We constantly feel the urge to be doing something. Sitting silently, doing nothing, we get fidgety and anxious. We feel compelled to take up tasks, projects, or trips, even if they are meaningless; or to escape repeatedly into entertainment, whether through TV, smartphone, computer, or video game, which are all things to do, things with which to occupy oneself.
In this state of compulsive activity, contentment has to be postponed until everything we need to do is done. But we are perpetually finding and creating new things to do. No gap is ever allowed between two activities. Because if we are not occupied and nothing is being done, we feel restless and bored, afraid of missing out on something, or perhaps guilty of wasting time. In quiet moments, when there is nothing to do, existential dread starts setting in, unpleasant and suppressed thoughts and feelings start to arise. In fact, most of our activities are just a means of escaping from this state of not doing anything. But that is precisely the state where contentment, happiness, and relaxation are found.
For a change, as an experiment, remain in this state of not doing. Make some space between two activities, and leave it empty, even if it is just for 5 minutes. Try to look at not doing anything in a different way, as a state of just “being”.
In being, you are present and alert, whereas in doing, you move away from the present moment into some future, far away goal, into a daydream. In being is serene stillness; anything you do can only disturb this intrinsic stillness. Sitting silently, with eyes closed: just be, don’t do.
Just being – it means not striving, not accomplishing, not reaching, not trying, not seeking, not searching, not knowing. Doing has many forms, and you will have to be alert and aware, otherwise you will unconsciously slip into doing in one form or another. It is not that certain efforts are bad and have to be stopped, while other efforts which are good have to be adopted. Effort itself is to be dropped, unconditionally. When all forms of doing and all efforts are dropped, what remains is just empty space. Allow this space to remain unfilled, free. This is the space of non-doing and being — and it has always been there, just in the background of doing, silent and blissful. All activities are distractions from this pristine underlying state of non-doing.
Lao Tzu calls this state of non-doing wu-wei. It is described beautifully in the Tao Te Ching. In one sense, it is a “non-method” – you are just doing nothing.
Doing nothing is more about the mind than the body. If you are sitting still, but your mind is running, you are still doing something. Planning what needs to be done, what you will accomplish, where you will go – these are all forms of doing. Silently chanting or focusing on a mantra or object is also a form of doing. The real problem is in the mind because the body can become still and silent very easily, but not the mind. Even if physically you are not doing anything, the mind is very adept and agile at making all kinds of efforts, and it is running on autopilot, so you will have to be very alert to notice these subtle inner activities of the mind and allow them to subside. In fact, keeping the mind running and active takes a lot of strenuous effort, which is why we are constantly exhausted. Sitting silently, just drop all efforts of the mind and be effortless, as you are. Doing is difficult, being is easy, because it is already the case, it is the default state.
The feedback for correctly implementing this method will be instant. You will feel an extraordinary sense of ease, relief, and peace. It is similar to the feeling of sitting down after running for a long time. The mind has been running for so long, that when you succeed in actually stopping it from the very root, even for a moment, the result is cathartic. This meditative serenity is not your creation or achievement; rather, you are becoming aware of your inner stillness, which is already present.
Being is already there before doing can even begin. Nothing is needed to be done to acquire it, you already have it, you are it. Being requires no effort on your part, it is the initial condition. Before you begin to do anything, you are.
Being means being here and now, as you are, with no goal or underlying purpose – not going anywhere, not living in or for the future, not brooding over the past. Be here and now, in both body and mind.
Imagine a lake where a large rock falls in and creates disturbances and ripples in the water. How can you get rid of these ripples? Anything you do will only add more ripples. Only if left alone can the lake’s disturbances subside on their own. The mind is like this lake. When all ripples of doing and effort are allowed to subside – by simply being as you are, making no effort – the intrinsic stillness of the mind and body is revealed.
In being is the fulfillment that we are desperately seeking by doing and pursuing. In being, insight and creativity are born spontaneously. In just being is the serenity, simplicity, and beauty of meditation.