Being Vigilant

Breaking the Spell (Chapter Six)

Six

Being Vigilant

Each and every one of us is under self-observation: only that we fail to tell ourselves. Perhaps it is now time to take a more active role in our own watchfulness. If we can learn to be more vigilant with ourselves then we are less under the influence of outside forces.

Each day we are swayed this way and that by exterior forces. Some of these are conditioning forces that exist in social institutions. Other forces, such as propaganda, are deliberately spread through the media and social technologies. In response to the majority of these forces we act as the compliant collective. To all purposes the general behavior that manifests in various social forms is mechanical. And the more mechanical human behavior becomes, the more forces we are under the influence of. By exercising self-vigilance a person can learn to become more aware of their presence – the interior – and its interaction with the exterior environment, its forces and influences.

For a start, how many of us are aware of our breathing? It is significant that the most fundamental physical act of our survival passes largely unnoticed. Yet by the simple act of being aware and attentive to our breathing a force of ‘present awareness’ can enter a person. This doesn’t mean that a person should go about totally fixated upon their breathing; or trying to count each breath obsessively. It is about calmly, during the course of the day, bringing the attention to ‘observe’ the breathing process. Not only can this act bring some measured calm to a person, but also it works to discipline and ‘tighten’ personal energy. A person will find, after beginning this exercise, that it will gradually become easier and will require less attention. Soon, it will become natural for the attention to keep an almost constant awareness upon the breathing process.

After all, breathing has an important function in that it allows for the exhalation of stale gases and cleans the physical system. Deep breathing, especially, helps to regulate and ‘tone’ the body as it takes in more oxygen. It can also help a person to relax; yet it should never be overdone or forced, as artificial or ‘coerced’ breathing can lead to hyperventilation. Rather, it is a matter of allowing the breathing to stabilize itself. The breathing should be in harmony with one’s own natural rhythm.

The body benefits from a good, balanced intake of oxygen, which is to be neither labored nor short rasps. And to be aware of one’s breathing is not the same as being wary. There should be no tension or anxiety involved. A person should not occupy themselves with such questions as ‘Am I breathing correctly?’ The most appropriate approach is one of relaxed calm, where gentle awareness of breathing can lay the groundwork to a greater sense of cohesion and communication with the body and self. With this attentiveness in place a person is bringing into focus the present moment. Gradually this practice of breathing- awareness should catalyze and bring into play a person’s faculties of vigilance and watchfulness.

Another step in developing vigilance is through awareness of one’s own ‘steps’ that are taken within daily life. What this calls for is observation and attention to those times when either action or inaction is required. And in such situations, to always act towards the positive. There are also situations when positive inaction is important. When a person can observe and feel when correct action or inaction is required, then this triggers the right use of energy. In our daily lives it is critical that a person uses their store of energy correctly. This involves correct thinking and/or right action at the right time. It is not about being critical of oneself or observing with the intention of finding fault. Self-vigilance is more about producing a state of watchful harmony. This state can then further attract (and benefit from) the positive.

By being more open to positive impacts and situations a person can be more alert to develop and capitalize upon such beneficial moments and conditions. Such moments can also be developed further, and the energies extended. Yet a person should be careful not to contrive or manufacture artificial conditions that are not in genuine harmony with a person’s state or inner priorities.

Being vigilant requires that a person be natural and at ease with themselves. They should become used to observing themselves, and feel quietly confident with the relationship. Within this vigilant state a person can also observe their own thought processes, and to exert greater control and discipline over them – not letting them run around like wild tigers causing internal havoc and distress. So it is about being aware also of coincidences, and how these ‘serendipitous moments’ can be opportunities or circumstances for action.

This disciplined attentiveness to one’s own actions, thoughts, and general participation in everyday life does not concern critical judgment or chastising oneself. One can be gently critical, for sure, yet it is all too easy to become hostile towards oneself: and then the blame-game begins. It is necessary to make sure that a person is comfortable with observing themselves, and that they are at ease with their own ‘inner homeland’.

A person’s ‘inner homeland’ represents the internal realm with which an individual develops an intimate communication: it is, after all, the place of their essential self. It should therefore become a place of familiar travel, where a person visits regularly and becomes familiar with the taste of the communication. It should also become the place where a person examines themselves from an objective viewpoint. This act of self-observation is an ‘inner muscle’ that strengthens each time it is used. A person’s own homeland is a journey for reflection; to examine and consider recent motivations, actions and their consequences; and for daily recollection. It should be a welcome place where at the end of the day a person can sit down and recollect how the day’s events and experiences passed. Such moments form a kind of self-review; yet in these moments of recollection and analysis a person is also retaining energy rather than letting energy dissipate through scatty and unorganized emotional flourishes and remembrances. It is thus important that any review be as objective and as sympathetic to the self as possible. Again, harshness and/or emotional indulgence is no good for the inland journeys.

These trips to internally review events are about getting to know yourself better and better, and to live with yourself in a more harmonious relationship. It is essential in these present times of ‘attention distraction’ (AD) to maximize on moments of quietness and reflection. Even to take just a few minutes each day within a busy schedule can help to calm, balance, and focus personal energies and mental attention. In our industrialized societies time is speeded-up to the maximum rate of revolutions per minute. This needs to be counterbalanced by taking back and insisting to oneself on five or ten minutes per day of visiting one’s homeland. In the end, you can influence your time. For example, if you have ten minutes during the day you can listen to some music; chatter with a friend; batter yourself with mental worries; or enter a state of balanced self- vigilance. While you may not be able to dictate the length of your time, you most certainly can influence the sense of your time.

To exercise self-vigilance and to ‘travel within’ is a learning journey: a path to better know your strengths and weaknesses; and to get to understand what you do and do not know. Yet to accomplish this, a person needs also to exercise a certain degree of balanced humility. There is a joke about this: there were three monks arguing as to which order was the best – the Jesuit, the Benedictine, and the Dominican. After hearing the Jesuit and the Benedictine, the Dominican says: ‘For logic and argument and organization we all know that the Jesuits are best; and the Benedictines are best for their friendliness and for their great wine; but when it comes to humility, we Dominicans are really the best!’ It takes a lot to be genuine and sincere with oneself. Yet by exercising such traits a person is actually strengthening not only their inner discipline but also their command of physical, mental, and emotional energies.

The priority in breaking the spell focuses upon the layers of conditioning that a person functions within. A person who is thirty or forty years old has thirty or forty years of conditioning; this cannot be dealt with quite as easily. The question is not about dropping all conditioning like a sack of old clothes – this would literally be a bombshell and may do more harm than good. Also, without some form of social conditioning we would find it very hard to get along in our everyday lives. So conditioning is required to a degree in order for us to live communal lives with the people around us (such as conditioning around social politeness). The question, rather, revolves around being made aware of what conditioning is operating at a given time; how it is operating within us; and whether we actually need it or not. And if not, how can we ‘halt’ or sidestep these conditioned beliefs. According to the Counsels of Bahauddin:

7 – Be prepared to realize that all beliefs which were due to your surroundings were minor ones, even though they were once of much use to you. They may become useless and, indeed, pitfalls.

8 – Be prepared to find that certain beliefs are correct, but that their meaning and interpretation may vary in accordance with your stage of journey, making them seem contradictory.[1]

The intention behind vigilance is to stimulate a degree of awareness so that a person may be in a better position to observe their forms of conditioning (physical, mental, and emotional). A person can then develop upon this knowledge to gain a better understanding of themselves. Developing awareness involves a level of discipline that in turn helps to focus an individual’s personal energies. The qualities (vibrational nature) of such energies are important in that within a universe of Mind (where everything is energy) all thoughts, words, and deeds carry their own vibratory quality. These energies affect the quality of life of a person, their environment, and the people around them. Therefore, what each person ‘puts out’, so to speak, is their own responsibility. Within such a conscious universe each of us should learn how to behave. This does not imply being ‘more-than-human’; rather, we are asked to be more fully human.

There are moments when it is not only possible but desirable to step more lightly, which means not overindulging in situations and/or emotional matters. As is often said, it is not what happens to you that is important but rather how you deal with it. This requires ‘strengthening the muscle’ of one’s disciplined vigilance. For example, with emotional energy it is all too easy to give it away through petty encounters and ignoble disputes. Remember that to feel angry at other people means that you consider their acts/words to have importance – whereas this is often not the case. So why let it drain you? Again quoting the Counsels of Bahauddin:

18 – When you have observed or felt emotion, correct this by remembering that emotions are felt just as strongly by people with completely different beliefs. If you imagine that this experience – emotion – is therefore noble or sublime, why do you not believe that stomachache is an elevated state?[2]

People can waste an incredible amount of time feeling offended by the words and/or deeds of others. To feel offended is a form of self-indulgence that succeeds in making the inner person lazy. If you feel offended, you worry too much about others and care less about yourself. Physical energy too also requires a healthy and balanced management. We can learn to be attentive to our physical positions: when seated, standing, or in movement. We can watch how we move and note which movements are most comfortable for us. And also how we sit – which positions are more favorable and conducive to a sense of well-being and comfort. We should aim to become more conscious of our physical movements and more aware of our body positions.

A person should aim to be conscious when eating, for example, and to be aware of the senses: smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing. The intention here is not to become automatic to the senses. This form of self-vigilance involves a sensing of the being and the body. Within this awareness a person takes some time to sense how the body is generally feeling, to see if there is any unconscious stress or imbalance within the system. And if there is an imbalance you should know that you have the competence to deal with it.

So in this state a person is sensing their inner self and assessing its condition. Further, each individual should be able to distinguish between a ‘normal’ pain, such as a headache, for instance, and a sort of nagging inside which is the inner self trying to communicate.

This communication bridge to the inner self should be strengthened– to polish the bridge within.

Also, a person can help to direct energy to specific areas of the body by focusing their attention: ‘Energy flows where attention goes’. We can make conscious use of our energy to be mentally alert and energetically attentive during physical processes. And this includes also the realm of human sexuality.

Sexual energy is one of the strongest forces operating within and between humans. It can be very animalistic when energetic power is enforced upon the ‘pacified other’. Or it can be more fully human when there is a harmonious union with individual integrity; a sharing yet retaining of energies. Sexuality should not become a form of mutual dependency where both partners have a need to absorb rather than to share energy (a form of mutual vampirism). If both consenting partners are aware of the energies involved in the sexual exchange, this awareness can enhance the physical union. So even during these intimate moments the act of vigilance (watchfulness) can play an important role. Also, such positive moments should be memorized and then recalled when needed. The deliberate recollection of stored positive moments can help to stimulate positive energy. Thus, at times of low energy this technique of positive recollection can help to release affirming energies within a person.

Being vigilant also involves being on the alert for people, places, moments and experiences that have a positive energy. That is, being open to impacts of a positive nature. One should be open and ‘scanning’ for harmonic encounters – as positive contacts may come in forms not expected and be unpredictable. An individual should be open to all possibilities.

Unpredictable encounters and impacts are available even within the everyday life of most people. This does not mean that one cannot earn a reasonable living, and be exposed to the blows and distractions that being in the world delivers, and still be able to open oneself. The balance concerns being both ‘in the world’ while maintaining a healthy and harmonious inner self and integrity ‘not of the world’. A person can be exposed and subjected to external stresses and still remain master of their internal self. There does not need to be a conflict, or a ‘sacrifice’.

The inner self of an individual needs to be defended and simultaneously enhanced and strengthened. If a person gives in and conforms to all of their social conditioning, then they use up valuable energy that could have been used for inner work. For this reason, it is important to be aware when social conditioning is operating; and to observe its working. In this manner part of the social ‘spell’ can be broken. Another important aspect of breaking the spell is knowing when negativity is acting within and against a person.

Let it be said that the main function of the negative is to disturb and disrupt a person’s energy flows. Negativity seeks to distract a person’s thinking and shift it away from the positive. Negativity by itself has no capacity for control; it seeks only to exploit vulnerable situations and circumstances. For example, if a person’s state is not fully balanced the negative will try to ‘sneak in’ to give a further push away from the positive. In this case a person needs to exercise discipline and be on the lookout for negative intrusions. When negativity is sensed within a person they need to act quickly as it often takes longer for the positive to ‘wake up’ and counteract the situation. In normal circumstances, however, the average person has between 10–15% negativity within them (and often less). Yet when the positive is less alert than the negative, a person can be momentarily taken over by negative impulses if they are not careful. The positive needs more time to kick in and get the situation under control. This is why being vigilant is so important when guarding the self against unwanted impacts, intrusions, and loss of personal energy.

And society does not help the matter. Generally, social contexts and circumstances concur to magnify certain negative impulses and traits. If a person’s social environment is more exposed to negative impacts (from work or people) the more imperative it is to be on guard during these situations. The negative is nothing to be feared; otherwise there is the tendency to give it more importance than it deserves. Try to remember that every negative experience contains its own learning factor. In general, negativity seeks confusion; to react against the opposing energy which is balance and harmony. Negative energy thus acts to disturb harmonious and developmental thinking. Yet it cannot control you or take you over – unless you yourself give power to the negative energy. It is also a matter of how a person perceives the matter at hand. All of us, at some point, have been faced with a problem; yet for most of the time we are faced with daily situations. Every problem is also a situation, yet not every situation is a problem. First ask yourself what you have: is it a problem or a situation? Once a person knows this they are better equipped to deal with the matter, and with an appropriate investment of energies.

If there is a feeling/sense of disharmony with certain events or circumstances, then one should try to define the reason for this lack of harmony. Once identified, a person can then introduce positive thoughts and intentions into the situation. For example, before entering a situation that you know will make you tense, nervous, or angry (such as a relationship or job interview), prepare beforehand by creating a positive charge of energy within yourself. Being vigilant with oneself is also about being prepared – and energetically armed!

Again – The communication bridge to the inner self should be strengthened - to polish the bridge within.

Listen to this communication and be vigilant for warning signals: are you attracting the negative? An individual, a group, even a nation can receive warning signals of the negative. No one goes to ruin ‘innocently’!

When a person is being vigilant of their internal and external worlds a greater amount of energy is made available. This energy is useful in attracting the positive and in dealing with everyday impacts. In this state a person can perform to the best of their ability and capacity. And due to the law of ‘reciprocal influence’, all actions create an influence in the world that will manifest in some way. Therefore, one should think and behave impeccably. How we measure ourselves also mirrors how we measure the world around us: we share the same terms of reference. If we are at fault, so do we also perceive our world to be at fault. If we are vigilant with ourselves we will refrain from jumping to conclusions or making assumptions. We will be more aware of our external influences; where they come from; how they impact against the self; and how we ultimately respond. This is a genuine bridge of communication between the external world of social conditioning, and our internal world of the intuitive and deep self. And once this bridge of communication is formed it will always remain. However lightly or mildly the contact is used it can never be lost. Like a muscle it needs to be strengthened and developed through use.

Being vigilant is one technique for dealing with the everyday social world of distracting influences and impacts. The other technique is what is named as stepping away, which I shall address in the next essay in this series.

A TALE TO FINISH: The Lion

A lion was captured and imprisoned in a reserve where, to his surprise, he found other lions that had been there for many years, some even their whole life having been born in captivity. The newcomer soon became familiar with the activities of the other lions, and observed how they were arranged in different groups.

One group was dedicated to socializing, another to show business, whilst yet another group was focused on preserving the customs, culture and history from the time the lions were free. There were church groups and others that had attracted the literary or artistic talent. There were also revolutionaries who devoted themselves to plot against their captors and against other revolutionary groups. Occasionally, a riot broke out and one group was removed or killed all the camp guards and so that they had to be replaced by another set of guards. However, the newcomer also noticed the presence of a lion that always seemed to be asleep. He did not belong to any group and was oblivious to them all. This lion appeared to arouse both admiration and hostility from the others. One day the newcomer approached this solitary lion and asked him which group he belonged to.

‘Do not join any group’ said the lion, ‘those poor ones deal with everything but the essentials.’

‘And what is essential?’ asked the newcomer.

‘It is essential to study the nature of the fence’

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Taken from the book ‘Breaking the Spell’ (published 2013/2020)

[1] Shah, I. (1971) Thinkers of the East. London: Jonathan Cape

[2] Shah, I. (1971) Thinkers of the East. London: Jonathan Cape