Overcoming Resistance vs Effortlessness - The Puzzles of Purpose

[tatsumaru]

I've dedicated the last couple years of my life to try and understand who I really am. I have come to understand that "know thyself" is the foundation of a life well spent. That in order to be of value to humankind an authentic essence needs to be uncovered and expressed. It goes without saying that during that journey I've read many books and considered many contradicting perspectives and for the most part after excruciating contemplation and mindfulness I've been able to separate the weed from the chaff. However there are two particular puzzles that I've been unable to solve as of yet and I am hoping to get some enlightened insights from the more experienced folks here. Here are the two puzzles (P.S. They are closely related, one might even say they are different sides of the same coin).

1. Overcoming resistance vs. Following the path of least resistance
a) Overcoming resistance is just part of life
There seem to be two major views on dealing with resistance in regards to doing important work in life. The first one states that we have evolved to resist hard and meaningful work because it's not important for survival and therefore as far as the reptilian mind is concerned it's a waste of energy. Authors like Steven Pressfield in their works like "The War of Art" and "Do the Work" argue that every time we attempt to do something grand and important there will be resistance and that in fact the more important the work the bigger the resistance. They argue that resistance is something to be accepted as inevitable and fought with all our energy. They argue it's like trying to achieve escape velocity with a rocket - in the beginning it's extremely hard, there's all this gravity and friction that will not let us transcend our current situation but if we only muscle through it we will reach space and we will get things rolling from which point on it gets easier. The analogy with physics here is Escape Velocity and Gathering Momentum From 0.

b) Resistance is an indicator of wrongness
The second view states the exact opposite - this is the wu wei point of view which basically states that if something requires too much effort it's probably not our authentic path. It goes as far as to suggest that resistance is actually a sort of protection that we have against doing the wrong things in life. It reminds us how playing a video game and doing accounting work both require our energy but we don't resist the former only the latter (I understand that some people might actually enjoy accounting and there's nothing wrong with that, I just gave this example because I don't particularly enjoy accounting). Books on this topic will often talk about topics such as "the path of least resistance" and give water as an example of how it always picks the path of least resistance and the we should be like water. They say it doesn't matter if the work is hard because when you are doing what you love you don't notice how hard it is, you simply fall in love with the work and get lost in it. Certainly we know of all those geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein, Isaac Newton who didn't need motivational videos to do what they did. In fact for them it was a greater pain not to do the work they were in love with. Elon Musk once said - "You MUST feel compelled to do it. If you need inspiring words, then don't do it". The analogy with physics here is the way that water takes the path of least resistance and also the fact that conductors with higher resistance are less efficient and lost the majority of energy in the ways of heat. I am personally more partial to the second view, because I have experienced periods in my life where I forget about my worries, about risk management, about reward and just get lost in something silly like doing work on my bike or just playing with Legos or whatever. That being said Elon Musk also said "I wish life wasn't this hard."

When I took Leo's Life Purpose course I noticed that he recommended both "The War of Art" and "The Path of Least Resistance" books which are to a large degree incompatible. It is possible that Leo just wanted to expose course takers to different perspectives in order to broaden our horizons but for me personally the puzzle remains unsolved.

And now for the second part of the puzzle...

2. No-self (you can be whatever you want to be) vs Authentic self (we are all here to do what we are all here to do)
a) There's no self and you can be whatever you want
There's a book by Maxwell Maltz called Psycho-Cybernetics in which he basically claims that our behaviors are chiefly guided by our self-image and that self-image is nothing but fiction that we create and that we can modify in whatever ways we desire. He claims that if we are not good at math it's simply because we believe we are not good at math and since we believe that, we are not practicing math and it turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are many authors who share similar views with books like "Mastery" or "Talent is overrated" the idea is that talent is either fiction or of very little consequence and we can become masters at anything as long as we put our 10,000 hours in. Bashar said "Surrender is the letting go of the concept of who you think you’re supposed to be and actually being who you are because who you are is unlimited possibilities. When you allow yourself to surrender all ideas, all hopes, then the physical reality which is only a mirror can then reflect those unlimited possibilities back to you". Bruce Lee said "Be formless, shapeless... like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."

b) There's an authentic self and your only choice is whether to express it or to be a fake
The opposing view holds that we should focus on developing our talents instead of pursuing skills that we don't resonate with. They cite studies of how when non-mathematically inclined children pursue mathematics they become mediocre at best. This view tells us that we are all unique and we all have our roles to play for the benefit of humankind. As the Oracle told Neo "We are all here to do what we are all here to do". This is the view of destiny and purpose. While it allows some degree of free will essentially it states our only choice is whether to accept or resist our calling and that resisting only leads to suffering and mediocrity while surrendering to the authentic self leads to genius and inspiration. In fact it is my understanding that the whole idea of self-actualization points towards this notion that we are all unique and that self-actualization is actually the process of uncovering our uniqueness. If we were all the same then there would be no need for self-actualization since we would all have the same roles to play. Books like Do You! by Russell Simmons and The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo suggest that there's destiny and there's a meaningful journey of self-discovery. Personally I am more partial to the second view because I don't resonate with the Tabula Rasa point of view. Basically this is an assumption that we have no inherent code whatsoever and its all random for how else would we be able to be partial to anything if there was nothing inherent to resonate with anything external? We also have the myers-briggs personality types debates here where some people believe that you can change you personality type because there's no inherent self, while others (like me) believe that you don't really change your personality type but rather you transition from a worse to a better understanding of your personality type which might result in your letters changing. Furthermore at the end of his life the Buddha actually threw the whole "no-self" concept in the trash by saying "Those who hold the theory of non-self are injurers of the Buddhist doctrines, they are given up to the dualistic views of being and non-being; they are to be ejected by the convocation of the Bhikshus and are never to be spoken to” - Lankavatara Sutra 765. Essentially he explained that the whole no-self thing was an exercise to help noobs let go of their fake egotistical self identities so that they can develop more mature appetites and become ready for embracing the true self: Buddha said that “Buddha Nature [the Tathāgata] is the True Self and like a diamond, for example, it cannot be destroyed” Dharmaksema.

Those are the two puzzles I am dealing with. Looking forward to some new insights.

Edited March 14, 2021 by tatsumaru

[neovox]

One step at a time.. What is most heavily on your mind that you seek resolution to? What is your first question?

 

[neovox]

In order to provide quality input I need a specific understanding of your question, the situation/ person it comes from,  mindset, etc There's a fuck ton of words and info up there, but I nothing personal to you, your situation, or specific problem and context. 

[aurum]

@tatsumaru

The challenge with giving advice about overcoming resistance is that it can look different for different people.

If your resistance is to taking action, than maybe something like Steven Pressfield is exactly what you need to hear.

But consider that each stage of cognitive development has its own unique resistance. And therefore needs unique advice.

Don't try to reconcile all the paradoxes. You're not going to be able to. You're going to have to accept that different advice just works for different people in a different context.

Don't try to find the perfect piece of advice, or the perfect model for overcoming resistance. Find the piece of advice or model that helps you overcome resistance. And when it's no longer useful, drop it and pick up the next piece of advice.

You can feel in your body what advice rings true for you and what you need to hear. And of course the ultimate test will be whether or not you drop your resistance. If you don't, then obviously that wasn't the right thing you needed to hear. Or you still need more self-reflection and to drop deeper layers of resistance.

[Heaven]

I truly believe that all resistance coming from the ego. So dissolving the ego is the solution for flowing with life. Of course easier said than done?

[hyruga]

Do what you love to do and you will have effortlessness?

But what happened if what you are doing is not 100% your love and passion or what you are born to do?

So you will encounter resistance. What to do when you encounter resistance?

Go past the resistance or find another domain which you will love.

 

[Mason Riggle]

Go deeper.

Recognize that 'trying to be like yourself' and 'trying not to be like yourself' are the exact same thing.  They are both 'what you are doing', which is ALWAYS 'being you', and you 'are yourself' effortlessly. 

Consider: How hard are you trying to 'be yourself' right now? How hard does a tree try to be a tree? How is it that the tree grows leaves without trying to? Well, it's simple really.. the tree isn't 'doing anything' other than 'being a tree'. 

'doing' is an illusion.. there is only 'being'.  You are ALWAYS 'being how you are', effortlessly, and that's the only thing you are ever 'doing'.  


 

Edited March 15, 2021 by Mason Riggle

[Loving Radiance]

Rather than believing a and b to be opposite, consider that both are true. ?

[OctagonOctopus]

@tatsumaru

The way of the least resistance & the way of dancing with the resistance are one. 
You might discover threw facing the resistance how to surf it.
The best way to find the path of least resistance, is to learn how to dance with it. 

But why did you even want to do the thing being resisted in the first place?
A desire to be in line with Love, the truth. 
Perhaps a wall had to be ran into first before you relize where it is and then go around it.
Then you flow into the river again. 
Nudge yourself back into the stream of your passion. 

Why is there even resistance?
You are already effortlessly doing you, but a desire to be something other is there, a desire to be seperate from You. 
This is where resistace comes from. 


There is no greater joy then to morph yourself according to what is true. 
Everyone has a fire in their heart, Love expressing itself threw that being.
To allow that love to manifest threw removing any bloackages, any falsehood.

No-Self IS Authentic-Self 

Is there really no-self? Only way is to go and see, for, yourself 
Everything is but a pointer to atempt to point to the unpointable, the Truth, You.