To Be or To Do? That is the Question
One of my biggest struggles on the awakening journey has been deciding when to ‘be’ and when to ‘do.’ How do I know when to simply rest in my true nature as consciousness and when to ‘do’ the work of resolving a challenging emotion or limiting belief?
It turns out that just ‘being’ does not insulate me from the messiness of life. In the past, I've used meditation or ‘hanging out in the transcend’ as a way to spiritually bypass my human frailties. But as I’ve titrated more in the different facets of my true self - in presence, peace, love and joy, I’ve developed a greater capacity to be with all the parts of myself. I’ve come to see that that the love, wisdom and consciousness that we are seeks out anything unlike itself. It is the nature of love to do so. And so, love flows towards emotional pain and not away from it.
And when there isn’t anything to resolve - when there is no block over my heart or resistance in my system, then my job is simply to be. But of course, the mind doesn’t like that. It wants a ten step system for achieving enlightenment - the more complicated the better. It wants to fight wars that don’t exist and defeat invisible enemies. And so it’s our job to do the hard work of staying with one simple thing: being. It’s our job to make just enough effort to see that we don’t need effort; to clear the limiting beliefs that keep us stuck in pushing and striving.
To know when to ‘do’ and when to ‘be’, I have to tune into my moment to moment intuition. This is the guidance that no outer guru can provide. This is the Tao moving and speaking through me. This is how the egoic will surrenders to divine will.
If an emotional state or belief is strong enough to pull me out of being, it will need to be met with some presence, awareness or questions of inquiry. If I’m highly triggered or upset, I know I need to pause and give these parts of me even more love and attention.
There have been times, with more deeply rooted trauma, where I have sought out the support of a somatic therapist or energy healer to hold space for me. Yet the goal is always to move in the direction of less and less doing. What’s there to heal when you know yourself as whole?
This internal dance of being and doing also plays out externally. When we tune in and find the “just right” balance for ourselves, it becomes easier to find rhythm, flow and ease in all that we do. We know when to create and when to take a break, when to speak and when to listen, when to take action and when to surrender. We align with the wisdom of our heart., thorugh which the entire cosmos speaks. And we discover that love and wisdom, like being and doing, are also two sides of the same coin. We need just enough wisdom (modalities, tools, tricks of the spiritual trade) to bring us back to love. And we need to rest in love long enough to see that it’s the only wisdom we ever needed.
“Consciousness equals energy = love = awareness = light = wisdom = beauty = truth = purity. It’s all the same trip.”
References
Spiritual Bypassing by Robert Augustus Masters
Be Here Now by Ram Dass
Owning the Disowned Parts of Ourselves is my 10 day Insight Timer course where I speak more about the balance of being and doing.