a hoax.
Watch closely as a man trains his dog. All of his attention flows into the dog. Soon enough, the dog is beautifully, wonderfully trained. He orbits his master.
A well-trained mind functions exactly like that. At night, it sleeps quietly by the bed. It declines, during the day, to chase after squirrels. It looks straight ahead.
A man is the net result of the attention he gives to his mind. Attention is the zafu on which mindfulness sits. We need the mindfulness movement. Today it is perhaps the case that more men give more attention to their cellphones than they give to themselves.
Pornography is a big issue for men. But really, it’s a symptom. The problem is an untrained mind. Minds become befouled and confused by an absence of attention. Where attention is, purity also is.
Attention does not work tomorrow. It works now. Let your breath carry you into the purity of the one pathless moment.
Men's Work 