effortless effective action

People seem destined to be immersed in ever-changing patterns of thought, speech and actions. Some patterns are unique to individuals while others are shared with family, community, fellow workers and playmates. And the patterns are reinforced and embellished by the silver tongued devils of the non stop media and advertising industries.

While we are awake, and possibly when sleeping, our attention jumps around looking for patterns and agencies. The mind seems to have an energetic mind of its own. And most of us are addicted to this busy-ness: especially the younger folk who are easily bored. We seek endless distraction in increasingly large doses. We work ourselves into a state of frantic burn out.

The problem is not new: and neither is the solution.

all men's miseries derive from
not being able to sit in a quiet room alone

Back in the 17th century Blaise Pascal reckoned that “all men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” Back in the 13th century Dogen Zenji, saw a similar pattern in Japan and reckoned that recovery would follow if only people would “just sit” and “drop off body and mind”. We have to get off the egoic treadmill so that we can know the deeper, non-egoic peace. But real world action is still going to be necessary.

Back about 600BC the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu reckoned that we can “do nothing and yet nothing is left undone”. The key idea was of “wu-wei” which is not easy to translate. Some attempts are "non-action", "nonpurposeful action", and "effortless doing." But it is not to be thought of as inertia, laziness, laissez-faire, or mere passivity. It refers to an uncommon sense and to paradox. It involves selfless, non-egoic, effective non-doing.

When work gets done in non-egoic flow there is no consciousness of a doer. There is no forcing; no gritting of teeth. It is more a case of going with the grain, rolling with the punch, swimming with the current, trimming sails to the wind, and taking the tide at its flood. The athlete is in the Zone. The musician is in the Groove. The poet has his Muse. There is high quality, effortless action by an existentially still and peaceful non-actor. Many people know it through housework or gardening – numinous times when they are blissfully comfortable in their skin in the immediate here and now.

May the peace be with you.
“Don’t just do something, sit there.”