Being has precedence over doing.
I love my actions when they express my Being, or lead to it, because Being is effortless and essentially graceful (full of grace), but 'doing' without Being is not.
Being is Non-Doing, a special 'noun-verb', an action verb with an emphasis on internal, not external, activity. Being, or Non-Doing, is a state, but it is an active state, not a passive state. An active state requires our attention, but not our 'doing'.
This is not just an abstract philosophical concept. This is a concept to be embodied and lived. We are human Beings that live! To 'live' is also an action verb, but it requires no external action.
To become more fully alive means to become aware of our human Being-ness. It does not mean more doing. We 'do' enough 'doing' already. We don't have to 'do' life; we need to 'BE' life. Being is synonymous with Consciousness, and to be conscious of this is Bliss!
Practical application:
- What are you doing right now?
- Are you aware of the Being part of you that is doing whatever you are doing?
- Think of the Being part of you as the vertical dimension of your body, and the 'doing' part as the horizontal part, including your arms.
- Let the vertical Being dimension have precedence in your awareness over the horizontal 'doing' part as you act (let your movements be in the background of your awareness, and your Being be in the foreground)
- Now think of the Being part of you as the internal dimension of your body, and the 'doing' part as the external dimension of your body, as you move
- Notice if these thoughts have an effect on your mood, or on the quality of your movement. Are you perhaps a bit calmer, slower, more observant?
- Stop for a moment to contemplate your Being throughout the day, and then take that heightened awareness into your activities
Thank you for this beautiful post. For those of us that think in these terms, Being is the same as the sense of the Sacred. To stop for a moment to be aware of Being, as you propose, is the same as to stop for a moment to be aware of the Self, of the Divine in us. Or, as you say very well, of the vertical dimension of our existence. By doing that we get ourselves out of the world of multiplicity, of impermanence, of illusion, and we enter the world of Unity, of Permanence, of Reality. And, again as you say, with the Consciousness of Being we realize Bliss (the Hindu ternary, Sat, Chit, Ananda, or Being, Consciousness, Beatitude). Very inspiring, thank you.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, thank you. It is good to be reminded of the role of awareness in BE-ing. I too, have found that to move through life with this more conscious being-as-opposed-to-doing does have a calm, relaxing effect. Looking forward to many more of your insightful posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you, L.A. and Jerry, for your positive feedback, which I very much appreciate! :)
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