How often does it happen that a friend, family member, neighbor, boss or some other person asks us what we're doing and we reply, "Nuthin"?
Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Chen Jen write a lot about doing nothing. Since one of the two books I'm currently reading has the words "Do Nothing" in the title and another book in the stack features those same two words as well, I have been giving much thought to this concept and I've decided that, despite all the urgings in this direction, it may well be impossible actually to do nothing.
I bet every minute of every day you and I are doing some-thing. We might be writing, reading, working, playing, sneezing, defecating, eating, drinking and/or sleeping. Even meditating or praying is a thing we do. If we open ourselves to receive Tao, that's still doing something.
Let's say we enter an altered state (and no, I'm not referring to Arizona!). While our minds may seem disengaged from this world, our brain is still doing something -- making sure we continue to breath, our heart keeps beating and all the other various processes are doing whatever it is that they are supposed to do.
What about death? When we die do we enter the realm of nothingness? Maybe. Maybe not. No one knows. While it certainly could be theorized that we cease doing anything altogether, it's just as easy to theorize that we do lots of things. In fact, one could say that returning to the One or merging with the void is still a something we or something else does.
So, while doing nothing may seem like a crucial step toward enlightenment, it may still end up being something after all.
Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Chen Jen write a lot about doing nothing. Since one of the two books I'm currently reading has the words "Do Nothing" in the title and another book in the stack features those same two words as well, I have been giving much thought to this concept and I've decided that, despite all the urgings in this direction, it may well be impossible actually to do nothing.
I bet every minute of every day you and I are doing some-thing. We might be writing, reading, working, playing, sneezing, defecating, eating, drinking and/or sleeping. Even meditating or praying is a thing we do. If we open ourselves to receive Tao, that's still doing something.
Let's say we enter an altered state (and no, I'm not referring to Arizona!). While our minds may seem disengaged from this world, our brain is still doing something -- making sure we continue to breath, our heart keeps beating and all the other various processes are doing whatever it is that they are supposed to do.
What about death? When we die do we enter the realm of nothingness? Maybe. Maybe not. No one knows. While it certainly could be theorized that we cease doing anything altogether, it's just as easy to theorize that we do lots of things. In fact, one could say that returning to the One or merging with the void is still a something we or something else does.
So, while doing nothing may seem like a crucial step toward enlightenment, it may still end up being something after all.
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