People are often confused by the idea of “non-action.” Many think that this means we don’t take any action at all, but I think it’s pretty clear that spiritual people take actions all the time. Acting in this world is a prerequisite of living in it.
But initially, the primary encouragement for people on the spiritual path is to go within and reduce the amount of actions they take. It’s an encouragement to simplify and get back to basics as you learn about yourself. If you don’t do this first, you don’t really understand yourself nor why you want to take many actions. In our ignorance, we think we know why we want to do things, but as many of you who have done inner work have discovered, there are many ways our hidden issues define what we want to do and how we want to do it. When we heal those issues, we often find that some interests evaporate entirely.
Other interests do not. As we open to the truth, some things become clear. Ironically enough, it seems like when people become clear on an issue, they also may not want to take action. When people want to take action, they usually need to sit and be still. When they want to sit and be still, they usually need to take action. But to not take action when we are called to is a form of self-denial. It does not serve anyone, least of all yourself.
So I felt like offering some thoughts on what conscious action is and how we differentiate between a call to take action and the ego’s old programming that is telling you to do something. I hope you enjoy the recording.
Awakening to Action Recording
Date of Recording:
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Time:
10:30 AM Pacific Time
Place:
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Additional Spiritual Reading
If you want additional reading on this topic, here are two blog posts you may enjoy: