The Effortless Way and Activism

The concepts of effortlessness and activism might seem contradictory at first glance. If they do, look deeper. When we talk about the “effortless” way, we aren’t talking about not doing anything. When we talk about not “doing” anything, we aren’t talking about inaction. Effortlessness does not mean inaction. Effortlessness means without effort. By “effort” we mean struggling or contesting. When you are trying to move some stubborn piece of furniture by grunting, cussing, and sweating, you are struggling and making an effort to do something. When you are able to just move the furniture without fighting with it and yourself, you are acting in an effortless way.

 
When it comes to activism, it seems that the very idea from the start is one of contest and of struggle. It doesn’t have to be. The effortless way is one of inner peace, not necessarily outer peace. Effortlessness finds us when we just do something. When something is in us and finds unadulterated expression in the world, we are effortless. The effort we don’t want is an internal effort of struggle that happens when we are divided inside. When we are not divided, we can just be what we are. That is the foundation of Yiquan. Being what you are just happens. You don’t have to grapple with it or struggle in any way; you just do it. Activism is usually carried out by people wanting to change something. That fact is irrelevant to the question of effortlessness. What is relevant is the motivation to take action. Are you doing it because you are swept up in propaganda for some particular cause, or are you doing it naturally because it is in you to do so? We don’t have to look far for examples of the former. I know plenty of otherwise intelligent people who got all caught up in Obama’s candidacy. They thought things were going to change. Why did they think that? They thought that because the guy needing their support said it. And here we are with Obama not only continuing Bush’s regime, but expanding unconstitutional federal power; we are worse off in every way. The shine wears off and people start to realize what they have done. People can polish anything to get you to buy it. Living the effortless way is a natural defense against this. Effortlessness means just being what you are. It allows you to see behind the masks that people wear. It allows you accept the truth of our reality in real time. What some dude on tv has to say is utterly irrelevant. All that matters is what is in you, what is natural, and what comes first.

 
Being effortless doesn’t mean sticking your head in the sand. It implies quite the opposite. Those of us believing in the bullshit of others are the ones with their heads in the sand. Being effortless means acknowledging the natural order of our being. We feel our own Qi first. We know intuitively what action to take. When we listen to that, we can seek out the proper information, people, events, etc., that resonate with that inner knowing. We still learn and pay attention to other people, of course. But what comes first and foremost is our intuition.

 
Your intuition may very well lead you to take some sort of action. That action might not be peaceful. It might be difficult, angry, or even violent. There are no rules to this, you are what you are – be that. If you put rules on it and say, “oh, I can’t be violent” then you aren’t being what you are, you’re being what you think about what you are. If you say that going to the capital and bullhorning someone is not very Zenlike, I’d say ok. I’m not trying to be Zenlike. If I were, I wouldn’t be very Zenlike! The point is to be yourself, not some ideal.
If you wake up and must take an action, take it. Don’t divide yourself. Just be.