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The Art of Doing Nothing
The Art of Doing Nothing http://www.blissful-wisdom.com/
While in the ashram of Amritapuri, Kerala, I would often sit still and relax in between periods of volunteer work, throughout the day.
Rarely does anyone of the Western culture take two minutes to sit still and be alert, without doing anything. It means letting go of eating, smoking, talking, drinking, writing or pondering. Doing nothing, yet remaining completely aware of the stillness which lies within and behind each moment. The art of doing nothing involves sitting still, and instead of acting upon desires and impulses which arise from within, to simply notice those thoughts as passing clouds in the awareness.
To be empty, if even for awhile, is to begin to allow one’s true nature to shine forth.
Here is a poem, a flow of consciousness, which alludes to the art of being still.
Be still, and know the mystery of stillness
Be empty, and know the fullness of emptiness
Let the thoughts and desires pass through the awareness like clouds passing across the wide open sky.
Let the feeling of alone-ness overtake. Alone is ‘all one’.
Surrender the desires for elsewhere, and be here now.
Be a nothing, be a no-one, be a zero, just for awhile, and discover the secret of being still.
Be still, and do nothing, just for awhile. Empty of thoughts of the past, empty of longing for the future, be here now… just for awhile.
Let the breath be natural, and be calmly aware of each inhalation and exhalation.
Just be a witness to the rising and falling of natural breathing.
Let the feelings in the body go as they come, and come as they go…
Just be a witness, if only for awhile.
Discover the secret which surrender to stillness may bring.
Discover the mystery of simply doing nothing.
Just be in the middle…
non-grasping,
non-holding,
not too tight – not too loose
Some call this ‘The Middle Way’. It is a bright and easy path.
Some music to be with:
also called mindfulness
Below is Bert Salzman “Be Here Now” mind calming session:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCngDPM5Tv8