The Art Of Concentration

Medieval monks had a terrible time concentrating. Concentration was their lifelong work! They complained about being overloaded with information. They were frustrated by their desire to stare out of the window or to constantly check to think about food or sex when they were supposed to be thinking about God. They were frustrated by their desire to stare out of the window, or to constantly check on the time (in their case, with the Sun as their clock), or to think about food or sex when they were supposed to be thinking of God. They worried about getting distracted in their dreams.

Caveat cogitator: the problem of concentration is recursive. Any strategy for sidestepping distraction calls for strategies on sidestepping distraction. When Cassian made one of his simplest recommendations — repeat a psalm over and over, to keep your brain reined in — he knew what he was going to hear next. ‘How can we stay fixated on that verse?’ the monks would ask. Distraction is an old problem, and so is the fantasy that it can be dodged once and for all. There were just as many exciting things to think about 1,600 years ago as there are now. Sometimes it boggled the mind.