SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

Focused sensing specialises, it focuses on specific small areas. Animals use it to do all the things that they want or need.

Panoramic sensing is a receptive all-round awareness. It's a state of being open, ready and waiting. Its primary use is to guard against danger – it makes life safe.

Animals coordinate or alternate almost all of their focused activities with panoramic awareness. This is a balance. Their survival depends on it.

Most birds have a sensitivity to ultraviolet light; a quick panoramic glance allows them to detect any threatening life-forms.

Land animals must watch, listen, and smell, for short periods of time, to detect movements and changes.

Panoramic awareness developed because it was the most efficient way of sensing instantly, everything that's happening all around us.

It is a very simple, everyday, and ordinary way of sensing. It knows no ideas, no truth or lies, no cause and effect.

Throughout evolution, it's been the natural way to switch off, stop doing or wanting anything, and be actively receptive for a moment.

Sensing panoramically is a different way of experiencing life. It's nothing like focusing on lots of different points at the same time. It's directly in touch with all we're sensing as a whole.

The senses are often seen as the door between us and the world outside us. In panoramic reality, our senses connect us intimately with what we're sensing. The feeling is – we are the door.

Animals have been using their senses in this way for billions of years – it's part of a successful survival strategy. It keeps them safe.

Vulnerable animals alternate panoramic and focused sensing.
Predators, when they're hunting, combine the two.

Predators generally watch over a middle sized area, a stretch of water or a field. This observation period usually lasts several minutes, and is governed by focusing with the intention of catching specific prey.

We developed an astounding ability to think and understand – to focus on memories and to learn. We discovered how to shape flint tools, to make fire, and wheels, and gradually our modern civilisation developed. Focusing can be amazingly clever and creative – and it gets things done.

The problem is that nowadays, we have so much to learn that our early education of focused thinking, overwhelms and undermines our panoramic abilities before they even start developing.

And we just don't recognise that everything we think, want, plan, or do, is happening because we're focusing. We don't remember any other way of experiencing life.

Our only knowledge of panoramic sensing comes from the subliminal use of the horizontal peripheries when driving, to alert us to something we might need to focus on.

After an amazing million-year long history of focusing for our survival, our one-sided strategy has now led us to a point of critical overload.

We have created a fascinating and ludicrous situation which no animal, or human in the ancient world has ever experienced or even imagined.

Humans are the only animals who try to find peace of mind through ideas and beliefs.

Beliefs are probably human cultures' greatest achievement. For hundreds of thousands of years beliefs enhanced human life. They gave us identity, purpose, and a deep – almost animal – sense of community and belonging in our group.

But now, the mutually confirmed beliefs and identity of our traditional cultures have collapsed.

Over this last century, even the secure identity of an inherited family trade has vanished.

So now, in our global community, we have to 'find ourselves' on a practical and a spiritual level.

Finding ourselves, believing in ourselves, self-fulfilment, and self-realisation all sound wonderful – but they often result in self-righteousness... and even a lying criminal can believe in themselves and be an authentic individual.

A far healthier aim in life would be to fulfill our potential as human beings.

By focusing, we divide life into selected bits. One of the consequences of this, is that in order to find a sense of wholeness, we must make associations to join the bits together again in relationships.

By focusing, we understand life in terms of past and future; cause and effect; and subjects, doing verbs, to objects.

Focusing is essential in order to think constructively – and focusing leads to action. Its use in nature is to do what we need and get what we want.

So, we need to act on at least some of our ideas in order to feel validated, and every step we take is confirmed with a non-stop running commentary.

Focusing leads to a feeling of subjective validity, with direction and motivation. A perfect contrast to the panorama with only the vaguest sense of looking forward, or going anywhere, or wanting anything.

As our modern sensation of individuality developed, it promised new hope, purpose, and reasons. It promised us a free-thinking identity – but then left us continuously thinking, trying to find, establish, and then confirm this identity.

And the first big practical problem resulting from all this is – we can't stop thinking... one thought follows the next automatically, and we think that's natural. It isn't. It's neurotic. It's an illness only humans have.

Humans don't realise how easy it is to stop thinking.

Our early education and continuous focusing have turned off the off-switch. We can't even remember that there was an off-switch.

When we are panoramically aware, we can't focus on anything specific. And when we can't focus, it's impossible to want anything, or develop a constructive thought.

It's a state of consciousness where egoism is not possible. There is no concept of self-justification, needing to achieve anything, nor any sense of pride or being right.

Our individuality doesn't disappear; our sense of purpose and meaning in life doesn't vanish. Our focused-self just becomes neutralised for a moment, not compulsively trying to do something or be someone.

We are still doing something, being watchful – but this has no future context; it serves no purpose except to be watchful.

It is, almost entirely useless, except that it keeps animals safe, and – by luck or design – because we're in touch with all we're sensing as a whole, it's a state of wholeness.

Firstly, how can it be absolutely true? It's objective, abstract, it's one step removed, a specialised perspective on the truth. But more importantly, our understanding is closed-minded; it's based on incomplete information.

The panoramic way of sensing is directly involved in life, and it disproves our focused understanding of reality.

Panoramic life is immediate and without thought; we can't afford to step back and understand what's happening. It's used in a totally different way, and has different, almost mystical, priorities and perameters.

"Safety by openness" sounds irrational. But this feeling is normal and natural with panoramic openness.

Panoramic sensing evolved to stay safe in the middle of life, by being open to this random and unpredictable environment.

And then, humans have a great advantage – we don't need to run away every time we see a cat or a dog. Our lack of motivation has led to indifference; our advantage has led to ignorance.

With panoramic sensing, we witness sudden, inexplicable, and chaotic changes as normal; and there is fulfilment and security in just being open to them and sensing them.

We are missing the opportunity to feel involved, whole, safe, and just amazed at life in this random reality.

Panoramic openness interrupts the neurotic patterns of thinking and wanting which are causing the pace of modern life to overrun us.

Every single panoramic moment helps needs and wants, thoughts and actions to clarify and realign. The regular experience of openness and wholeness brings peace of mind.

All ancient and modern therapies and meditations can help us find our hidden potential, and bring our lives in balance – but nothing is as direct, fundamental, practical, easy to do, and less expensive(!) than panoramic awareness.

This is a natural way of being. It's not a new theory or religion. It's nothing glamorous or clever. It's ages old and just practical – watch any squirrel stop for a few seconds on the lawn.

Human children are born with this way of sensing the world. Panoramic awareness is an innate potential which we have collectively learnt to ignore, – it may well be the only natural resource that humans don't exploit.

What possible harm could there be in doing what every other animal does to stay safe?

This way of sensing is common to people of all cultures. It's a fundamental unifying factor. It underlies, and supersedes, all belief systems and meditation practices.

All it requires is curiosity, a little effort, self-discipline, and – initially it seems – the courage to temporarily break free from every focused form of human herd mentality.

Please continue with Central Exercises.

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