In childhood, we are always being told to concentrate but no one teaches us how. On the contrary, what we learn throughout our education is distraction, and by the time we reach adulthood we find ourselves as experts in the art of being distracted. And why not? After all, we become good at what we practise regularly. Moreover, our modern society seems to be designed for distraction, where multi-tasking is the norm. There is so much stimuli out there that focus seems impossible, isn’t it? No, says Dandapani, a Hindu priest who learned the art of concentration from his teacher in a monastery. He says that simply blaming technology or mobiles phones for our distraction is wrong. The main issue is that we don’t know how to focus.
In this TedX talk, Dandapani underscores the importance of being able to concentrate and teaches us how to concentrate. He takes you through an exercise that makes it amply clear—firsthand—how you can train your mind to focus on what you want rather than allowing it to jump like a monkey from one thought to another. Use this technique to practise concentration daily and you will gain the boundless benefits of unwavering focus in your life.
About the speaker
Dandapani is a Hindu priest, speaker on self development and an entrepreneur. Of Sri Lankan ancestry, he grew up in Australia and after graduating university with a degree in Electrical Engineering he left it all behind to become a Hindu monk under the guidance of one of Hinduism’s foremost spiritual leaders of our time, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. For 10 years he lived a life of serious personal discipline and training at his guru’s cloistered monastery in Hawaii. Read more about Dandapani.