Read time 2 minutes. Not-Doing in Action is the final installment of our Addition Through Subtraction series.
As we close out this exploration of not-doing, we arrive at a core understanding—one that’s easy to miss, yet quietly central. There’s a subtle action on a higher level that creates inaction below. A simple shift in attention. A redirection. A letting go before the clench.
Let’s return to a familiar analogy.
Imagine making a fist. That’s a doing. That’s tension. And while it seems physical, the command that causes it is subtle—so subtle we rarely notice it. But when that signal isn’t sent? The hand stays open. No doing required.
This is the foundation of Zen’s not-doing. Not a dramatic rejection. Just no clenched signal.
Redirecting attention before the reflex
Each of us has certain tendencies. Patterns. We say: I’m a people-pleaser. I’m short-tempered. These reflexes feel inevitable, as if they define us.
But they don’t.
Zen offers a different route. Before the tendency takes over, we can pause. Just enough to notice. Not to change. Not to suppress. Just to notice.
And in that moment, we might feel something: tension. A tightness beneath the reflex. A pressure urging action.
That’s the signal. That’s the clench forming.
Usually, we miss it—because our focus is out there: the situation, the problem, the storyline. But if we shift our attention inward, toward that subtle tension itself, something powerful happens:
It releases.
No drama or control. Just the quiet undoing of a doing that never had to happen.
The inner glance begins here
This is the practice. One I return to again and again. And while it may seem small, the impact is deep. That said, it’s subtle. It takes time. We’re not trying to push away or fix anything—we’re just shifting, slightly.
If this feels slippery, good. It should. But stay with me. In upcoming pieces, we’ll break this open. Slowly. Deliberately.
This is where not-doing becomes a form of action—a letting go that prevents the entire chain from even beginning.
🌀 From the GZM Archives – Polished, Preserved, Still Relevant.
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Now that you have had you dose of advanced teachings, take a load off. Stay awhile. Shop around, whydontcha?
Photo by Angie Fritz
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