The Effortless Knowing
El Conocer Sin Esfuerzo
This meditation invites you to notice that awareness itself requires no effort, and that suffering eases when you stop pushing against what is already here.
The Effortless Knowing
The Buddha said there is suffering.
That's the first noble truth, the recognition that there is suffering.
And even if a moment in life could have less suffering than others,
it often comes and goes and is assumed to be
a necessary part of life.
It's only necessary as a calling to awaken.
And so, in a sense, you could think of suffering as a friend,
a friendly reminder to look.
Looking directly
And meditation is one way to look directly.
There are infinite ways to come to the root of this suffering.
But the trust in somebody like the Buddha, or other teachers,
is that what has been found is true and real:
the end of suffering.
This is where things get tricky, complex.
We may get lost in the infinite paths of thought,
approaches around healing wounds,
psychological, emotional wounds,
which is important.
At the heart of that is the possibility of seeing
the source of this suffering,
the source of this fundamental dissatisfaction.
The Buddhist term was dukkha, and it translates to dissatisfaction.
Something here, something now, is not okay.
Something is missing, or there is restlessness.
The direct recognition
And non-duality is pointing one way,
not just to the nature of reality,
but also a path to it, the recognition:
that which I thought I am is not real.
And anything now, in this moment,
any sensation of dissatisfaction,
frustration, discomfort, sadness, longing
can be met so fully, so directly, so without effort.
The effort is only in pushing and trying to change what is appearing.
The effort is in trying to control what is happening.
So those sensations, those thoughts, those emotions can appear,
and the effort is unnecessary.
The direct path is total and complete, effortless acceptance.
The body and the knowing
It's not effortless for the body.
The body, the muscles, work and push and run and work.
The emotional body can breathe,
respond with anger if appropriate and necessary.
But what can be recognized right now
is a place with no place, no dimension, no location.
The reality of awareness,
the reality of what we refer to as "I am."
Here there is no effort.
When a bird sings near you, you hear it.
When the bird song comes to awareness,
the sensations of your feet come to awareness.
Is there any effort or doing in this?
There's a discomfort in the back.
Is there any effort in knowing it?
The body may struggle, but the knowing of this is effortless.
Meeting what is real
Now, if there's a deep feeling like sadness or pain or frustration,
if this is what is real right now,
and I decide this should not be,
this sadness that I'm feeling should not be happening,
this grief or discomfort or anger or shame, fear,
I decide it should not be happening,
then the efforting begins.
Instead of being with the reality that is,
and fully allowing, fully accepting,
then navigating this life with that,
navigating a moment with sadness,
journeying with pain,
we want that to not be what is happening.
The efforting begins.
Noticing right now
See if you notice any of this happening for you right now.
Any sense of pushing against some part of your experience,
subtle trying to get somewhere.
Bring attention to your sensations.
What's getting your attention?
Is it thoughts?
Is it emotions?
Is it narrative and time, lost in the future?
It's all on the same level: colors and shapes.
And don't fight with what's getting your attention.
Don't try to direct your attention and try to control it.
Notice it.
Notice why it's pulling, why it's jumping.
Feel into that.