Nondoing

(conclusion)

A monk approaches a young master saying, "I have just come to this monastery. Would you kindly give me some instruction?" The master asks, "Have you eaten your breakfast?" "I have." "Then go wash your bowls." The monk awakens.
--A Zen anecdote


The Third Principle
Before, I used to say that the third principle is about "doing what you need to do." During those times I was a little bit uneasy about it, but it served as a compass in navigating my difficulties. Stop judging. stop expecting. Do what I need to do. They had served their purpose whenever I was caught in stormy situations. I just did what I needed to do. I was not lost, yet there was something to clarify the third principle. Doing things sometimes were confounding, since there were fears I used to confront. I was often dead on my tracks, unaware at times, even though without judging and expecting, that I did things that lead me to impulsive actions. I was more motivated with the ends, with what I can gain, with the advantage that favors me. All of them helped me, though attachment still lingered like a haunting ghost. There is something missing.

Those thoughts of being detached were nicely deceptive, because it had pushed me to act without any regard. Consequently I would see the aftermath of my choices, which dragged me slightly perturbed, if not badly. My best example is pushing away my thoughts and emotions. There were times of wrestling and grappling with them. I knock off whatever form I can sense them. Yet the scenario stays the same, especially when they come back. They are relentless, even brazen than they were. I was often deluded that I detach. Instead, I was indifferent and rejecting. I wasn't able to accept my thoughts and emotions as they are.

Years later, the mystery behind the third principle was demystified. I am doing what I need to do, and that is I do nothing. This is the secret behind. With everything I do, I do nothing. It's a sort of philosophical paradox. Because we are much more conditioned to think that not doing anything means idleness. So it is a logical thing to define contemplation of Nondoing as an apathetic escape. Our society has always emphasized more action to deal with problems, more plans to work ahead, more steps to do things. We are engrossed with a multitude of task, and have exhausted ourselves accomplishing them all at once. We want to meet a particular goal, a precise target, and we push ourselves to a limit where it does nothing but tire us without really accomplishing. For most people this understanding is vague and contradictory. Being part of the workforce can be said as evidence of participation, cooperation and fulfilling life's purpose. But we can ask again the same bugging question: Do we continue to do things we hate and deny? Are we only motivated by financial ends, by believing that we are not secure and we can be lost in the future? Do we fear to lose our reputation and power we have been painstakingly building and protecting? We can begin to rewire our old mental circuitry and reconnect again to the energy of our inner wisdom. Nondoing has to do with how our soul expresses itself in its own manner. And if our souls are kept repressed by many excuses of our robotic existence, everything we do will make us all feel empty. From that emptiness comes the awareness of things as we begin to ask questions and contemplate on our realities. This is the space of consciousness where Nondoing emerges.

Nondoing is not about what your hands are not doing over the material plane. It is not about laziness at work, or evading task at hand. Nondoing is a state of awareness of the moment, of beingness expressing itself as it does things. Nondoing is allowing, of letting go our control, of choosing not to mentally suffer over our physical difficulties. The things we do physically can still be futile if we only focus on the material and egoistic benefits we can get, which are all passing. But when we begin to focus on the act of doing itself without making any mental and emotional fuss, just for the appreciation of doing, then this is the practice of Nondoing. Nondoing transforms everything we do into soulful fulfillment.

Begin to examine how our thoughts and emotion interplay with moments of doing our everyday routine. Are we angry, frustrated, bored and uneasy, even though we are fairly productive? Our lives are often a series of episodes displaying our weariness, dreading the monotony of our past and its repercussion in the future. We are bothered and upset of the things we worry about. We lose our focus on the present moment, which brings us a rich plethora of experience, all are kaleidoscopic wisdom of our inner sensibilities.

Now we see if we can find any intimacy in what we are doing. We seldom do with joy if we hate the things we do, but allow patience to take place. See an in-depth lesson beneath each event we dislike. In Nondoing, there is more than just optimism. It is an intimate encounter with how our breath flows, how our thoughts distract, how our bodily pains manifest, how our emotions stir us. We have to feel them right then and there. We face the storm as we look at it straight to the eye, until we discover that the eye itself is no storm. This is detachment down to a fine art.

Take a minute to be aware of your breath. You can spend more time breathing before you sleep or after waking up. Feel your body, may it be in pain or in comfort. Let your thoughts flow like a flashflood; it will soon vanish. Same with your emotions, feel them with intense awareness. These are meditations of Nondoing, which everything occurs right here in your presence. When you create and do things, bless each stroke of hand. Do things with Love. Generate this inner kindness and gentleness. Let each work become a moving prayer. This attitude will naturally allow you to become nonjudging and nonexpecting, for you do things not because there is a reward or approval, but you do them with Loving awareness.

Those three principles of the art of Detachment often sound simplistic; at times, they are complex. The challenge for us is not to justify which is which, but to live the principles in every minute of our lives. It is not always easy, but beginnings are bold actions to undertake. We might start with full of apprehensions, but once we are there, things that seem disheartening makes us more lionhearted. Detachment has only one thing to teach us: that when we practice Nonjudging, Non-expecting and Nondoing, we let Love become our most ensouling experience.