“I feel little ambition to do anything more than be quiet, sit in my armchair as much as possible, watch the birds and the clouds, talk to the folks in my building when we pass in the halls, visit my mother, nothing much. Sometimes I have the thought that I should be doing something more. But nothing seems to come. Any movement that starts to arise toward something else simply doesn’t feel genuine. It drops away, and I just keep sitting quietly, watching the clouds.
At some point, the need for money will force my hand, since sitting in my bliss chair doesn’t pay the bills. Then again, maybe it does, since I seem to be quite well supported by life at the moment. and in fact, always have been. It just feels a little uncertain and unpredictable! Once I got a fortune cookie that said, You will be paid thousands of dollars daily for doing nothing.
The trick is to truly do nothing. It is harder than it sounds.
There is an immense pressure from society to produce, to advance, to achieve, to accomplish, to perform.”
To those who have to work hard to make a living this way of talking is nonsensical. A lifetime of therapy, silent retreats, chasing gurus, doing nothing, writing books on doing nothing, giving classes on how to do nothing, all this is simply not interesting to us who work. This doing nothing is not a path to enlightenment for working people. This account is from a rich person’s point of view.
Like there is a Christianity for the rich, there is spirituality for the rich. Nothing is wrong with this. It is not wrong to inherit a lot of money or to win money on a lottery ticket. This simply happen to some people. And it gives them another outlook on life, another perspective. Let the rich have their spirituality and their Christianity. But don’t mix up their point of view with your, and don’t listen to their advice, if you are working to make a living. Working people have to follow another path. Eventually we will all meet at the same place, death.
1 comment:
I Really think you misinterpret something here. I don't know, one way or the other. You seem to be trapped, a bit, in "mind stuff". Nothing wrong with it. It is kinda like when people say that Eckhart has a "nice philosophy" but it is impossible to "achieve" what he is saying. Absolutely, no achieving necessary!
For example, under my current situation I do not bring into this house any money, to speak of. But, others would have me work at a job for the sake of money, that goes against the core of my being in order that I present the "appearance" of money...for example I would need to use more gasoline, buy new clothes (or wash clothes more often), maintain a "life style" that satisfies others' concept of what it means to be successful and caring for your kids.
I would most likely spend more of what I made and be in the same boat...only more stressed, frustrated, and miserable. My kids father is working a job, I don't know if he likes it or not. But I do not think that my not making my art would give him more money or lessen his "burden" which is a "thought" about it. I imagine it would take a Super Woman to take care of two teenagers and work full time while hobbling around with a cane... I would be happy to not have any time to pursue what I Love. What I was born to do. Why doesn't anyone put effort into supporting me in this instead of blaming me for being the Being I AM.
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