“You should be calm outside but keep your mind alert and prepared.” Yagyu Munenori
A warrior’s mind is one of balanced vigilance. On a certain level this is an oxymoron because a vigilant mind must be at least 51% ready in order for it to be alert and a balanced mindset requires that there be a stability between calmness and alertness. The problem is that paranoia or fear can be mistaken for vigilance and apathy can be confused with being balanced. In training, we learn that the most vigilant mind is the one that is balanced or equanimous. An equanimous mind enables the practitioner to be calmly observant and thus act mindfully appropriate. A hypervigilant mind is one that is overly alert and causes us to mindlessly react. Here is a story which illustrates this idea. One day in his retirement, Yagyu Munenori was walking back to his quarters and was admiring the nice cherry blossoms that were in full bloom. As he walked, he suddenly felt as if he was about to be attacked. When he spun around to confront the assailant, the only person there was his young attendant who was carrying his sword and other belongings. This error greatly troubled Yagyu and he retired to his room to think about it. Later, upon seeing his master so troubled, the young attendant confessed that just before the master turned around, he thought to himself, “I wonder what the master would do if I attacked him right now.” Relieved, Yagyu didn’t punish his attendant. The reason why Yagyu Munenori was so perplexed was that he thought that he was losing his equanimity. In battle, it is dire and so everyone is vigilant, but the margin of error is so slight that just being vigilant is not enough and can cause an oversight. That is why the highest mindset is equanimity and that is why a warrior’s mind is one of balanced vigilance.
Today’s goal: Realize the difference between fear and vigilance and train yourself to have balanced vigilance.
Watch these two videos about Sadhguru to learn more about equanimity.