Doing Nothing

In your extremely busy life you seldom leave yourself the time to do nothing. Doing nothing does not mean to sit around and talk on the phone, explore the web, or lunch with friends -- it means to sit back and allow yourself the luxury of an empty space.

Think of it as a pause in music, which is an important part of the composition. Without pauses, the notes would be indistinguishable.

Nothing means "no thing;" do no thing. Look at your life and consider adjustments and corrections. The goal of some meditation is nothingness--a level without emptiness or loneliness -- a level of utter happiness transcending ego. Buddha described this nothingness as overflowing compassion.

When you consciously stop seeing and thinking, you often begin to see things as they are. You are freed from old prejudices and previously programmed conclusions, and allow the space for new insights to manifest. In this state of no thing and no thought, you can see.

My favorite way of doing nothing is actually doing something -- exercise. I like Buddhist Walking Meditation -- to walk slowly, hands behind your back, head down, thinking of no-thing. I feel very lucky to be able to do this at the beach, where I walk for miles, ideally at low tide. The breaking waves are hypnotic, and when ideas or awareness comes in, I tell myself to remember, then brush the thoughts aside and return to no-thing.

But you don't need a beach. When I lived in Scottsdale, Arizona, I did walking meditation in the park or out in the desert. Once, while deep in meditation, I almost stepped on a rattlesnake in the desert. After this experience, I decided it was best to do no-thing in the park.