Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The anti Effort mentality
Without effort on your part. Thus Roy Masters extols the virtues of non effort in his meditation exercise. Effort implies will,ego and that is bad! What human achievement,what great invention was ever accomplished without effort? Consider the lilies of the field..take no thought for the morrow. Yes the bums on skid row follow that injunction.
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I think that you misconstrue the "without effort" attitude. Yes, egotistical effort and will are disparaged, e.g., "Let go, and let God". Matthew 6:28+/- is clearly describing an ego-less attitude toward being, letting life unfold rather than obsessing over particular outcomes, especially those beyond one's control. Many people succeed by following their interests, albeit many more fail, arguably because they pursue flawed interests, or pursue them improperly. The quote (attributed to Mark Twain): "Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life" expresses a similar sentiment. The assumption is that one is not enervated or blinded by anger and can find a valuable pursuit, capable of being monetized. Skid row bums likely first need help to recover from negative emotions that sap them of sense and energy. That is RM's mission, i.e., to offer means to reform self-destructive behavior. When people are frustrated because their will fails, then they might benefit by a less willful attitude. Just as prospects rebel against desperate salesmen, who obviously prioritize their selfish interests over the interests of their prospects, people who stink of selfish will (egotism) are prone to fail more generally in their interpersonal relationships. I construe "without effort" as absent an excessively selfish motivation. By considering others, one extends oneself reasonable consideration, and that moderates demands, e.g., for a reasonable return on one's investment of value in exchange for money.
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