SECRETS OF LIFE
"THE POWER OF ALERTNESS
People confess, "I just don't know how to behave when with other people,
especially strangers. I usually conceal my nervousness behind empty
chatter, as does everyone else. I know there's something wrong with this,
but that's how I am."
That's how most people are. All because they are trying to protect
something - heaven knows what. Most public behavior is a mechanical
performance. Watch it for yourself. You know exactly what a man will say
because he always says it. He performs what might be called substitute
behavior. Unable to flow freely and spontaneously from his natural essence,
he substitutes his old and monotonous ways.
Look what happens on the social level, when society faces a tough problem.
What do the leaders do? They form committees, and have investigations and
hearings. Why? Because no one really has the slightest notion of what to
do. They hope that the shared confusion will somehow conceal individual
ignorance.
Any earnest person can break away from social chaos and nervousness. He
can do so by calling upon a particular esoteric force, which is introduced
as follows.
My front yard is a passing parade of chipmunks, ravens, roadrunners and
other small creatures. The frisky chipmunk is a good example of this
special esoteric force. Wherever he dashes, whatever he does, the
chipmunk's chief characteristic is alertness. His bright eyes swiftly spot
the bread set out for him. He carries it off to his high rock, where he
perches and munches, while in alert observation of his surroundings.
Alertness pays the chipmunk. It will pay us, too."
How to Stop Being a Victim of Cruel or Vindictive People
Pathways to Perfect Living, Chap. 12, p. 146 (Original version)
Chap. 12, p. 175 (Current version)
