doing versus not-doing

Meditation
1

Someone wrote to Nina Van gorkom:
dsg

But now i’ve notice that to do nothing is much more beneficial than
doing anything on account having more understanding or more sati.
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Nina: First of all we have to find out whether even doing nothing is not
motivated by a self. It is not a question of doing something or doing
nothing. It is understanding that is important. There are many levels
of understanding and it grows by listening and considering on and on.
It never is enough. We read in the suttas about seeing, hearing etc.
which are impermanent. To begin with we really have to understand
what seeing is, before the impermanence can be realized when stages
of insight have been reached.
Seeing sees colour, not a person. It seems that we see persons and things all day long. It should be known that that is thinking, not seeing. But we should not try to know
seeing, that is “me” trying again. No need to worry about that, it
can be realized more and more when the idea of self comes in. It is
conditioned, we have accumulated this idea for so long. The
sotaapanna can eradicate it. Before hearing the Buddha’s teachings we
did not know about this at all, but now we can learn and begin to
understand. This is most valuable. We should be grateful.

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Conventionally we say “I sit, I walk, I study, I do nothing”, but at the level of paramattha dhammas there is seeing, hearing, thinking, intention, effort, attachment, doubt, confidence, sati, paññā — arising and falling away by conditions. So even when one is conventionally doing nothing, the khandhas are arising and ceasing.

I will do something to get sati is obviously suspect but I will do nothing, because doing nothing is better is still a subtle self.

The Ogha sutta is useful here. The Buddha crossed the flood “without pushing forward, without staying in place”. Appatiṭṭhaṃ … anāyūhaṃ ogham atarin. When he stayed still (santiṭṭhāmi) he sank. When he pushed forward (āyūhāmi) he was swept away.

So not doing can be dullness, laziness, or conceit (i understand anatta, so there is nothing to do). And ‘doing something’ one can be swept away looking for result.

Trying to manufacture sati and insight: sometimes these can be very subtle. They need to be seen.

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