VII. The ten things to be practised

‘Spiritual knowledge having dawned in oneself … cultivate it with ceaseless vigilance.’ Vigilance is part of taking responsibility for your work – constantly striving to recognise and rid yourself of hindrances on the path. You might think about how well you are working and how you could put more impetus into your effort; without your understanding it, something within you – the real part – prompts you to do this. The ‘you’ in this case is the ego and name, but another part pushes you to go further. The ego has been conditioned for years by all manner of things so you have all kinds of ideas that you may not even be aware of. This creates complexity, which makes everything hard for you. Once you become simple you come to greater understanding and everything falls into place, you can relate more to your real part. Simplicity means everything on this esoteric path, but first you need to recognise your complexity.