The Art of Non-doing

If we look carefully, we can see that everything in existence is in motion, besotted with the will to become. This is particularly true for human consciousness. The human mind has become a reflection, even a caricature, of universal movement. While to be endowed with active intelligence is natural and positive, when we become subjugated by the compulsive arising of thoughts, we lose our connection to the basic goodness of being and to the silence essential to our spiritual sanity.

We cannot experience reality outside of the individual consciousness that constitutes our unique angle of perception. Our mind is the only tool we have to recognize existence, but at the same time, it has become the very veil that separates us from reality as it is. The mind blocks our direct perception of reality because its agitated activity obscures objective existence. The mind, rooted in interpretation rather than direct perception, creates a virtual world of its own that is alienated from the whole of reality as it is. To apperceive existence in its true form, we must transcend our unconscious tendency to ceaselessly think, label and interpret all that appears in our field of cognition. Only a still mind can see and reflect reality from the place of non-modified lucidity.

The foundation of meditation is the condition of non-doing, the complete stillness of our consciousness within the state of being. Non-doing cannot be accessed unless pure awareness is first established and then submerged into the depth of the now. To arrive at the state of surrender and immersion, we must let go of our own existence and allow the gravity of the inner realm to pull us down to the ground of universal repose.

Divine Passivity

The state of non-doing is the most profound experience for a human being, for it can occur only in the context of oneness with existence. It is an experience of unity, freedom and bliss. This extraordinary unity of consciousness and inactivity is not inertia, but supreme repose in the divine. It is 'divine passivity', the ultimate state of being rooted in the source and mystery of creation. To arrive at this divine inaction, the will of our individuality has to merge in loving union with the will of the beloved.

Dynamics of Non-doing

Non-doing represents a tremendously vibrant and dynamic condition of being. It is a state of continuously letting go into the mystery of the now in which the presence and absence of the soul merge into an indescribable amalgam of pure existence; personal and impersonal meet and unite in the non-conceptual realm beyond knowing and not-knowing.

Non-doing is a condition of letting go whereby the will to be is surrendered into the abyss of universal emptiness. The heart of non-doing is the realm of being within which we abide, the timeless space of the now. Through our relative surrender, the gravitation of the beyond pulls our soul into the inner ocean of pure rest so that we can move into a place of absolute peace, beyond both effort and effortlessness.

Non-doing by its very nature is beyond activity and inactivity. It is none other than reality itself - the unborn base of all-that-is. Beyond polarities, it embraces both motion and stillness, containing all manifested existence within its transcendent non-abidance. When the soul merges with the primordial essence of non-activity, her existence is transported into the beyond, into the perfection of being. It is from this dimensionless space of pure being that all of creation is seen as the uncreated, and all change as the unchanged.

What are the practical means of achieving the state of non-doing? From a place of clear presence, one cultivates the art of surrender. The success of this effortless effort does not hinge solely on our intention to let go, but also on the transmutation of our mind and the transformation of our energy. Our awareness and our energy body have to open up and shift into the inner realm, and our sense of existence move beyond the created reality and relative, time-bound consciousness. Since this transformation takes place on the subtle plane, beyond the control of the conscious mind, the only thing we can do is co-operate through the continuous practice of letting go, in the space of patience, endurance and submission to the beyond. Ultimately, however, the complete opening to the realm of pure being is a result of deliverance, coming from the absolute reality into whose depths we surrender.

Dropping the Doer

Ego can do many things, but it is simply unable to meditate. Pure meditation is a condition of being, not a form of doing. To open the space of meditation, the 'doer' must yield to being. Pure meditation is beyond the exercise of any method. The application of any meditative technique reduces the meaning of meditation to a mere performance of the mind. Because the mind can only operate in the horizontal dimension of space and time, a meditator who relies on any method of meditation cannot cross into the vertical reality of the now, and only lingers on the periphery of the inner state.

We should not, however, attempt to drop the doer prematurely. The relationship between the doer and the state of non-doing is precisely like that of attention and letting go. The activation of attention is the function of the doer, while the spirit of letting go is a function of surrender to the ego-free space of non-doing. Since the fully mature state of pure meditation cannot be achieved until we complete the inner path, the doer must remain to support the process of establishing the condition of non-doing. This may appear illogical, but there is a very simple explanation; individual effort is a task in the domain of the subtle ego, which although an extension of the mind, operates as a conscious link between the subconscious self and the inner state.

The ego assists us on two levels in the practice of meditation: it helps awaken the inner state, and it learns how to surrender itself in order to merge with that state. To comprehend this more clearly, we must recognize that the ego is not an independent entity, but a vehicle of the soul. While the false ego serves the mind and its agenda alone, the mature, conscious ego is an intelligent representation of the soul in her human personality. It is the conscious ego that becomes present in the mind and overrides the subconscious ego lost in daydreaming, the conscious ego that lets go into the inner state. In the process of merging with the inner state, the ego does not disappear entirely, but rather its motives and purpose change. Prior to its surrender, the ego performed the role of the subject, believing itself to be the real host. As awakening grows roots within our existence, the ego gradually loses its central position and moves to the periphery of our identity where it lingers as a merely functional expression of the soul. T he ego continues to support the deepening of the inner state, but its presence grows increasingly transparent and silent. It ceases to control the process of meditation and instead begins humbly to assist it. Our aspiration is not to eliminate the ego, but to transform it into an instrument of inner awakening. In the complete absence of ego, there cannot be any meditation, because the soul must employ its energy and intelligence to open the inner state. Only when it has served its purpose can the ego be fully surrendered to the silence of pure being.

Another function of the doer is to check the quality of meditation and gently direct the energy of the inner state. After recognizing an absence of mindfulness, the 'checker' makes the decision to concentrate. Or, having verified that there is a sufficient amount of presence, the checker introduces the intention of letting go into being. The wisdom of meditation calls for a precise balance between utilizing the ego and dropping it - they should in fact be a simultaneous occurrence. The movement of intelligence, whether checking, intensifying attention or inducing relaxation, should be absolutely intertwined with surrender into the now. The final act of the ego within each now is to let go, having nothing left to do but remove its interfering attendance from the immaculacy of being. As we can see, the ego, which initially represents the primary obstacle to reaching inner stillness, can learn how to support intelligently our entry into reality.

By letting go, the ego drops itself, and an immediate opening into the state of pure meditation occurs. As time goes by, however, the ego reappears, assessing the state or wandering off into daydreams; hence in the next instant, the ego has to repeat the act of activating attention or surrender. This dance of checking, becoming present and letting go takes place in the space of an effortless and natural flow of intelligence. As our awakening deepens, the interplay between the checker and the inner state gradually merges into one movement, a movement of the now. In due time, the ego dissolves into the inner dimension to such an extent that it ceases to possess the power to assert its separate existence. Naturally, the functions of checking and cognizing still operate at times, but without the presence of an individual agent. From this point forward, the power of recognition and intelligence is owned by no one - intelligence moves in the space of pure reality, the impersonal awareness of that which is.

Attaining Pure Rest

The heart of inner rest is the state of just being. In meditation, we explore the mystery of just being again and again; we simply return, moment to moment, to its silent joy. In this unremitting act of surrender from doing to being, from mind to no-mind, from presence to absence, we enter ever-deeper the inner realm, gradually merging with reality.

To meditate is to rest within. The dimension of pure rest is always present as the ground to reality, but because of our ignorance, we have become estranged from it, rent from the heart of stillness. The degree to which we can rest in the beyond directly reflects the extent of our awakening and inner expansion. Only through the practice of meditation, and self-actualization, can we return to the primordial dimension of being, our original abode and final destination.

The State of Effortlessness

The state of effortlessness is the natural condition of being, the ego-free dimension of pure meditation. If effort is not eventually dropped on the path, it is an indication that either we have not awakened to our true self or are unable to merge with the depth of reality. We can only rise above effort through our union with the inner realm. The evolution into effortlessness is a natural progression based on the gradual fusion of the individual with the universal.

Although there are many levels of effortlessness, the essence of the natural state is always the fundamental experience of just being. Hence, as long as we recognize the core of I am and being, we have relative access to the effortless state of pure meditation even at the initial stage of our practice. As our practice gradually deepens and our state becomes more integrated, the natural state of being dissolves the need for any exertion. We can finally rest, free from our relative self, in the fullness and emptiness of primordial consciousness.

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