ACIM-T-18:IV:7:5-6
No Need to Understand; No Need to Do
Why do I keep coming to this page? I struggle to find an answer as to why. Then I struggle as to discover if I am "doing enough" while I am here.
As human beings we have this tendency to "do" whatever we can to make the world a safer more peaceful place for us to inhabit. We also have this need to "understand" everything in a conceptual way. We would like a nice clearly outlined "purpose" for our existence here so we can conceptually make sense of it and work our way to fulfilling it.
If we are asked "What is Life for?" ...We would likely struggle to come with an answer using words, ideas, images...wouldn't we? We would feel discontent and some form of suffering until we could explain it. And in that definition, if we were able to come up with one, we would probably refer to some action we need to do in order for Life to be what it is.
Like The Tao
The great teachings, however, tell us that there is nothing we need to do. Life will be Life with or without our doing. And the truth of our existence will always be the truth whether we understand it or not. Like the Tao...we need do nothing.
The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done. (Tao Te Ching-Chapter 37, Stephen Mitchell's translation...http://taoteching.org.uk/chapter37.html)
Why Make It difficult
We make our experiences more stressful and difficult with this false notion "I should know that! I should understand that!" And," I should do that!"
You make it difficult, because you insist there must be more that you need to do. You find it difficult to accept the idea that you need give so little, to receive so much. ACIM-T-18: IV:1-2
Life Is Always Life
We need to do little and we need to understand little. Our Life...Life in general.... is not something we can understand with our limited minds anyway. We do not need to understand it. Without our ability to name it, label it, define it, judge it ... Life will still be Life. We do not need to strive, reach, succeed, attain and achieve, either, to experience Life. Life just is. It flows through us and we are it.
Three Things We Can Do
If we really feel the need to "do" just to quiet our conceptual addictions we can do the following as proposed by poet Mary Oliver(https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/62038-instructions-for-living-a-life-pay-attention-be-astonished-tell)
Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
When I think of my reason for being here on this page, as well as in Life, I like to believe I am following these wise instructions. I am paying attention to what is happening around me and most importantly in my mind. I am absolutely astonished by it and I come here to tell about it. Maybe I am living a life?
We do not need to try so hard to understand or do that which we falsely believe will ''get us there." We just need to have a little faith and trust in Life while we pay attention to what It is doing; feel amazed by what It is showing us and share our experience of It as it flows through. So simple.
All is well.
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