Don’t just do something—sit there!

 Modern society admires goal-getters. In Europe, only the toughest survived the elements during the ice age. In the New World the motto of the settlers became, “grab as much land as you can and do something constructive with it!” We may still have some admiration for Diogenes who lived in a barrel and still managed to argue with Alexander the Great, or the Indian rishis, but we also abhor homelessness. It makes us scared.

Purposeful action seemingly beats sitting on the couch, but what if that action that we consider purposeful is still recycled pain. Is Greta Thunberg a product of her cause? Was Gandhi a product of British oppression? The point is that creation does its thing, and the ones who participate in it will naturally get more limelight than the one sitting it out, but what about our spiritual evolution? The key is to become aware of our pain-body and learn to let go.

The Bhagavad Gita distinguishes three energies—dull, driven and serene. The opportunity for “tamas” is to look through the depressed energy and get moving; for “rajas”, to discover the serene energy in the action, and for “sattva”, to find enlightenment in being. We all contain all of these energies at different stages in our life. Modern man tries too hard and should not be embarrassed to sit it out sometimes.

If you see an opportunity for reform in the outside world, do something about it. If you spot a pain-body on the inside, just sit there and wrap your arms around it until you get to the bottom of it. Reform on the outside, healing on the inside—those are the cornerstones for serene living. Don’t just do something, sit there until inspiration finds you.

#spirituality #awakening #activism