Saturday, February 15, 2014

A Case for Inaction

I once found my way to a beautiful lake in a nearby forest... Overjoyed at my good fortune, I want to share with you the directions to this lake, but I don't exactly know how I got there! How frustrated would you feel, if being a lover-of-lakes yourself, I told you that in order to find the lake, you should start by humming the song "A Whole New World" (the theme song to Disney's "Aladdin")?!

Assuming you were still paying me any attention, what if I revealed to you that when I came across this wonderful lake, I was humming that song and thus genuinely believed that is how I got "there." How reliable would my "directions" to the lake seem to you?

I contend that every spiritual tradition, every technique, every "practice" to "achieve" so-called "enlightenment" is merely a description of how the originator of such methods themselves "believed" they arrived at their own bliss (in the story above, that would be by humming that tune).

Does the arrival at a new perspective (e.g., the lake in the analogy above) automatically grant the one who arrives there with the precise knowledge of how they got there, or even more importantly, with the necessary skill to instruct others on how to do the same?

As you may have guessed, I don't think so.

Back to the lake analogy: what if on the other hand, instead of telling you to hum a particular tune, I told you that as I approached the lake, I remember hearing faint sounds of ducks, that I smelled a marshy odor, and noticed a slight decrease in temperature?

Ah! Now we're getting somewhere! This information might seem more useful than knowing what tune I was humming, but the conditions of when you stumble upon the lake (again an analogy for "enlightenment") might be completely different than when I found the lake, so my experience may not help you at all!

For example, will it help you to find the lake by "working on" your duck-call recognition skills? What if you are hard of hearing? Surely you will come upon the lake regardless of hearing the ducks as you approach!

Will it help you to attend "satsangs" where I instruct you on how to improve your sense of smell? Again, you may have a cold when you stumble across the lake and may not have smelled anything as you approached it!

Would it help you to practice three to five times a day special "techniques" to "strengthen" your ability to notice slight temperature changes? The day you arrive at the lake may be so cold, that you cannot feel any temperature change underneath all your layers, but the lake will appear before you all the same!

Am I making any sense here? Don't even get me started on selling you my special anti-oxidant, gluten-free herb diet to help attune your senses to marsh smells!!!

I mean let's say I really sincerely want you to find the lake... Let’s get one thing straight here: I consider myself to be a continual seeker who makes no pronouncements that I have "achieved" so-called enlightenment myself, and I’m tired of a certain feeling of frustration. But I want to put myself in the shoes of someone who believes they have found that “something.” Would any of these stories of my experience help anyone?! What could I actually do to help other seekers on their journeys to find the “lake?”

What if I simply told you about how lovely the lake was, and how the water glistened and the birds sang? What if you could feel my sense of joy?

Now we're getting closer, because that is motivating to hear, but at the same time still frustrating, because I didn't tell you where it is or how to get there.

What if instead of telling you about the beautiful lake, I simply exuded a joy of experiencing life right now and never mentioned the lake (because compared to this moment right now) the lake moment was no different than all subsequent moments, and thus I didn't care about the lake nor instructing you how to find it?

That feels a little better.

I propose that any spiritual method or technique be heard not as "directions to the lake," but rather as an account of that person's private experience. Period. They have no "credentials" at all to instruct others how to arrive anywhere - the only thing they can offer is an account of what they experienced, but most importantly, what they are experiencing right now!!!

I'm tired of "working" on my “smelling.” I have wasted so much time humming someone else's tune waiting for the lake. As is probably clear by now, I'm feeling frustrated with all well-meaning "instruction" towards spiritual "growth." I'm making a case for "inaction" here. No more "practice."

Instead of "opening my heart" when it is feeling closed, or trying to "be aware" of what is happening right now... Do whatever I am doing, feel whatever I am feeling. No practice. No technique.

Someone is either going to find enlightenment or they won't, but right now I say that no "practices" are going to help! This is my case for "inaction"... Do nothing special. Or do whatever you are doing.

I relish in a good story, and love a great myth. But if you were standing on your toilet when you had your realization of ultimate reality, I’m no longer going to stand on your toilet too!

How much faster will a plant grow if "coached" on the best techniques to reach the top of the trellis and fully realize its "plantness?" Does any amount of "advice" for a growing tree help it reach the "nirvanah" of full "treehood?"

1 comment:

  1. My rant above seems to be born of a desire for the "absolute"... either "non-doership" (which is what I am advocating on the one hand) or "doership" (doing whatever you are doing on the other!)... Thank you to my friend Michelle for pointing out these wonderful videos by Fred Davis which so help me clarify where I am:

    On Non-doership
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rfZyOe36i0

    On Doership
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzgwASYGnMY

    I'm so happy for people like this who can explain things so clearly and with humor and not be daunted by the contradiction (the mind wanting one thing or another) instead of the "both and" which life appears to be! Enjoy!

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