HOW TO REGAIN THE LOST FOCUS?

In case you tend to lose focus, then, train your mind to go through 5 foundations of thinking:

[01] 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹, sooner you will gain focus! It’s like a deft carpenter or their apprentice who’d knock out or extract a large peg with a finer peg.

[02] Despite your efforts to overcome negative, non-supportive thoughts keep coming, 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: ‘So these thoughts are unskillful, they’re blameworthy, and they won’t help you to achieve your goals.’ As you do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end.

[03] Now, suppose that you are examining the drawbacks of those negative, non-supportive thoughts, but bad, unskillful thoughts that don’t support your goals keep coming up. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.. As you do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. You mind become focused in your goals. Suppose, some undesirable sights came into your range of vision. You’d just close their eyes or look away. In the same way, if you are focused … you should give up such negative thoughts to regain focus.

[04] Now, suppose that you are ignoring and forgetting about those thoughts, but negative, non-supportive thoughts that don’t support your goals keep coming up. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀.

[05] Now, suppose that you are focusing on stopping the formation of thoughts, but bad, unskillful thoughts that don’t support your goals keep coming up. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗲, 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱. As you do so, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. You gain focus. It’s like a strong man who grabs a weaker man by the head or throat or shoulder and squeezes, squashes, and tortures them. In the same way, a you … with teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, should squeeze, squash, and torture mind with mind.

As you do above, those bad thoughts are given up and come to an end. You regain your focus!

SuttaCentral. (n.d.). SuttaCentral. [online] Available at: https://suttacentral.net/

Good luck!