Much of the time, we're in one of two "doing" modes: either "mindless" or more or less "focused." And when we actually experience "non-doing", we may find it baffling & confusing.
Very common examples of mindless doing (acting on autopilot, with a wandering mind) include arriving somewhere & realizing we have no recollection of the details of actually driving (or walking) there. Conscious awareness was far from the here & now, busy with daydreaming, planning, worrying, regretting etc.
A relatively new & increasingly common practice is exercising while simultaneously listening to podcasts.
Whether our untrained mind simply gets lost, or we intentionally choose "a divided life" instead of engaging with the present moment, we're undermining both quality of life & effectiveness. A wandering mind = a divided mind = unhappiness & inefficiency. See: Killingsworth MA, Gilbert DT. “A wandering mind is an unhappy mind.” Science 2010; 330(6006): 932.
Many times we're more or less "focused" while doing, but we're paying way too much fear-based attention on the doer. The "noisy ego" is kicking up all sorts of friction & noise. Have you ever seen a little kid at his first track & field event, pouring all his energy into showing his parents how hard he's trying to run - grimacing, exaggerated body movements, groaning, gasping - so that minimal actual energy remains for actual running - a great example of ego noise. The extreme opposite is a world-class 100-yard-dash runner whose face & upper body appear silent & still yet she hurtles forward at record-breaking speed. No energy is wasted on (fearfully protecting) "I, me & mine."
It's unimaginable what a wonderful world we'd have if we pooled our combined energies & talents and did what's needed, instead of acting out of fearful self-interest.
"Non-doing" is action marked by effortlessness, silence, stillness, calm, peace, timelessness, very bright & vivid awareness, no egocentricity / "I" am doing this. Action is extremely efficient & feels effortless, even when there's life-threatening danger. This may explain why "heroes" when interviewed afterwards typically downplay the event, & are very reluctant to accept credit for "their" behavior. Other fascinating examples of non-doing is found in the world of creativity among physicists, composers & song-writers. The best of them typically claim that the discovery or music, even entire symphonies for Mozart, came to them all at once, and they just quickly copied it down. Again note the effortlessness, timelessness, vivid awareness, & no sense that "I" did this. The late rock & roll star Tom Petty described his song-writing process using very similar language: "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Running Down A Dream” 2007 Bogdanovich film on Netflix.)
"Doing" mode is prioritizing our own needs instead of what present circumstances actually require, for our own & others' long-term benefit. To the extent that our past influences (colors, biases, distorts) our perception, our past needs ("must haves" & "must avoids") determine how we act now, regardless of what's most appropriate right here, right now. At some level, we are aware of this inner conflict (friction, noise, cognitive dissonance, "divided-self").
Sadly, fear-based self-interest (which includes tribalism, partisanship etc) is caused by our understandable need for safety, comfort, predictability & control in today's increasingly stressful, unsafe world. YET, our world is becoming increasingly frightening & dangerous BECAUSE of escalating fear-based self-interest (tribalism, partisanship, nationalism, intolerance, hatreds, warmongering ...). See the excellent book review: Julie Wronski. "Intergroup Identities, Moral Foundations, and Their Political Consequences: A Review of Social Psychology of Political Polarization by Piercarlo Valdesolo and Jesse Graham (Eds)." Soc Just Res (2016) 29:345–353.
Deep self-reflection during meditation practice allows us to become increasingly aware of our own mind's unconscious primitive survival patterns of thinking (& ensuing behavior), some of which is delusional, illusory, and even work against our own & everyone else's best interests. An exceptionally useful book that carefully examines our thinking & behavior from the perspective of evolutionary psychology is: Robert Wright. "Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment." Simon & Schuster, 2017.
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| Katie Hoffman "Petrichor" www.katiehoffman.com |
