Another conversation brought out further points around action. They mentioned the “Law of Reversed Effort” in this short article*. “The harder we try the less we shall succeed.”
“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and the results of proficiency come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity, of letting go as a person in order that the immanent and transcendent unknown quantity may take hold. We cannot make ourselves understand; the most we can do is to foster a state of mind, in which understanding may come to us”
– Aldous Huxley
I would frame this a bit differently: “the law of effortless action.” By acting without strain and allowing nature to respond how it will, we let life take its natural course. The depth of this unfolds through the higher stages in consciousness. We use the principle of “do less and accomplish more.” When consciousness becomes clear enough, simple attention becomes increasingly potent. When we’re able to use attention to direct the flows of consciousness, we can command the field of action itself.
We have to act to achieve in the field of action. But if things are not going the way we want, increasing force does not help. In fact, it can increase resistance and thwart our efforts. We live in a culture with the “Protestant work ethic.” Often “Try, Try Again” becomes force harder rather than take a different angle.
Bhagavad Gita Ch. 2 v47
“You have control over actions alone, never over its fruits.”
External resistance to our actions is often a sign that we need fine-tuning. A different angle, a different approach, or an entirely new direction is in order. I mentioned my grad school example in Action and Support. What used to work for me had stopped working so I had to take a step back and look at other possibilities. I then got a third-parties advice on my options. That led me to my lowest-ranked option. But in nature’s artful way, that took me to the doorway I wasn’t seeing. A few weeks later, I was in grad school.
We also don’t understand consequences. We think A action should equal B result. But the field of action is universal, entwined with all other action. How the result shows up will vary in time. It will be proportional but organized in a way that balances the whole. It will come at the right time for the whole. And it’s an expression of the laws of action – it’s not personal.
Sometimes, results will show up as we expect but sometimes they won’t. If we allow nature to organize as it will, it often comes up with something better than we thought of. Or it brings karma to resolve that clears the way for the next step.
Buckminster Fuller spoke of the results of action as through precession.
It’s still valuable to do planning and research. Yet we then act and see if we can avoid getting caught up in the form we’re expecting the outcome to take. Then we reduce pain and allow life to surprise us.
The sage Vasishtha emphasized that all results are proportional to our action. He said fate is nothing but the consequences of past actions. We then know our actions now lead to our future “fate.”
All of this is much easier when we shift into Self Realization and wind down our attachments to results and thus suffering. But noticing how we are here and there can make our dynamics more conscious and shift our habits of attention.
Bliss
There is also another way of seeing action that is not familiar to many people. Action itself originates on the causal level, the level where our universe first begins. This is the field of primordial space and fine vibrations. Experienced internally, we know this as the bliss body. Those fine vibrations experienced as myself are bliss.
Yet the Taittiriya Upanishad 2:8 describes layers of bliss, each 100 times the previous. This is because one of the fundamental aspects of consciousness is Liveliness, Shakti. That liveliness expresses forward into all levels of life and extends back into the source of the source, ParaBrahman. Bliss is universal, ever present. It is the nature of life itself.
But as the conversation touched on, bliss should not be the goal. It’s a side-effect of unfolding clarity. Bliss is an aspect of expression so it will come and go. Grasping after it will cause suffering.
At a certain point, some value of bliss becomes ongoing. But just as our attention becomes focused on a task and away from awareness itself, so too does the prominence of bliss shift around. It becomes like a good friend who may drop in unexpectedly but is there when you call.
There are just a few principles of action to learn that will deeply change our experience of life. But they take time and patience to learn well. We need a good practice that takes us outside the field of action so we come to know our deeper reality, purify the channels of experience, and soften our attachments to control.
We can’t solve a problem on the level of the problem.
Davidya
* I disagree on the articles point about stepping back when you’re immersed in a task. If you’re immersed in a task and time is flying by, you’re in the flow and force is not in play. But when you’re identified with the task and trying to force it, then you do want to take a break.
Another quote on the subject of natures support, mentioned by Rick Archer:
The means gather around sattva.
Means in this case is ability to get things done effectively. Sattva is purity or clarity. It allows clear flow of the creative power that causes things.
By logical contrast, tamas is inertia. Inertia is what tries to keep things the same and leads to disintegration. This is not what causes things to happen.
Perhaps ‘ll explore this in another article. 🙂
The image in the photo is a interesting one. The right side (for the viewer) has a mellow smile. The left side, not so much. 🙂
If turtles are wired like humans, their left brain rules their right side, the more grumpy, judging aspect. Their right brain the reverse, the more open, feminine, creative side.
Some recent research is dismissing this polar view of the brain, but there is still some specialization of this nature in a typical one.
You mention “A good practice.”
.
If there is a deliberate placing of attention on this sense of presence it doesn’t remain for more than ten seconds or so, conversely, when there is simply a getting on with life and no attempt made to focus on the sense of presence there are (here and there throughout the day) these spontaneous arisings of simply perceiving and the sense of the events of life as if a reflection resting upon the surface of a river and as though all is seen/sensed from the stillness at a great depth (but simultaneously in the reflection) beneath. (It doesn’t actually appear that way, this is just a way of conceptualizing it.)
.
My question is: is there any value in the deliberate placing of attention on the sense of being present?
.
David, for putting all this in so easy a manner to understand, thank you. Truly wonderful.
Hi Lewis
Some people do culture presence by bringing their attention to it. It is the essence of mindfulness techniques. Thich Nhat Hanh teaches a walking technique, for example.
For myself, I’ve found doing an effortless meditation best. Going into source, then coming out and living that in the world. Here and there, some spontaneous noticing takes place. But more of the time, the attention is on what is at hand.
I would say though that a formal, scheduled practice is better. Randomly doing it here and there in the day can lead to it getting forgotten or overdoing it, pulling away from living life.
The idea is balance. You’re welcome. 🙂
“We think A action should equal B result. But the field of action is universal, entwined with all other action.”
Would you say that action and outcome are theoretically directly causally linked, however they remain “unfathomable” because of the infinite complexity at play?
Is Karma ie. cause and effect what the scientists are studying when they look at the observable universe?
Does our awareness effect the outer world? or are we just riding along in a pre-determined universe witnessing it, but powerless to change/ manipulate it. I think you have touched on this point in other articles about choice and predetermination but will leave it here anyway 🙂
thank you Davidya, your blog brings me alot of happiness.
Hi Pete
Exactly. Broadly, action A does result in result B. Occasionally, that will be very clear. Stick your finger on a hot stove… 🙂
But result B may be intertwined with action D, related action 34759 from Fred, and the intense feelings Jack had about it. Result B also unfolds in time so time may favour a quick result or one that takes years.
.
The key is to recognize that karma isn’t personal. The world is universal and everything is intertwined. Nature is just seeking optimal balance to sustain and evolve the world appearance.
.
We might consider the analogy of homeostasis. Our body is always seeking balance to sustain health. We may eat a box of donuts or decide to climb a cliff, neither of which the body needs. Yet it has to adapt and work to restore balance, along with all the other body processes.
.
Trillions of cells make up the body, each an organism. And we host an even larger number of microbes. And thats just the form of one life.
.
Same thing is happening on a cosmic scale with countless numbers of beings.
.
All this makes it very unfathomable. And yet the basic principles are simple. Right action is a useful choice. 🙂
.
Scientists are primarily studying just the physical world that is measurable with physical instruments. They have massively expanded the scales they can study but are still inferring the size of the universe and the size of sub-atomic particles. Those remain outside physical observation.
.
And yet they have discovered that the universe cannot be explained by physical matter. Its behavior suggests that the vast majority is invisible or “dark.” They’re actually seeing the influence of more subtle layers. It’s not all particles.
.
Yes, our awareness does influence the outer world. However the outer world is the least pliable and takes the longest to change. Partly this is because it’s most influenced by collective consciousness, not just a local attention. But as you deepen through the stages, you embody the collective and the source more and more, increasing influence.
.
By contrast, your dreams are made of mind-stuff and are very pliable with your attention. Partly this is because they’re just your dreams too.
.
And yes choice and predetermism are 2 perspectives of the same thing. Our relationship to the 2 sides alternate as we mature through the stages of human development. Dependent child, independent teen, dependent adult, independent leader, witnessing doership, seeing the hand of God, being the source.