Distraction and Technology

We are so addicted to looking outside of ourselves that we have lost access to our inner being almost completely. We are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what we will find. We may even think that if we do, we will be in danger of madness. This is one of the last and most resourceful ploys of ego to prevent us from discovering our real nature.

            So we make our lives so hectic that we eliminate the slightest risk of looking into ourselves. Even the idea of meditation can scare people. When they hear the words egoless or emptiness, they think that experiencing those states will be like being thrown out the door of a spaceship to float forever in the dark, chilling void. Nothing could be further from the truth. But in a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us; we protect ourselves from them with noise and frantic busyness. Looking into the nature of our mind is the last thing we would dare to do.

Glimpse After Glimpse,

Sogyal Rinpoche

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I had no idea how addicted to distraction I was until after 9/11 I cut-off my cable service. I thought I’d find more time for creative pursuits. Immediately, I reacted as though I was a junkie that had his supply of dope taken away. I searched frantically for distraction. I had purchased my first computer back then and I went from site to site looking for some distraction while talk radio played in the background. I became angry and agitated once I got home and had nothing to do. I did not get more productive because something was wrong… I was using my natural instincts towards creativity as a distraction too. I had to find some way to make peace with distraction. I think I did just that once I used these great information and communication devices as tools for inspiration rather than a way to avoid inner discovery. Once I did that, instead of feeling as though I was being ejected from a spaceship, it felt more like being let out of a jail. There are inmates in prisons and mental institutions that are afraid of what awaits them outside of the bars. Isn’t that true for most of us?

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