Lazy People Have A Chance To Evolve Spiritually

Many associate Tantra and the tantric system with ‘letting go’ or ‘go with the flow’. It is true the tantric system is pointing towards total freedom, but it is the inner freedom that can bring the outer freedom, and not the other way around.

Knowing and practicing tantric methods one discovers gradually that it implies strong inner discipline, as outer freedom without inner discipline just suppresses the soul, enchaining it more and more.

For knowers, the tantric spiritual system is famous for its high standards of discipline and severe observance of divine principles. It is even called the Supreme Ascetic Path. Having both the fame of a total freedom – wrongly understood as no need for practice – and of a very difficult path, Tantra is the only spiritual system that is bringing the most-wanted wish to fulfillment: obtaining results effortlessly.

Effortless results – is it possible?

We always associate results with efforts. Obtaining results with no efforts seems infringing the divine laws of this universe. And it is true. Nothing can be obtained without doing anything (in the right direction). And we know that; life is teaching us this lesson every day. But Tantra looks at this truth from another angle – it teaches us to do the wise efforts in an effortless way.

In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna reveals that we are never inactive – even when we are apparently doing nothing, we are still acting. Looking at this immutable truth from the tantric perspective, we discover we could inverse these two: the usual activity with inactivity and the usual inactivity with intense, conscious activity.

Exploring the ‘effortless results’ paradox reveals priceless lessons regarding efforts and results in life, hidden sources of tensions and individual or global energy crisis.

Subtle and unsuspected, the tantric solution to the modern life’s problems implies the elevation of the viewpoint, which is attainable through systematic learning of the special tantric attitude of open attention. From such endeavor of learning open attention we access directly our hidden energy resources, we get into the most intimate touch with life and thus we truly live in the heart of life.

Effortless results versus laziness

When lucidly looking into the core ideas according to which lazy people conduct their lives, we realize that most of their actions reveal some simple life principle that gravitate around the idea of getting maximum profit out of minimum or, if possible, zero efforts. Our very education impregnated into the deep layers of our subconscious that “there is no gain without pain” and that all those who won’t practice, will become lazy; an even deeper conditioning that comes together with the previous one is that tiredness is a sign of effort. Therefore one has to get really tired in order to obtain

important results.

Tiredness has very little to do with efforts

In spite of these generally accepted ideas, scientific researchers have already proved that tiredness has very little to do with efforts. The question arises if there is any point in pushing forth our destinies through individual efforts.

A satisfactory answer comes from an utterly unique spiritual path, the ancient tantric spirituality. Here, the vision upon effortless results goes way beyond prejudices: Shiva (the consciousness) contemplates the ideal manifestation of the universe and Shiva’s beloved Shakti (representing the energy) fulfills with adoration Shiva’s desire. In this fascinating universal game between consciousness and energy evoked by the Tantra-s, Shiva plays the role of effortless witness of the entire universal manifestation. Starting from this ancient tantric cosmogony model we comprehend from a different perspective lazy people’s desire for obtaining results without efforts, as a reflection – at a lower level – of an elevated divine attitude: Shiva’s effortless witness attitude.

This attitude becomes exemplary for the tantric practitioner who thus aims to become the effortless witness of everything that happens in his life.

Effortless efforts belongs to a superior attitude

The paradoxical nature of the idea of effortless results is revealed through the straightforward, active and lucid actions of the tantric practitioners, ‘laziness’ being the last denominator possible to ever be mentioned in their case. On the contrary, tantric practitioners will use the very energy of laziness, if this still exists inside their being, and will alchemize it – just as any other energy – into a superior form of energy, as for instance into aspiration to spiritual perfection or into states of effortless witness, as exemplified by Shiva. As for being and remaining an active witness one needs a lot of attention and self-control. Thus, if laziness in itself is not useful, the desire to do effortless efforts (which lead to very efficient results) belongs to a superior attitude. In the ancient times they used to say that when Kali Yuga arrives, the time of decadence, the of spiritual confusion and of laziness from spiritual perspective, the tantric attitude towards effortless effort will become an efficient solution.

Resistance is the root of tensions and stress

Physics have already accurately demonstrated that human life is just pulsation of universal life. Yet, it is difficult to find contexts of stillness in our lives because even travelling in a bus or train for many hours implies very fine muscular movements and energy consumption. However, at a lucid zooming-in on such energy consuming micro-events we can notice how the energy is actually consumed by our oppositions to the flow of movements. This type of subtle, deeply rooted attitude of opposing, showing resistance in front of the unstoppable flow of life’s energies, lies at the very root of our tensed and stress-based society; there is a heavy price to pay for this attitude that we nowadays have towards energy. When constantly maintained, the ultimate consequence of this unconscious uncooperative attitude is far more severe than just cumulated tensions and stress: the very loss of the right direction in life, which implies later on very expensive ‘route’ recalculations.

Small every-day tensions are able to drive us away from our real path in life

The unsuspected consequence of this energy consuming and tensed attitude resides in tiredness at the end of the day or of a life cycle; we thus frequently forget the destination of our life, the true direction. Then, after taking another path than the one we were supposed to go, it takes even more effort to get back to the natural path where energies are harmoniously flowing.

Individual energy-bankruptcy is reflecting in the global energy and financial-bankruptcy

Our society is teaching us that in order to obtain something we must pay with a bigger amount; and then again, in order to get that bigger amount we have to pay with an even bigger amount, in order to get it. Through everything we see today we learn that acquiring things, energy or power is a never ending story.
The similarity of this ‘teaching’ with the present-day financial system is astounding: we borrow money from the bank and in order to pay it back we have to give back an extra plus, thus enter the same type of never ending chain-story. It’s not by coincidence that our financial system is reflecting our way of thinking, because the same bankruptcy that we experience at individual level is the same as the one we find on global level.

It is no coincidence that today we are facing an energy crisis together with a financial crisis – and this in an energy based universe. Science has already proven scientifically that the whole universe is energy, yet we complain of not having energy.

Tantra is saying something else: the more you push, the less you obtain

When relating to ruling and controlling life and its possibilities or energies, one should not be surprised that among all misunderstandings, the one considering that ‘the bigger the effort the greater the results’ is one of the most erroneous. Most of the time we think that failure appears because of not ‘pushing’ strong enough, of not investing enough efforts. Yet the fair and sharp vision of the tantric system shows exactly the opposite: the more we push and the more we tense into effortful attitudes, the less results we obtain.

Whatever we aim for in life, it is not the effort in itself that brings it to us

Nevertheless, deeply trusting and following the mythical example of Shiva’s detached state of active witness, tantric practitioners have discovered that life’s issues will not be solved or improve by resorting to efforts and more efforts. On the contrary, whatever we aim for in life, it is not the effort in itself that takes us further, but two other long-forgotten ingredients.

The first one is the awareness upon life’s true and deep goal; sometimes it might appear as constant practice of remembrance of the essential spiritual reality.

The second one is the way we formulate our requests to the universe, towards its Supreme Designer, which should be as clear as possible. Then, all the rest of the efforts we might try to do are useless, energy-consuming acts: efforts that weaken us and disconnect us from the divine game between Shiva (consciousness) and Shakti (energy), which is a separation from the intimate heart of universal life.

Best way to put into motion our energy resources – the open attention

Frequently in tantric treatises we find references to the state of witness obtained by a particular approach of attention. This very simple, yet surprisingly profound solution, famous yet unknown, is offering the key to effortless results: the open attention. The specificity of open attention resides in the fact that it is attention oriented towards itself and towards its source. This type of attention is impersonal, free of attachment, oriented towards the witness consciousness and it never loses itself in the observed or contemplated object. This type of attention is the precise opposite of the consumerist ‘knowing’, unconsciously practiced by many; when we ‘unconsciously know’, we easily get caught in the illusion that we are the doer and that, due to our efforts, things are moving forward.

The impression that we are the ones pushing the things forward is an illusion

Open attention is obtained when we are not attentive to something particular, but when we are just attentive: when we orient our attention without trying to know. Thus we manage to know the things as they are while keeping the attention oriented towards its source. Relating to life constantly applying the open attention attitude obtain tremendous benefits, not only because we start seeing the highest sense of the game of life, but we easily obtain the much desired holy of holies of lazy people: effortless efficiency and results with minimum or zero effort investments. Open attention increases the sharpness of attention and enables us to be intimately in contact with life’s energies, states, resources, possibilities.

What is open attention?

To build up an open attention we need to learn to include the energies and the states that are awakened by an action, while simultaneously being aware of our own reactions and states in that given moment.
Even it might seem simplistic, the practice of open attention is fully releasing our individual energetic potentialities and represents a wise solution to energetic crises. Certainly, the well-established limiting and labeling tendency of the mind would immediately pop up and show us, either that there are too many limits, or that we must act within those limits. Taming the mind and its mechanisms is the key towards open attention. So, by successfully applying the open attention, the only ‘effort’ we need to do on this paradoxical path is not to make further efforts.

How to apply it?

When traveling in a bus, cease opposing each micro movement that your body is making against the movements of the vehicle. Detachedly observe with open attention that you can ‘flow’ with the bus, attentively controlling the unconscious tendency to oppose the movements of the body, thus resisting in the same position; stop consuming energy with opposing against the road. Stop opposing against the road of your life, and enjoy the ride in a conscious way.
We almost permanently try to oppose and react to the action that Shakti, the Supreme Energy is setting into motion under the impulses of the consciousness (Shiva). This is the paradoxical situation in which lazy people are: we want to do nothing but at the same time we consume a great deal of effort in opposing that which is not our business anyway. That’s the reason why in fact being lazy is extremely paradoxical. Because most of the people want to do nothing and they spend a lot of effort by trying that: doing nothing, which is much more expensive than just accepting the things as they are and, by our big surprise, things are anyway done, so it implies zero effort from us.

What for?

Especially on a background of spiritual aspiration and openness towards superior realities, the practice of open attention has miraculous effects of reconnecting us to the true source of reality, regaining the intimacy with life. The detached attitude of open attention is bringing us back the relaxing, joyful freedom of finding our true place in the universe; it can teach us how to ultimately allow the heart to freely manifest. And at that point or at that level the sensation dissolves into the spring of life that we really are; the real life that animates our being. In this way we can say that we regained our life.

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