HERMETIC  - ESOTERIC - MYSTICAL PHILOSOPHIES
 

 
What is Non-dual Action?

A long as there is the sense of oneself as an agent distinct from one's action, that act can only be partial. In other words, when we think that we are the doers, the subject (as an ego, or self) of actions... then whatever we do will be tinted and reality will be masked and distorted by our mental and emotional constructs... In these cases, the fact of thinking that we are the subjects of all our actions and therefore of our mental and emotional patterns imprison us in a world limited by our own creation.... However, when the mental and emotional patterns do not participate in action... or put it differently, when we are not influenced by our past conditioning while doing whatever we are doing.... there is no residue of self-consciousness...we are action... nothing comes in between to spoil the experience... our mind doesn't come to interfere - nor does our past emotional experience... and as a result the observer is no more...there is only an act of experiencing; this is called WU WEI in Chinese: which is a quiet center within that does not change although activity constantly occurs, as in what Chuang Tzu's wrote:  "tranquility in disturbance".,  which is as you might have read elsewhere in this website : The central "pole" of Beingness and Presence....

Take the cases of children playing, artists, scientists, a cook, a gardener, or someone completely involved  and absorbed in doing something... for that person, time and space are non existent...thoughts and feelings disappear... and what remains is only the ACT of doing ...

We all have in the past experienced such moments... take some time to meditate on the meaning of "Non-dual action"  - and you'll be surprised of your insight....

Ask yourself how many times during the day you as an ego find yourself not to be directly involved in what you are doing... just notice that I have written the words:  "You are doing...!" -  so reflect on your experiences and then decide how many times during the day you were the "non-doer"

Try this experience a few times during your daily routine... stop for a moment and remember your meditation on this subject...and reflect on your experiences... take a few notes....

Painting by Helene Nelson Reed

If you want to take this experience a bit further, then take a few moments of meditation and ask yourself the question: "Who or What is PRESENT and ACTS when I am not the doer...  who and what IS behind the mask of my ego...?

To print: NON DUAL ACTION