One of the primary components to mastery, especially with regards to spiritual mastery, is having sufficient energy. Not energy in the WuuWuu New Age sense so much, but rather the vital energy that you can feel right now. Are you awake, alert, and does your body feel alive? That’s the kind of energy I’m talking about.
As I sit here writing this, there’s a young college student sitting next to me and he has been twitching non-stop for the past 20 minutes, sometimes bordering on violent shaking. He clearly has energy, but how is he using it? So, it’s not just energy, but also the way that we channel that energy. Do we waste it, letting it all out in violent spurts only to collapse in exhaustion later, or do we maintain a constant vigilance in which we guard our precious energy and channel it only to endeavors that are meaningful to us?
There’s also the question of generating energy, much like charging a battery. We have opportunities to engage in things that charge our energy reserves. They might in the short-term reduce our energy (such as intense exercise), but in the long-term increase our capacity to produce vital life force. My understanding is that certain breakthroughs in performance, especially as regards to spiritual practice, take a certain degree of energy. If we don’t have a sufficient amount, then we will falter.
November 2nd, 2006 at 4:41 pm
Hi Vince,
I agree with this idea, and recently ran across an interesting concept in “No Ordinary Moments” by Dan Millman (who also wrote Peaceful Warrior).
He talks about energy, similar to what you do above, but also talks about “obstructions” which cause energy to build, but not release, which leads to stress. If not very conscious, we seek out means to release off this excess energy. A quick quote:
“Even though maintaining a high energy level might seem desirable, if obstructions are present when we start to feel a “surplus” of energy, we tend to exercise, have sex, smoke a cigarette, or eat something sweet or heavy; in other words, we try to get rid of our “surplus” energy… Most of us experience excess energy as discomfort, and as the level of energy increases, so does the discomfort. Consciously, or unconsciously, we seek to release it.”
He goes into more detail. Other recent places I’ve found similar ideas are Bill Harris’ “Thresholds of the Mind” and Pema Chodron’s “Getting UNstuck” (audio).
I’ve been thinking a lot about this stuff, so your post just reminded me of my recent readings. Thought you might be interested.
Aeryck
November 3rd, 2006 at 8:10 am
Great point. This is something I’ve been playing a lot with lately. Since I read that David Daida book I’ve been inspired to not release the vital juice. It’s been interesting so far, but I didn’t even think of the other avenues that Aeryck mentioned such as eating heavy foods, or in my case, having a drink. I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been getting anxious more than I was prior to this, and I’m wondering if that has anything to do with it. There are so many variables in life that it’s hard to peg it down for sure, but there definitely seems to be some connect. I think if you’re going to go dwon the path of intense energy cultivation, you have to learn how to harness it via Qi Gong, martial arts, certain types of meditation, or else your likely to have some unwanted experiences. Anyways, great post dawg.