Enlightenment as an Excuse for Laziness
How People Use Eastern Religions to Avoid Effort and Discipline
There is a certain misconception or sometimes even intentional misuse of Eastern traditions, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism, that is prevalent in the West, especially with young people. People who engage in this misuse claim that Eastern religions and philosophies prescribe the abolition of intentionality as the proper way to live life. They say that we should relinquish all goals and live a life free of striving towards anything.
Even though they interest me, I am no expert on Buddhism or Hinduism, and I don’t plan on trying to give their proper interpretation this time. However, I do believe that these misinterpretations and misuses are worth addressing, since the very context in which they are brought up says enough about them.
"Why do we need to strive towards something or try to "become" something? The point is to be happy right now, just as we are. You are missing the point with all of this talk of self-creation and self-actualization. You are missing the point that you are already perfect. Everything and everyone is already perfect. Once you realize this, you won’t have to suffer anymore. It is because you strive for more that you struggle."
This is one of many comments of this type that I receive on my posts where I talk about creating yourself and becoming more than who and what you are right now. And if it wasn’t obvious from the initial argument, once I engage in a conversation, 9 times out of 10, the person starts referencing Buddhism or Hinduism.
And every time I encounter someone who is propagating this idea, I remember a friend from back home. And intelligent young man. But extremely lazy and irresponsible. Like most young men today, in his late teens and early twenties, he embarked on a sort of self-development journey. And as exciting as that was and as great as his potential was, he soon had to face an uncomfortable truth. Everything requires effort. Everything. Every goal that you want to accomplish. Every philosophy or school of thought that you would like to follow. Every religion that you would like to practice. Everything requires effort. And no matter how intelligent and creative he was, his "solution" for this uncomfortable life truth was unoriginal.
Like millions of young people, he decided to adopt the misinterpretation of Eastern traditions as an excuse for his laziness. He never labeled himself as a Buddhist or Hindu, but every situation that called for his effort and discipline would be met with an explanation that striving is the source of suffering and that he follows the flow of existence and lets things be as they should be.
And every time I write about striving to fulfill your potentials and the necessary struggle it involves, the same people like my friend appear. Young people who use their intellect to create an excuse for their laziness.
And every time, I think the same thing:
How convenient that you found "the Truth" in an idea that frees you from all the effort, discipline, and responsibility. And it tells even more about yourself that you had to choose this particular interpretation, or make your own, since the original idea that you are referencing has nothing to do with being free from effort, discipline, and responsibility.
If abolition of all goals and desires really is the way to go, that is itself one of the most difficult and ambitious goals that one could choose. It would take superhuman willpower and discipline to erase all our desires, both those that are uniquely our own and those that were programmed into us by our society and culture. And this definitely doesn’t seem like a task that the previously mentioned crowd would like to engage in. They don’t want to abolish all goals for the sake of a greater goal, which is enlightenment. Being free from goals, that is, from everything that it takes to achieve a goal, is what they want. However, paradoxically, the idea that they choose to hide their laziness is one of the most demanding ideas they could’ve found.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who spent his life studying human motivation, noticed the same. As he said:
"Those who expect that by being spontaneous they will avoid setting goals usually just follow blindly the goals set down for them by instincts and education. They often end up being so mean, lecherous, and prejudiced as to stand a good Buddhist monk's hair on end."
No matter how creative we are with our interpretations, we cannot escape the fact that any path in life we choose to take will require effort. If you don’t want to be an animal, blindly following your impulses, or a slave, pursuing goals that others have chosen for you, you must pick a worthwhile goal. And choosing the way of enlightenment, even though it involves abolishing all other goals and desires, requires more effort, discipline, and focus than almost any goal one could choose.
As Japanese Zen Buddhist priest Takuan Soho put it,
"The ordinary man has no strength of faith, and does not know the persistence of even three or five years. But those who study the Way are absolutely diligent for ten to twenty years, twenty-four hours a day."
Thank you for reading. And don’t be lazy.
P.S. If you are lazy, there is something that could help you slowly build up momentum, which would make hard work seem easier. And if you are not lazy, that same thing could propel you to move even more surely towards your goals.
I am talking about my new book, “The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency.”
If you get value from my work and you are interested in becoming more consistent, consider checking it out by clicking here.
Since I was writing this book in public, if you haven’t already you can read the free parts by clicking here.
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Complete facts. I also once fell prey to this and spent much of my teenage years being a complete bum
Effort and slow motion. Eventually, it´ll pay of. Be creative and push forward!