Have you ever learned something without trying?

In Taoism, they say that whenever you encounter resistance in something it’s because you aren’t working with its path. You aren’t working with the reality of what it is. When we are trying, are we ever anything other than bored?

Most people give up trying. Which is the start of a horrid spiral, spiritual and psychic death while walking. But they don’t make a mistake by giving up trying.

Sometimes you have to try in order to get started. It’s why we procrastinate. It’s hard to get over that initial inertia. Actually, we procrastinate because we aren’t in a place to do the activity. What many call trying does have some limited value.

You have to move from trying to doing. That is true. They don’t give up enough when they give up trying, because what lead them to trying in the first place?

Maybe “trying” by putting yourself in a state of reception? I offer “willing” as an alternative. Being willing to experience something or engage in something new. This is the actual essence of will. It has nothing to do with trying or struggle, but it does lead to doing. It does lead to effort. Why do people withhold effort?

Fear of failure? Fear of repetition. Hell is repetition. Hell is boredom. Being unable to range in our thought makes us unable to range in our activity, and thus unable to range in our experience.

An old Chinese wood carving depicts heaven and hell. The images contain the same exact symbols. It is the same exact scenario. Each has a bit of a problem. They are hungry and sitting around a dinner table, but their chopsticks are ridiculously long. How would one be heaven and the other hell when they otherwise don’t differ?

One is trying to feed themselves and the others are feeding each other? Yes, and the reason one group handled the problem and the other failed to is simple. Those in the hell scenario all assumed they knew what to do. Just eat the rice. Just try to make it work. Those in heaven were willing to experience whatever they came across, and when they saw the strange sight it was only entertaining. They arrived at the solution quickly and easily, but not because they were any smarter than the other people.

Just more open. Reality itself is open. Have you noticed the physical world rejecting anything you choose to do? It doesn’t. Man wanted to fly. They found the way. Only people make the decision to eliminate choice, and we actually have a biological reason for doing so. The body itself seeks to optimize its use of energy. Do everything in its habit to do with as little energy as possible, and it avoids the foreign and strange because these lead to stress. Even pleasure is stress, but live with no stress and your life will be very short. Again, as the Chinese say, one disease leads to long life, no disease leads to a short life. We need stimulation for our bodies and minds to maintain healthy tone, otherwise we atrophy. The first symptom of this decay is boredom.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~