Lead a simple and modest life, uncomplicated by too much, by overdoing, by greed or need, or constant desires that do not fit the life you are in. With simplicity comes a certain kind of fulfillment that must be experienced. In simplifying life, without denying and without neglecting all that you are and need, find solace, gratitude, and caring that rise far above a life filled with too much of everything. Explore simplicity and what that might mean for you so that your life may be calm and uncomplicated and yet fulfilling and satisfying. In its own way, simplicity means abundance.
Do not be discouraged by repeated failures to advance, by habitual snags, by repetitive behaviors, but do note them and their frequency. Try for less destructive behavior, for less of that which throws you into imbalance, and get into alignment with more of that which does you good. Do not let yourself down but constantly pick yourself up like you would a small child who stumbles or a good friend who has lost their balance, and begin again, taking it one step and one day at a time. Restate your intent, admire your tenacity, and fuel yourself with whatever you need to make the right choices. Pretty soon you won’t need to be so attentive because it will be second nature to walk the path of heart, to do the right thing, to be the being you long to be. With love in your heart, for yourself and your journey, continue onward with gratitude and thanks that you get to have the most wonderful experience of life in human form. Make the most of it!
Let kindness flow from you as the wind flows from the sky, as the rain falls from the clouds, as the oceans rise and swell, as the light streams down from the golden sun. Let uninhibited kindness flow from your lips in words, from your hands in deeds, from your heart in an outpouring of love to counter all that is not right in the world, to be the change so badly needed. Without need for anything in return become an avenue of change in your kindnesses. Reap the good healing effects of taking attention off yourself and your own worries and problems, for even a moment, by giving to another, simply because you can. With kindhearted giving you can’t go wrong. You might even discover that you truly gave something right and beautiful to another human being. Even a kindness given in silence can have such effect!
On this day, find love in your heart for your petty tyrants, for those who confound you, for those who test you, for they are your greatest teachers. Though they may seem to be unrelenting in their cruelty, in their needling, in their teasing, they are but frightened souls unaware of their teaching power. Let them be, but let them be with loving gratitude for how they throw you back into yourself so that you may deal with your own inadequacies and your own fears on an inner level, where such things should always be confronted and dealt with. The people in your life are all part of your greater growth, development, and eventual transformation. With gratitude, thank them. And if you can’t do it now, know that one day you will, for you will understand the bigger picture when you too are ready.
Not doing is a practice developed by the Seers of Ancient Mexico to break the fixation of habitual behavior. The most powerful reinforcer of habitual behavior is the internal dialogue, the things we tell ourselves, over and over again, about ourselves and the world we live in.
The ultimate not doing of the internal dialogue is inner silence, the springboard into unfiltered perception. Inner silence is a coveted state, achieved through an arduous unbending intent. That intent might include the not doing of a new internal dialogue, such as an oft-repeated statement, like, for instance, “I am silent.”
What makes this mantra a not doing is that when we say it we are not doing what we usually do. Our typical inner dialogue might say
“that won’t work” or “that’s not the way my mind works.” Thus, to state “I am silent” requires volition to oppose the limitation imposed by the default position of our internal dialogue.
The trick with this, and all not doings, is no attachment to the outcome; simply perseverance in performing the prescribed action. Attachment belongs to the inventory of the standard internal dialogue that insists reality be what is prescribed.
In that case, if our not doing is not quickly realized through our new internal dialogue, we can suffer the emotional energy drain of failure, which becomes defeat. Defeatism reinstalls the primacy of the familiar internal dialogue, which quickly shifts us back into our habitual self.
Not doing is a volitional action that forces our consciousness to be present in new ways. To eat or write with one’s non-dominant hand is an unfamiliar behavior. Energetically, a not doing explores untapped energy potential, as it ventures beyond the known boundaries of the habitual self.
While at a practical level, a not doing interrupts the habitual flow of our energy into repetitive thought and behavior, at a truly sublime level, we are learning the fluidity to fixate upon new worlds of possibility. This includes a very different experience of self and the world that we can fixate upon or hold onto at will.
Suspending all moral judgments, both nature and world leaders are introducing global not doings that are generating new worlds of possibility that we might fixate upon. Of course, there remains the not doing of not tracking world events, but none of us are immune from their impact on the ultimate, interconnected energy we are all a part of.
As I began writing this blog yesterday morning, a Monday, Jan was simultaneously channeling Jeanne’s spoken message for the week. Synchronistically, Jeanne prescribed a not doing breathing technique, to cancel the internal dialogue and experience a moment of inner silence. When I heard the message, I realized I must continue this blog, as it was prompted by the Tao of now.
What makes the prescribed breathing technique a not doing is the fact that it interrupts the natural flow of unconscious breathing, as one must consciously remain present to monitor the steps of the in breath, the pause, and the out breath. This not doing opens up new assemblages of energy, as it ventures beyond the narrow frame of automatic behavior.
Our automatic internal dialogue rests upon a very narrow set of beliefs, which limit our access to our true potential. Even nonsensical not doings, like wearing unmatched shoes, sends our awareness into uncharted territory, as it breaks its typical habitual fixation.
The intent of such a not doing, as wearing unmatched shoes, is quite private, loosening one’s tendency to fixate, unconsciously, upon the same things. The intent is not to feed the self-importance of being seen as an oddity. Not doings might be quite public actions, but not for the purpose of attracting attention. Such a motive would defeat the intent of not doing, which is to open the door to energetic possibility by learning to fixate on new behaviors.
Training awareness to be fluid, through the practice of not doings, hones our ability to navigate the unknown, particularly the unknown sides of ourselves waiting to be actualized. Not doings also promote the inner silence that leads to discovering our dormant potential.
As Jeanne suggests, take a breath of fresh air. Out with the stale breath of the internal dialogue, in with the not doing of new life.
