The Path of Presence by Synthia Andrews

Author:Synthia Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Challenge: Forced Action

Do you know the feeling of working as hard as you can and getting nowhere? Conversely, have you felt the enjoyment of having your work fall into place to produce effortless result? The biggest challenge to Aligning is using so much force or will power to get where you want that you override the subtle timing and flow of events. Overcoming the use of force engages a concept called wei-wu-wei: the art of not doing, also known as wu-wei, the practice of non-action. To the Western mindset, this is a foreign concept.

In a world obsessed with action, wei-wu-wei offers the opportunity to simply be. Whereas movement is necessary and unavoidable, action frequently is neither. Action has the tendency to push opportunity prematurely and waste energy; non-action conserves energy by moving into opportunity through Aligning. Wei-wu-wei does not mean you are never to take action; it means the action you take is so perfectly placed that it uses the least amount of effort for the greatest result. It means moving away from engaging your will power to engaging your felt-perceptions of the current and timing of events.

Wei-wu-wei frees the need for endless activity. In fact, wei-wu-wei implies that the amount of activity you undertake may be getting in the way of accomplishing your goals or interfering with achieving your goals with ease. The idea that you can do less and achieve more, however, may stir up enormous doubt. How can things happen if you aren’t busy doing what’s necessary? What if you miss the next rung of the ladder, or worse, what if you fail and fall off the ladder altogether?

Well, if you want to, you can get back on. Or you might look around and find there is more to life than the ladder of success. You might find that the concept of achievement needs revisioning. Are you alive on this planet, at this time, to experience or to do? Wei-wu-wei helps you do what your heart compels, rather than getting lost in doing all that you feel obligated to, based on expectations, greed, and fear.

To find the flow of opportunity, observe events alongside what you feel. You may be saying, “Oh great, another thing to pay attention to” and are experiencing overwhelm. Actually, this is the same paying attention that is part of each one of the Pillars: Pay attention to events alongside what you feel and let your felt-perceptions guide you. This process is difficult only because of conditioning that suppresses the subtlety of feelings.

The Pillar of Aligning shifts you out of endless running after situations and objects that you think will make you happy, only to find that when you achieve them, you are no happier than you were before. Aligning awakens you to deeper senses. You don’t have to learn a new skill or develop a new ability; you already have the senses you need, and you are already using them. Now become conscious of using them by paying attention to what you feel and using the information to guide your choices.

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