Taking Action -- Or Not?
One of the most common questions that comes up in discussion groups is phrased something like “Does ‘just observing’ or ‘just seeing’ mean that I shouldn’t take action, that I should be passive and not do anything?”
Not at all.
What is being suggested is that you live your life, think your thoughts, feel your feelings, take whatever actions you take – but notice as well. Notice what actually happens in your mind, and all the various events and feelings and discomforts that pull you out of being present.
“When you see a truck bearing down on you, by all means jump out of the way. But spend some time in meditation, too. Learning to deal with discomfort is the only way you’ll be ready to handle the truck you didn’t see.”
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English
A common variation on this question is: “How do I know whether the action I want to take is wise – or whether it’s just neurotic and reactive?” The answer to that is: you don’t know. In any given moment or situation, you can only do what seems right. Over time, though, as the practice of seeing clearly naturally brings you more into the present moment, it becomes more and more intuitively obvious to you what is actually called for in a situation – whether it’s action, or patience, or the giving of space, or information-gathering, or something else.
But we will never reach a point where our intuition or wisdom protects us from the messiness and imperfection of being a human. An illustration of this that comes to my mind frequently is the devastating story of Suzuki Roshi, his wife and their houseguest.
To tell the story very briefly, the widely-revered Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi allowed a mentally unstable monk to start living with his family. Suzuki Roshi’s wife confided that she was afraid of the monk. Suzuki Roshi reassured her that though the monk had his problems, he was not dangerous. But – the monk ended up murdering Suzuki Roshi’s wife.
So, we can increase our ability to see things clearly, and thereby more often we can instinctively see what is the most helpful or appropriate response. But no human ever does that perfectly, even a famous Zen master.
Next: Observation Points
