Doing By Being

How can you do by being? What does it mean by being? Being sounds like just sit and do nothing. Is it being lazy? What is it?

To Just Be

Being as I understand it, is to “just be” with “what is.” If you are frustrated, then be with that frustration and observe what it feels like. Don’t distract yourself from that feeling. Do not suppress it. If you do, then that will get lodged in your body as a chemical and may cause disease. If you are inspired, then don’t resist it. Let that inspiration create through you.

Feel Fully

Let’s see what happens when you just observe your feelings and allow them to be expressed through your body. After you finish experiencing the emotion, body feels light and you don’t create mental stories around that emotion any longer. No clutter, so there is space for creative expression to take place.

Doing By Being

Body is Part of the Divine

The following is my current realization. Our body is part of the divine that you are, though a small part. Though mind or ego (this is what we think we are) also arises from the divine, it has its own agenda—to do something or the other, and to think incessantly. This mind comes between God (the true Self) and God (the body). If this gap becomes too wide (that is mind takes over too much), then body will start reacting adversely telling the mind to stop widening the gap and create a clear link to the true Self. Mind is the one that says, “Do… do… do. Don’t just be. If you don’t do it, then everything is doomed. You can’t make it!” This is what the collective mind of the society trains our minds—and we tell ourselves the same thing. This is the state of the world now—”Do, compete, crush others. Otherwise, you are a looser and you will be left behind.” This conditioning makes people think that it is a Dog eat dog world.

Doing Stresses the Body

Doing involves a lot of thinking and analyzing before doing anything. This thinking and analyzing leads to fear, which prompts us to procrastinate rather than do. We (as egos) think, “What will happen, if something goes wrong?” This “What will happen?” mostly means what will happen to me, my reputation and my story. Mind lives in the past in fear of the future. Never in the present. Only the true Self and the body live in the present moment. When the mind takes over too much about doing making the gap too wide, the body starts telling the mind to stop—in the only way it knows how—through pain and disease.

Being Means Flow

Being does not mean being lazy. But, when you are in being the work automatically happens. This means, if the work is meant to happen, it will happen. But, if it is not meant to happen, then it won’t, even with all the physical and mental effort we put in. This means, in beating ourselves up in the “doing mode,” nothing will happen, if it is not destined to. So, why beat ourselves up?

Being is Creation

Doing by being is the most helpful in any creative endeavor. “Creation” by definition means “to make or bring to existence something new; something unprecedented.” But, fears arise, because mind can only cope with things that already known. When encountered with something new, it goes into a panic mode. In some people it is more stifling than in others. This fear is caused by thoughts arising in the mind as we just discussed. When the mind clears and steps aside, there is a greater link that is created between your true Self and your body, so creative expression of the true Self comes through the body.

Doing Melts into Being

From being, doing arises, naturally, organically. No effort is needed on your part. Take for example, writing of this article and most of the articles on this site. No effort was put into writing them. Yes, there was an effort of typing the words, editing and rewriting. However, no real effort, in the traditional sense of the word, was put into the creative act itself. I, most of the time, have a title or subject that I want to write about, but don’t know ahead of time what I am going to write. I don’t plan or outline the article in anyway. It feels like it puts me in a box of how the article should turn out.

Sometimes, I do not know what I want to write about; nor do I have a title or subject in mind. It feels like there is something that wants to come through me. I meditate a while, sit quietly and access that stillness, silence, peace, god within, or true Self that knows more than the little me, the ego. Some random words or thoughts come up and start putting them down. After a few minutes something coherent starts emerging and that becomes an article’s first draft. That is the artistic or creative act. After that come the rewriting and editing cycles which are part of the writing craft and have nothing to do with art.

That is the state of Being. Does this mean that the mind or ego or personality is not there? No, mind is there and is needed to interact with the outer world. However, this mind is a servant to the god within—a clear bridge between true Self and the body. Creative act happens, automatically, when this master-servant relationship holds.

It Takes Practice

However, this did not come easily to me. I have to admit, when I started this blog in 2007, I had this idea that I wanted to make this blog number one in the blogosphere in the area of self-mastery and enlightenment. I read about blogging and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and implemented a lot of the advice. Among that was the advice that I write articles on a schedule, and put them out everyday or at least three to five times a week. Otherwise, readers would forget my blog quickly. All that advice assumed that people had short attention spans. However, I soon realized that it was not true for me. I concluded that I could not force things out of me. That would just be the work of the mind and the quality suffered.

Nothing Really Matters

In the past year, I realized that, in the end, nothing really mattered except the true Self. I decided to write only when strongly prompted from within. I was prompted more often in the initial months of the blog, since it was all building up inside before I even started the blog. Now, I am not prompted that often. That is why you see me posting articles in longer intervals. This seems to have worked for my blog. I have a small group of loyal readers, who are very interested in what I write and they take equal interest in participating in the discussions.

All That Matters is “To Be”

All that matters now is to “just be” and listen to my inner promptings. When the inner prompting comes, the mind still resists sometimes, saying, “If you write about that or do that people may laugh at you. You will be a looser!” Or, when there is no inner prompting for anything, the mind may come up and say, “You looser! You are not writing or doing anything. Look at the world, it is moving forward leaving you behind. Look at all those blogs out there, they are overtaking you.” Then, these times become hard, if I am not aware of myself and stop from getting carried away with self-pity and self-criticism. I tell my mind to just shut up and say, “I choose to be that way.”

Choose to Enter into Being

This way of doing holds true in all my daily work now. How does this help in my job where my employer feels that I must do? I don’t feel, “I must, have to, or supposed to do.” I choose to do. When I say, “I choose to do,” I remove the mental resistance right away. This clears my mind and makes it a clear bridge between the true Self and the body.

You can carry this attitude of “choosing to” (either to do, or not to do) in all your endeavors in your life. Because everything is a choice that you make. When you choose to, then you accept what is and enter a state of being that brings in a higher level of consciousness and quality into everything. This is a form of surrender to the divine.

Contemplation

So, in this state of Being,

  • Who is creating?
  • What/who is the created?
  • Who is there to accept credit or blame?

Answers to the above questions can only be arrived, on individual basis, through contemplation and by just being. It is up to you, now.

14 Responses

  1. Desika – really nice post! Indeed, “to be” is the essence of living. Doing is the prevalent western concept of “living” but really, the yogis of India have it right – “to be” is verily “to live”. With that said, let us aspire to share this great insight with others so that this helps to “temper” modern culture and activities that slowly and sometimes adversely affect our physical health and states of mind. Again, great post Desika – many thanks for sharing 🙂

    Yours in “Being”,

    Keith Johnson
    http://ommeditation.info

  2. Keith, Thanks. You are absolutely right. But, in the present age, I would not blame the west alone for “Doing.” Only the ancient mystics of the east and the west got it right. But in modern times, If what I see in India is an indication, it is all about “Doing.” I hope that changes one person at a time everywhere in the whole world.

    LnL,
    -Desika

  3. Nice article – this echoes many of my own messages about re-framing what you want in terms of who you want to become. Who you are becoming. Who you are.

    You are already everything you want to become. Your authentic self is underneath all the layers of stuff you get up and put on everyday, like a naked body buried under clothes. Being is underneath, so think about what you can remove that may be covering that simple, inherent state.

    The link on my name above is to some more of my share of this conversation.

    Slade

  4. Slade,

    I like your “naked body buried under clothes” comparison. It absolutely puts things in perspective. My usual comparison is, “Being/Enlightenment/Brahman already there at the bottom of the muddy pool. We just need to filter and clarify the waters to see the bottom clearly.” All spiritual techniques are there only to help filter the water and do not really add/bring anything new.

    Thanks.

    LnL,
    Desika

  5. Hey Desika,

    Another masterpiece! I am proud to be part of your loyal group of readers and hope your creative spark continues to inspire you to create more such gems. It is truly inspiring and enlightening to read.

    Cheers,
    Anmol

  6. Anmol,

    Thank you for being a loyal reader of my blog. I really appreciate your support.

    Desika

  7. Perhaps the state of being is all there is. Furthermore, maybe Being has nothing to do with anything outside us, no objects. Also internally, maybe nothing effects Being either because our thoughts, feelings, and even our bodies are objects. Anybody who is observant enough realizes that all objects are constantly changing. If that is the case then being-ness always remains the same, in the moment, never changing. I have memories from my childhood and when I think about how I felt then, I notice I still feel the same except everything around me changed. Even my thoughts change, feelings change. All objects will change in time. I realize that being-ness does not know time, space, or objects. Just like your memories perceive no time, space or objects around them. If the understanding that being-ness never dies or changes form, what is time compared to being and how we perceive time? When I imagine ‘no time’ then what comes to mind is forever-ness. Yet what is forever-ness compared to time? In time, forever-ness does not exist. Therefore, being-ness as compared to forever-ness cannot travel within the realm of time. Being-ness does not exist on a continuous line of time. Being-ness is forever always there. Being-ness is all there is, all there ever was, and all there will ever be. Conceivably if being-ness is all there ever was then it was before anything at all, even before the universe of all creation. Yet, what were you being before creation? Just Being, to say you were being ‘something’ is to merge with an object and you are not an object.

    Being-ness is the only thing that exists and ever will exist. Everything else is identifying with an object. Fear, pain, and suffering are the misidentification of being-ness to an object outside of pure being-ness. You identify these objects with who you think you are in the ego of will to receive through self-interest, the body, everything in which effects you. Objects (ranging from thoughts, feelings, body, and anything else you can perceive) flow into our lives, show us things about ourselves, and then leave. Being-ness is on going, unchanging or effected, always present in every moment.

    There are many words and understandings to explain this. You could easily use the word: Consciousness or I AM-NESS in the place of Being-ness and get the same result. Hence, what one is meant by: I AM THAT I AM. To say I am love or I am being love is to misunderstand ones true self which is relate-able to no object of emotion or feeling.

    Indeed you hit the nail on the head with this article Desika! 🙂 Thank you for sharing, you are very insightful person, full of wisdom!

    Have a Consciously Flexing day my friend,
    ~Nicholas Powiull @ Conscious Flex

  8. Dear Nicholas,

    You are right! Being is all that there is. Everything appears and dissolves in Being/Consciousness. However, when we say, “we do this or that,” we say it from the level of the mind. Therefore, we say, “I entered the zone” or “I entered my beingness.” We say these things, because we are identified with our body and thoughts, and presume that we are these ideas. But, there is no entering or leaving anything, for Being is all that there is and Being is “I Am” or “I Am That I Am.” That Being expresses itself through various forms. Past and Future meet in the now and that’s where the Being can be felt. What or Who feels it? It is the awareness being aware of itself. This is beyond the mind and concepts and therefore beyond time and space, for these are creations of the mind. Even the memories we have are part of the mind structure and they cannot touch the Being. Just drop one of the events in your past completely from your consciousness and see the emotions and events that were related to that also fall away.

    Thank you very much for your insightful comment and your appreciation.

    Cheers,
    Desika

  9. A beautiful post! “I choose” particularly spoke to me since I have been juggling many tasks for my business for several weeks, which is why I have been absent from the blogosphere.

    Thanks for writing this one!

    Lexi

  10. A beautiful post! “I choose” particularly speaks to me since I have been doing many tasks for my business the past few weeks, which is why I have been missing from the blogosphere.

    Thanks for writing this one!

    Lexi

  11. Lexi,

    Thank you for your comment. All the best to your success in your business.

    Desika

  12. Acid Reflux says:

    after a long time i got a fabulous post like this one, the contemplation is really a conception of the whole post. the body is a part of divine is the best thing u wrote! thanks for such posts.

  13. Acid Reflux,

    You are very welcome. And, I am very grateful for your encouraging comment.

    Thanks,
    Desika

  14. Great philosophical and divine ideas presented with an interesting presentation.