Doing Nothing -- a book about ending the spiritual search

Back in 2013 I wrote a blog post about a book by Steven Harrison, Doing Nothing: Coming to the End of the Spiritual Search. I was pretty positive about the book in "Doing Nothing. Sounds like my kind of anti-religion," though I hadn't read it.

Here's a tip for authors of books in the spirituality, religion, mysticism, and meditation genres:

If you want readers to finish your book, don't include a mention of another title like "Doing Nothing: Coming to the End of the Spritual Search."

I stopped reading during my pre-meditation quiet time when I came to that mention.

I wrote down the name of the book for future inspection, then turned to another book that didn't have anything to do with spirituality. Must obey...

When I fired up Amazon on my MacBook Pro, "Doing Nothing" seemed sufficiently interesting to justify a buy. Heck, if author Steven Harrison is persuasive, maybe this will be the last book about spirituality I'll ever purchase. 

(Not likely, but hey, its possible.)

It does bother me a bit that Harrison has a pretty extensive web site devoted to doing nothing. How much explaining does it take to back up the simple assertion, nothing needs to be done?

But I suppose that's justified.

Many people have built up so much momentum in their search for the meaning of life, recognizing that IT is right here, right now can require some active braking before the present moment is seen for what IT is.

A few days ago I noticed Doing Nothing languishing in my bookcase next to another book that I was interested in looking at again. From my highlighting, I could tell that I'd read most of it, but not the final chapters. (It's short, 132 pages.) For some reason I never wrote another blog post about the book

Re-reading it, I'm liking Harrison's style. His Introduction provides a good summary of his simple thesis, which I find difficult to argue with. I'll share some passages from the Introduction that earned my highlighting. Which, actually, comprises most of the Introduction.

This book is a work of investigation into the bare actuality of our existence. It was not written for the purpose of creating a particular philosophic or ideated approach to life.

It is not a description of a methodology, or a way to get from confusion to clarity. There is no way, no system, no instruction that will give us certainty in living our lives. Systems, philosophies, beliefs are static, and life is dynamic.

...We are in need not of a new ideology but of the intention and the integrity to look directly at the structures of mind already in existence. We need no one to mediate this view, since it is inherently clear when we are willing to look firsthand at the actuality of our lives.

We can observe directly for ourselves that the basic structure of our reality consists of thought forms arising out of nothing and passing away. There is no observable continuity to this arising-passing away. But there also arises the idea that there is a thinker, a central "me," which is the creator of these thoughts. This "me" is a concept, not an actuality.

This central thought, repetitive, subtle, and usually unconscious, is the core of the reality in which we exist. It is the basis for the entire web of our psychology, social functions, and cosmological and theological beliefs.

The examination of this basic idea of self is the essential beginning of understanding. If this "me" is a thought form, too, and if it also is arising and passing away as all thought appears to do, then who are we? Who is the observer of this passing away of the "me"?

This book is intended to take the reader on a journey through the structure of mind and, perhaps, into the quiet space out of which thought occurs. It leaves some of the work to be done by the reader.

...At a young age I was moved by the pain and discord in the world around and inside me...Leaving the security of an Ivy League university, I sought to find a complete, final, and universal answer to this pain.

I sought out every mystic, seer, and magician I could find throughout the world. I subjected myself to severe austerities, long periods of isolation, and meditation. I studied the world's philosophies and religions. I spent long periods in India and in the Himalayas, searching, contemplating, being. Throughout the past twenty-five years, I have been a student and teacher of all that I have discovered.

And it was all useless.

No system, philosophy, or religion could address the human condition. Even though I was discovering greater and greater depths of the mind and consciousness, no experience could solve my dilemma. No matter how far I traveled, no matter how intensely I practiced, no matter what master I found, I was still the center of the experience. Every experience, no matter how profound, was collected by the "me." 

The problem was the collector.

At one point, I went to see a powerful yogi in the Himalayas. I suggested to this man, who had obviously obtained a deep insight into life, that I had come to learn all he knew about the powers of the inner world. His response was simple and to the point: "Why do you want power? What are you afraid of?" Then he walked away.

The exploration of that fear was the beginning and the end of my spiritual journey.

Somewhere in all of this occurred the profound discovery that the problem was not pain and discord but the seeker. The very grasping for an answer, for a response, for a solution that relieved me of the burden of feeling, was the problem. Without the grasping of the seeker, there is no solution. Without a solution, the nature of the problem fundamentally changes.

There is no position, ideology, philosophy or religion that responds to the question that life poses us. These systems are designed to give us the  certainty, solidity, and solace of an answer. The question that life brings is is the movement of life itself, intrinsically dynamic, uncertain, and vital.

For those who have the interest, the fact of existence is present all the time. It may be touched in the quiet, without the distortion of belief. In the face of the vastness, the magic, the unknown quality of life, and in a moment of true humility, we may discover the actuality that washes away all our concepts.

This book is an accounting of this interest, and anything found in it should be tested by the reader's direct contact with who he or she is. This contact comes not with the reading of these words but in the silence that occurs after the words, the thoughts, the "me" pass into nothingness.

It may sound like Harrison is anti-thoughts and anti-concepts. In one sense he is. In another sense he isn't. I'll share some passages from a later chapter that points to his fairly subtle view of emptiness (not to be confused with Buddhist emptiness).

Understanding that we cannot escape, we try to change. We try drugs. We try psychotherapy, meditation, yoga, religion. We try to become something that is free from pain. Yet becoming is the source of pain. The pain is the constant motion to reach for something else, something outside of us that will resolve us, but in fact never does.

We become increasingly spiritual, loving, and altruistic. We live like a demon encased in a saint's clothes. Outwardly, we are happily enlightened, or at least moving satisfactorily on the path to actualization. Inwardly, we are in pain.

...Our entire life is lived relative to this pain, and yet we have never fully felt and embraced our pain. If we embrace it we embrace ourselves, we embrace nothing.

It is this fundamental emptiness that has awakened us to our lives. It is not in fact painful. It is empty. This vast space is the gateway of our reality... We are not describing a null state. We are describing a very full and complete universe that is simply absent a viewer.

Yet, in this universe, viewing is taking place. Reality, which is the cognition of thought, is occurring. This happens without a thinker. This is emptiness.

...This emptiness does not negate the reality of thought and the cognition of thought. The world does not disappear in this emptiness, it occurs in this emptiness, and it is transformed by the recognition of this emptiness.

We may say that the world is illusion, but it is the viewer that is an illusion. The illusion is that the viewer is constant and solid. The illusion is that the viewer sees an objective world that exists outside its conditioning.

...The view, without a viewer, arises out of the emptiness. Emptiness is not an abrogation of responsibility in the world. On the contrary, full contact with the world brings full responsibility for the world with it. This is only possible when the notion of a view dissolves.

Our happiness, our well-being, our integration, cannot be separated from the world's, because we cannot be separated from the world.

Comments

[October]

Doing Nothing yet get the things done is essential part of any spiritual practice.More so in meditation.
its very hard to learn "doing nothing" yet doing things all the time.its paradox every individual has to solve on his/her spiritual path.

when i started ,i tried hard doing meditation, but this doing requires 'do nothing ' to succeed.
Repeating the five words is 'doing' of the mind. yet doing this thing make things complicated. when i resigned /surrender to higher power this 'doing' converts into actual doing.They cal it "sahaj" way of meditation.

only after surrendering to "let it do whatever" real spiritual benefits starts coming.

most of sant mat followers fall into this trap of doing simian,bhajan or dhyan. As long as we try to 'do', mind's unsupported layer blocks spiritual progress.

its better to "love" than 'doing'. Love doesn't require doing(Effort).When you Love,you 'Love' without any effort.

its effortless. That's why 'love' is most essential thing in sant mat philosophy.
people spend years in sant mat practice never realizing that doing nothing is the secret to progress on this spiritual path. when we get tired of this doing, only then we realize the full potential of sahaj way of doing things.

doing everything yet doing nothing.

Just close your eyes and see everything at third eye unfold. Repeat the five words and try to catch light/sound while maintaining the Love of Guru all the time.

progress is very fast this way(sahaj way) and one doesn't get bored of this mediation practice.

In a way its related to Free will. As long as we 'will', there is no free will.Underlying Script is not in our control and hence there is no free will. After surrender, we get to see "free will" as part of spiritual "free will" and one becomes part of this whole spiritual cosmos game being played in front of our eyes.

[sant64]

He has a point. When I reflect on the me, I find it's the same as it was when I was 6. The same flavor me, and all the books and gurus and, yes, spiritual experiences didn't change that me.

I think this is why the Dalai Lama is adamant hat enlightenment is impossible without development of bodichitta. the compassionate aspiration to attain enlightenment not just for oneself but for the benefit of all sentient beings. It’s often described as the "mind of awakening" or "heart of enlightenment," combining wisdom and altruism.

For the theistically minded, agape. Love for others. This isn't optional.

Many of us wanted to be like Shiv Dayal or Ramana Maharshi, and find contentment gazing into our 3rd eye navels. It's never going to happen. There has to be love.

[sant64]

Halfway through Douthat's Believe. One of the major cases he makes for institutional religionsis that they offer protection from malign entities. Demons if you will. Clearly Douthat, a Catholic, is referring here to the Catholic church and its emphasis (in some quarters) on demonology as a very real thing.

The takeaway here is that unless one is a Catholic with requisite baptism and a scapular for good measure, the universe is chock full of unseen Pazusus who prey on the dilettante unaffiliated spiritual seeker. Or Mormons. Or the housewife taking a yoga class. No St. Michael the Archangel to defend them.

Having studied this subject of demonic possession a bit, I'm disappointed in Douthat's argument. Evil does exist, but entities taking hold of someone's soul because they aren't in the correct church is the worst argument for becoming a Christian that I know of. Douthat should know that all these stories about demonic possession have fallen apart upon inquiry, such as the one that spawned the Exorcist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorcism_of_Roland_Doe

That aside, there's the broader question of whether membership in a mainstream religion offers a depth of wisdom that one could hardly learn on their own.

Let's take Christianity. Aside from learning basic moral precepts and theology, I don't see what else there is to learn. If one is a Catholic, they can learn the rosary and pray it repeatedly. Perhaps even read the Bible. But there isn't much "technical" knowledge available or even necessary to further one's faith and spiritual development. The Christian does good works, keeps holy the sabbath, and is assured of salvation success if he "continues to the end." To put it a bit cynically, the path of the Christian is to daily reaffirm their belief that a miracle took place 2000 years ago.

By contrast, in Buddhism one finds a more evolved technology of spiritual development. A dissection of the cause of suffering that doesn't involve a snake and an apple, and its remedy, through techniques to effect a change of consciousness. An example of that here: https://escaping-samsara.com/ajahn-achalo-a-generous-talk-with-thai-forest-monk/

[Ron E.]

Harrison: - “...We are in need not of a new ideology but of the intention and the integrity to look directly at the structures of mind already in existence.” This just about sums it up in my opinion. I’d add, that the only thing we might need is a nudge to look into the phenomenon of mind and self; either the nudge could be a person, lines in a book or a life situation.

Harrison underlines the difficulties: - “Understanding that we cannot escape, we try to change. We try drugs. We try psychotherapy, meditation, yoga, religion. We try to become something that is free from pain.” And such escapes can be enormous fun with its association with lovely groups, psychic experiences and so forth, some of which give the feeling of ‘having arrived’.

But it’s all in the grasp of the self, the me or seeker: - “Without the grasping of the seeker, there is no solution. Without a solution, the nature of the problem fundamentally changes.” Of course, when the mind and self are seen as the useful yet basically structures maintained by thought, then their apparent importance can no longer dominate our thinking and actions.

We are maybe afraid of putting the mind/self aside, it feels scary and empty without the master called ‘me’. but as Harrison points out: - “...This emptiness does not negate the reality of thought and the cognition of thought. The world does not disappear in this emptiness, it occurs in this emptiness, and it is transformed by the recognition of this emptiness.”

[Ron E.]

'Doing Nothing' sounds good. Have ordered book to see how he talks about 'this'.

[manjit]

The problem with "doing nothing" as a spiritual path is, it's too much hard work.

The furtive action on this blog and comments section being a case in point.

Nobody has the time to do nothing!

[D]

@Manjit
"Nobody has the time to do nothing!"
Love this line.