Laziness: an insult or a practice?
Dear Friends,
Since I'm on vacation this week, I thought we might consider the benefits of being lazy. This is a photo of Lake Michigan where we have are being very lazy.
In my household growing up, being lazy was an insult. If we kids were ever caught playing or reading when there was work to be done, we were called a "lazy bum" and immediately put to work.
On my first retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, I learned about the "lazy day". During each week of each retreat I've ever been on, there has been one day set aside as a lazy day. On lazy days we don't have a schedule and we do whatever brings us joy. It sounds good, but it can be challenging for me!
I often feel some tension in my body when I'm not doing something or attending to something. In addition to Fear of Missing out (FOMO) I think I also have Fear of Not Doing Something (FONDS). So being on vacation is good practice for me.
For me, FONDS is driven by the misperception that I am separate from others and that if I don't hurry up and do something, things will fall apart. I know in my mind that this isn't true, but something in me believes that. So I need to practice stepping back from do-ing in order to remind myself that I am not a separate being at the center of the universe. We are all in this together. Practicing this way reduces my levels of fear and allows me to be more present to this moment and to my beloved ones.
Like everything else, doing and non-doing are non-binary, so there is a continuum. Our practice is to be able to exist happily in the present moment whether we are working, playing, resting, or whatever. If we are always running after our projects, we miss the world that is right in front of us.
Retreats can help us find this balance. From the time of the Buddha up until today, there is a 3-month Rains Retreat when Buddhist monastics stay in one place and practice together. The rest of the year may be spent teaching and traveling, but this period is a time apart from that.
If we look at Thich Nhat Hanh's life, he was hardly what we would call "lazy!" I interpret his words about laziness as a reminder that our practice requires time spent being lazy, even in the midst of a life filled with activity. We may practice pausing for a breath, a lazy day, a retreat, or a vacation.
"The basic condition for us to be able to hear the call of beauty and respond to it is silence. If we don't have silence in ourselves—if our mind, our body are full of noise—then we can’t hear beauty’s call.” -- Thich Nhat Hanh, Quiet.
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” -- Thich Nhat Hanh
I'm off to continue being lazy.
with love,
annie.