Tim's "doing nothing" meditation

Since I wrote about Tim's favorite "doing nothing" meditation yesterday, I asked Tim to describe his meditation technique so I could share it with you.

This is what Tim wrote:

“I sit down in a comfortable position (you can also do this lying down, but be warned that it’s very easy to fall asleep when doing this!). The particular position doesn’t matter, I just try to be as comfortable as I can. I have found that it is very important that I keep my eyes open. If my eyes are closed it is very easy to get lost in thoughts and stories, but not so much if my eyes are open. So keeping my eyes open is very important.

Once I am sitting comfortably, I quite simply “do nothing”. Now, what do I mean by “doing nothing”. I start my “doing nothing” session by telling myself that for the next 15 minutes, half hour, two hours, or however long I am going to “do nothing”… I don’t have to do anything – in other words, no physical activity at all, apart from maybe shifting my position once in a while if it gets too uncomfortable… I don’t have to say anything… and, most importantly, I don’t have to think about anything in particular. Now what do I mean by not thinking about anything in particular? Of course – as you will immediately notice! – thoughts and stories arise and disappear constantly, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about that. That is the nature of mind. Just as “doing nothing” is not about trying to get to a point where your physical body no longer breathes or digests (as if such a thing were even possible), so “doing nothing” is not about getting to a point where thoughts no longer arise and disappear. If a million thoughts pass by your mind a minute – good. If very few thoughts pass by your mind a minute – equally good. The point is that I don’t engage in any of them, attach to any of them, resist any of them, try to keep any of them. I just notice them arising and disappearing. Another important point is that I don’t mentally engage in any kind of meditation, mental exercise, visualization or anything of that kind. In other words, I don’t try to focus on my breathing, a mantra or anything of that sort. I simply do nothing.

One of the very first things that I notice when “doing” (or rather “not doing”) this, is how hard it is for my mind to do nothing. Thoughts constantly arise and disappear, and very often I notice that now I am lost in one of them, unconsciously following a train of thought. The moment I notice that I am following a train of thought, I immediately stop and resume watching. And again. And again. And again. A thousand times again. Often I find that my mind is fighting very violently against doing nothing. Almost every time I do this I notice that some of the most insistent thoughts are thoughts like: “I am wasting my time.” (why?) Because “I need to do something.” Why? Because “This is not good enough.” “I need something.” And these thoughts, I have noticed over time, are the root thoughts of all suffering. The root thought of all suffering is the belief that reality, what is in this very moment, is not good enough, and that I would be happier if reality were different than it is. This leads to the belief that “I need to do something” or “change what is” (attachment and aversion). And with these two twin beliefs arises an entire world of suffering. No wonder that my habitual thinking recoils in horror at the prospect of “doing nothing” for a while!!!

The most paradoxical thing I have noticed about “doing nothing” is of course that my motivation for doing nothing still is to achieve something. In other words, that doing nothing will somehow improve my experience, make my mind clearer, and make me happier, more peaceful and blissful. And while on one level, one can’t deny the fact that this is indeed one’s motivation for doing nothing, I have also noticed that this motivation is in itself the opposite of “doing nothing”! But just noticing this paradox often makes me laugh out loud, because I see the utter absurdity of my own thinking! But however I look at it, the fact remains that the one and only reason why I find it so difficult to “do nothing” is the belief that this moment is not good enough as it is. The mother of all suffering. But is it true? Who would you be without the thought that this moment is not good enough as it is?”