The Art of being Lazy -

 

  Contrary to popular believe,  being lazy is no easy matter and it takes a great deal of practice to accomplish a good handle on being lazy especially without the guilt if not shame emotions that it generates. There is no positive quotes about being lazy if you search the Internet, it seems like everyone, every religious practice every warns you not to be lazy as it is born out of pure ignorance. In life it seems one just have to keep being busy, being productive being motivated and living the day full of activities, however what if there is in really no one that needs to be an existential workaholic? What if one has realized that there is really no doer as in the Advaita  or non dualistic view of life is being practiced? I believe in the fact one has to fully understand the art of the Taoist Wu Wei or in active action or being effortless  in every action one performs.

There is Zen saying, "Eat when you are hungry, sleep when you are sleepy and sit and watch the grass grow." man is an automaton, a self driving entity that is constantly looking for the next thing to be done one after another otherwise he feels useless, he just needs to keep being busy as though it is a justification for his existence and not doing anything is a poor excuse for being a man, hence man has his business. In the Zen Buddhist tradition sitting meditation is the primary practice and the more one sits the better it is for self development and to the lay man this seems like the epitome of being lazy, wasting time sitting on the cushion and just staring at the wall all day long. Bodhidharma the Zen master who brought Buddhism to China is said to have sat for nine years in a cave waiting for someone to transmit his teachings to. Perhaps it was just a myth most of it, however it was a recorded event in the history of Zen Buddhism in how it all began for the transmission of Buddhism into the Chinese culture. It is left to our imagination of how it must have been for an Indian Yogi to appear and reside in a remote area in China an was able to convert the inhabitants into the understanding of the teachings of the Buddha which was in Sanskrit and later translated to Chinese. 

By the time Zen Buddhism got into the Japanese culture it took on a more serious identity and Zen upon encountering Shintoism the animistic practice of the Japanese people the marriage became a portent combination of meditation and the respect if not worship of Nature. The Japanese penchant for gardening and landscaping became a strong form of meditation and this led to a practice of  work in general as form of meditation where nothing is too small or too insignificant albeit in farming or fishing, carpentries or the art sword making. There is a ritual to every act from caring for tools and equipment to the manner of presentation of the finished product; all done with complete sense of awareness and that is to present the best of a man's endeavor. It is also to achieve these in the most effortless way as possible so much so that everything becomes a spontaneous act of creation. Strolling in a Japanese Tea garden of a Zen Buddhist temple complex one is easily moved to the awesomeness of the presence of silence and serenity that slows down one's  own busy mind. Tis is precisely the aim of the Tea Ceremony or Cha No Yu and the the Samurai warriors of feudal Japan would ask for a tea ceremony be performed for himself before he sets out to face his opponent so as to calm his inner being or his soul. This meditation in action  especially in the face of an impending death in battle.

What has all these got to do with being lazy? I am still figuring it all out really, connecting the dots making sense out of non-sense so to speak, so bear with me. The essence of this Art of being lazy is to keep everything at a minimal, no hurry, no force for sure and no aim at any accomplishment  to be achieved. Drop all that narratives of being a high achiever or making it big or being at the top of the heap and all that non-sense; the essence of being lazy is to be free from all attachments to be empty of being itself.  No wants, no desires and no needs, just aimlessly drifting from here to there while waiting for the lights to finally be switched off, the end of days to be ushered in and the big splash fills the skies, yes, to be lazy is like sitting and facing the wall and do nothing, wish for nothing and hope for nothing.

Eat when you are hungry and sleep when you are sleepy, Sit and watch the grass grow.