Develop inner peace and clarity - Tilopa's ‘Six words of advice’, the ‘do nothing’ meditation and beingness

 

 Some of us have lives that are very focused on ‘doingness’, on being active and productive, setting and achieving goals, spending our days moving from one job to another, perhaps without ever giving thought to what lies behind all that activity. In this post I’m contrasting this with ‘beingness’, referring to the state of simply existing, without judgment, attachment, or aversion. It is the natural, uncontrived state of awareness that is often obscured by our habitual patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. By cultivating beingness we develop:

• Presence. Being fully present in the moment, without distraction or mental wandering. 
• Acceptance. Accepting things as they are, without judgment or resistance. (BTW, ‘acceptance’ is not the same as ‘putting up with’)
• Non-attachment. Letting go of our attachment to thoughts, emotions, and desires. 
• Non-conceptualisation. Experiencing the world without the filter of our concepts and labels.
• Unity. Recognizing the interconnectedness and oneness of all existence.

As I discovered very early in my career as a psychology lecturer, practitioner and researcher, there is a downside to a life of incessant doing and that downside can include feeling pressured or stressed, anxious, having trouble sleeping, even a loss of a sense of meaning and all the other consequences of what modern life is like for many. If any of this sounds familiar then this blog post is for you, as well as for those who want to deepen their understanding of the mind and also of the core of meditation.

In previous blogs I have described meditations that, although profound in scope and depth, are nevertheless quite active. However, my default meditation has the apparently contradictory name of ‘do nothing’ meditation. To understand how you can get great benefit from this I’m going to link the practice of the do nothing meditation to Tilopa’s ‘Six words of advice’ (also known as the ‘Six Nails of Key Points’ or ‘Tilopa’s Six Words of Advice to Naropa’) (McLeod, n.d.), which are a series of concise and profound meditation instructions given by the Indian Buddhist master Tilopa to his student Naropa. The six words (after translation into English they are actually short phrases) are:

    • Don’t recall
    • Don’t imagine
    • Don’t think
    • Don’t examine
    • Don’t control
    • Rest

And here is how each of Tilopa’s words relates to the quality of beingness:

• Don’t recall. Letting go of the past, we stop dwelling on memories, regrets, or accomplishments. This allows us to release the burden of our past and simply be present in the moment. 
• Don’t imagine. Not fabricating or projecting our desires, fears, or expectations, we no longer create mental constructs that separate us from the present moment. This frees us to simply be, without the influence of our imagination. 
• Don’t think. Not engaging in analytical thinking, we stop labelling, categorising, or conceptualising our experiences. This allows us to experience the world without the filter of our thoughts and simply be present.
• Don’t examine. Not analysing or scrutinising our experiences, we stop trying to understand or control them. This enables us to accept things as they are, without judgment or resistance. 
• Don’t control. Not trying to manipulate or direct our experiences, we stop resisting or trying to change the present moment. This allows us to surrender and simply be, without the need for control. 
• Rest. Finally, by letting go of all these mental and emotional constructs, we can rest in the simplicity of being. This is the state of awareness that is free from the burdens of our thoughts, emotions, and desires.

Now, to make the practice of these points clearer, I want to connect them to the ‘do nothing’ meditation. As the name suggests, the idea is to simply sit and do nothing, without any intention, goal, or expectation. This means:

    • Not trying to achieve a specific state or experience such as awakening (ahem!)
    • Not trying to control thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations
    • Not trying to focus on a specific object or mantra
    • Not trying to analyse or understand anything
    • Simply sitting and being, without any agenda or intention.
 

There is a tiny bit of doing associated with this: Notice when you feel that you’re doing something and let go of it. To give an example, while you are sitting, thoughts will happen. Let them happen! Don’t try to stop them. Don’t try to follow them. Don’t try to do anything to them. Just leave them be. If you notice that you are trying to stop the thoughts then let go of the trying.

When you first try this technique, particularly if you don’t have much meditation experience, maybe sit for 10-15 minutes. As the process becomes easier to get into, you could extend the period of time if you like. Or not...
 

The do nothing meditation is not so much a technique or a method, but is more a way of being. It is a way to cultivate a sense of openness, clarity and freedom from conceptual thinking. It allows us to simply be present with what is, without trying to change or manipulate it. In this way a deeper understanding of the nature of reality and the mind grows.
 

If you want to read more about this then you could try Bastos (2022). The link is below in the Sources section, where you can also find a link to download a copy of Tilopa’s six words of advice, placed by Peña (2013).
To end this post, here are more words by Tilopa:

The mind’s original nature is like space;
It pervades and embraces all things under the sun.
Be still and stay relaxed in genuine ease,
Be quiet and let sound reverberate as an echo,
Keep your mind silent and watch the ending of all worlds.

Sources
 

Bastos, F. (2022). What is “do nothing” meditation? Retrieved from https://mindowl.org/do-nothing-meditation/
McLeod, K. (n.d.). Six Words of Advice. Retrieved from https://unfetteredmind.org/tilopas-advice/
Peña, H. (2013). Tilopa’s six words of advice. Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/doc/177580752/Tilopa-s-Six-Words-of-Advice

Thisdell, R. (2023). How to Meditate: Do Nothing. Accessed 28^th June, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZddQ3fGbsSc

Key words
attention, awakening, being, doing, intention, meditation, mind, Tilopa,
 

Image
A Wet Season sunset at Casuarina in Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia
 

Link
https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2024/06/develop-inner-peace-and-clarity-tilopas.html