Inner Watchtower Vigil

Neville's Inner Vision

To my ear, Isaiah 21:7–8 speaks not of literal sentinels, but of states of consciousness that watch and govern themselves. The chariot of a couple of horsemen and the chariot of camels are inner movements—thoughts, emotions, images—that pass before the theater of mind. When I hear 'he hearkened diligently with much heed,' I hear the discipline of attention I must exercise upon whatever arises in consciousness. The speaker proclaims 'A lion!'—not a beast external, but the I Am, the lord of the inner realm—‘My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights.’ This is the affirmation that awareness remains constant, undistracted by day nor by night, even as thoughts parade like chariots. The lesson for me is to identify invaders not with fear, but as transient movements within the one consciousness. By refusing to identify with the passing content and by keeping the watch of I AM fixed, the mind is steadied, and the so-called invasion loses its grip. The truth I claim is that imagination shapes reality; to revise a state is to alter the course of inner events, including what the mind perceives as external.