Doing Nothing Is Also ActionRead

Sometimes it seems that putting work aside will end all our difficulties. Yet the body continues to function, the mind continues to think, and our decisions continue to affect others. In the third part, Krishna examines this condition. The question is where our activity is taking us, and how much discernment, insistence and dedication it contains.

The Natural Movement of Life

Action is a natural human tendency. A human being is a living, social person. The mind, senses and intellect associated with the body are doing something at every moment. Breathing, thinking, seeing and hearing are also forms of activity. Human nature has three qualities. The first is sattva: maintaining purity, gaining knowledge and illuminating oneself. The second is rajas: being active, having desires and possessing energy or strength. The third is tamas, which includes laziness, ignorance and inertia. These three qualities impel people to act, even when they do not wish to.

The word avash means that a person is compelled to act. Someone may think, “I will do nothing,” but still acts in one way or another. A person may believe that by renouncing home and sitting in a forest they have become inactive. That is an illusion, because thoughts continue to move through the mind and desires continue to arise. These too are subtle forms of action.

One point deserves attention: desires can become like termites that eat away at the soul. Desire is as natural to human life as breathing. But when desires cross their limits, they gradually hollow a person out, as termites eat wood from within while its surface still appears sound. In the same way, a person may look successful, happy or prosperous while restlessness grows inside. A small desire arises at first, and the wish to fulfil it prompts hard work. Once its satisfaction is tasted, however, the mind produces another desire, then a third and a fourth. The sequence seems endless. As a result, a person never feels content and always thinks that something is missing or remains to be obtained. This discontent consumes inner peace. As termites reduce wood to powder, unchecked desires fill the mind with anxiety, fear and craving.

Desires pull us away from the present and keep pushing us towards the future: “When I get this, I will be happy.” But as soon as one wish is fulfilled, another arises and the cycle resumes. Gradually a person becomes occupied with fulfilling desires and forgets to ask what the soul actually needs for nourishment: peace, love, truth and a connection with God, or the fulfilment of every wish. Lord Krishna also says that desires give rise to anger and greed, which lead towards destruction. The termite of desire harms relationships as well as the inner life. When a person sees only their own wants, they can no longer notice the feelings and affection of others. Emptiness, loneliness and exhaustion can follow, as though something within has been lost despite gaining everything outside. A family may then approach a breaking point.

Desire and the Present Moment

The soul's radiance and joy can flourish when a person recognises unnecessary desires and steps back from them. This does not mean having no wishes or goals in life. It means that desires should not become our masters; we should remain their masters. Needs should be met, but craving has no natural end. When someone understands that external objects provide only temporary pleasure and that deeper contentment comes through self-knowledge, they can free themselves from termite-like desires and experience the soul's strength and peace. Thought and desire are separated by a very small distance. Thought is a seed; desire is the vine that grows from it. When we become entangled in desires born of thought, those desires begin to consume our inner life.

Thinking is a natural activity of the mind. Thoughts may turn to the past, the future or imagination. Thinking presents options, reasons, understanding and plans. It may be positive or negative. It continues even without our conscious wish, like clouds moving across the sky. Desire arises from thought. It adds the insistence, “I want this.” Thought has an intellectual existence, while desire carries an emotional demand. Thought says, “This is good.” Desire immediately adds, “I must have it.” The difference matters. Thought is an idea; desire is an attraction. Thought gives us information through the senses, while desire begins to pull us towards an object. Thought may be reasoned, while desire is emotionally charged. We should therefore cultivate thought without allowing every thought to become a desire.

Someone who sits still and believes that they are performing no action is mistaken. Breathing is a bodily action. Thinking is a mental action. Remembering the past or planning for the future is an intellectual action. A person living in a body is therefore never entirely inactive. Even during sleep, breathing continues as bodily activity.

Recognise the Direction of Your Actions

The appearance of inactivity is therefore deceptive. Action is part of human nature. The better path is to perform each action without craving its reward and to dedicate it to God. Some believe that merely refusing to act can bring liberation, but human beings cannot avoid action. Action is not only physical: it can also be mental, verbal, or related to intention and imagination.

Human nature itself is active. Even when someone says they are doing nothing, thinking, seeing, breathing and desiring continue. The belief that one can be an akarmakrit, a person who performs no action, is an illusion. Some equate the absence of action with liberation, but that understanding is mistaken.

The expression prakritijaih gunaih karyate points to the activity of nature's qualities. A person may not even recognise what is impelling them to act, yet nature continues its work. Influenced by these qualities, one acts even unwillingly. Someone may say, “I will renounce everything, go to a forest and do nothing.” Even there the body must function, the mind will think and emotions will arise. All of this is action. We cannot escape action. Its path is the natural path of life. Instead of abandoning action, we should practise it with yoga.

A river cannot stop flowing, whether it begins in the Himalayas or at a small spring. Likewise, human nature continues to impel us to act. If someone sits on a stone and declares, “I will do nothing now,” their lungs still work and breathing continues. The mind thinks; that is mental action. Memory remains active; that is subtle action. Blood continues to circulate through the body as natural biological activity. Action cannot simply be stopped. Yoga is not an escape from action. It is doing what needs to be done with understanding, discernment and dedication, without clinging to the reward.

A Small Practice for Giving Action Direction

Look at your day. Which tasks took your time, and where did your mind wander? Did you do something merely to stay busy, or did it serve a useful purpose? Use these questions to clarify your direction rather than to find fault with yourself. Choose one necessary task and give it your full attention. The task may be small, but your intention should be clear. Turning constant movement into conscious action is the practical lesson of this explanation. A step taken with a sense of responsibility gives life meaning.