EFFORTLESS BEING

Effortless being is the sublime presence that suffuses all fragrances of grace. It is whole, free, and completely at ease – and it requires nothing.

Just let yourself relax ... trust ... open ... and gracefully fall into effortless being.

Let's begin our journey together with "effortless being," as it is the one quality of grace that is intrinsic to and inherent in all aspects of the infinite. Any time you open into the infinite presence of your own self, an effortless presence will have easily and gracefully guided you there. In fact, the only route I know of into enlightened awareness is through effortless being.

So why not plunge in right now? Rather than talk about it, let's experience it directly.

Take a deep breath in, and let it out.

And another deep breath in, and let it out.

Let your whole being relax as you fully put yourself into the scene I am about to describe. As you read, experience it as if it is actually happening right now. Take time in between the sentences to open and feel what it would really be like to be in these circumstances. Just imagine that you are the person described in this story:

You are in the ocean, out of your depth, struggling to stay afloat. The more you struggle, the less buoyant you feel. Each effort becomes more and more exhausting. Fighting what is, you believe the answer lies in trying harder ... reaching, grasping with your whole being, striving with your body, harnessing your mind, trying to focus all of your energy to stay above water — you fight for your life. Your activity becomes frenetic. A sinking futility starts to creep in, but you realize you can't give in, no matter what. You force your mind into high gear. You struggle with all your might. Your striving becomes frantic.

A kind person throws you a life preserver, but it lands just out of reach. Safety is but a few feet away, if only you could grasp it in time. Certain that effort is the only answer, you harness every fiber of your being, desperately trying to grasp the answer to all your prayers, knowing that peace, rest, life itself is just an arm's length away ... just out of reach. If only you try harder, the prize of safety, relaxation, freedom will be yours.

But with each fiercely desperate stroke you end up pushing the life preserver farther away. The fight intensifies. You feel your mind starting to spin out of control. You force it into line — everything depends on this final struggle, but your very striving is driving it farther ... and farther ... and farther away ...

Finally, the kind stranger jumps into the water, and when he bobs to the surface, all movement ceases. He appears motionless ... as if he is just resting, trusting. Gently, under the surface, his legs flow in the quietest of movements ... effortlessly treading water, trusting completely in the ease of grace. As the water becomes still around him, the life preserver freely drifts his way ... lap ... by lap ... by lap. The life preserver finds its way into his relaxed and trusting hands, and with almost no movement — more a softly whispered prayer than an actual motion — he glides it your way.

Still frantic, you grasp for it desperately, but your motion only causes it to drift out of reach again. The desperation becomes unbearable ...

You hear a reassuring voice say, "Relax. Just relax. Trust ... You're safe ... All safety is here ... Everything you need is already here." Then, once again, the kind man who trusts the ocean, trusts grace, softly floats the life preserver in your direction.

As the preserver gets closer, the desire to reach for it becomes fiercely strong. But before you can thrust out your hand, you hear the stranger say again, "Just relax."

And something penetrates: it happens in a heartbeat. Against all instincts and conditioning, against everything you believe to be true, you choose to cease striving. You relax. You relax your mind. You give up all struggle and relax your whole being. You feel your body softening and, miraculously, the life preserver begins to effortlessly drift your way.

Then, just before it's ready to softly touch your chest, something happens. Time stops. Everything becomes still. Your breathing slows and becomes easy. Your mind softens, every ounce of activity ceases, and your body releases all tension. You become aware that you are being gently supported, embraced in an ocean of trust. In the still center of the silence, you realize all grace is here, surrounding you, supporting you. All peace is here ... and you relax deeply in the restful embrace of grace.

You become aware that the life preserver has just tapped you on the chest, and in that instant you realize you don't actually need it. You never needed it. You're already safe, already whole, already free. You're floating in an ocean of trust.

Gently, one arm floats to the side of the preserver, and you look around to see if anyone else is struggling needlessly in the water ... and you become the kind stranger.

A soft smile of irony creeps across your face as you realize the ludicrous insanity of struggling against life. It's like some big cosmic joke. You recognize that everything you seek is already here the moment you choose to stop the struggle, relax, and trust. This that had seemed so far out of reach is realized to be everywhere, in everything. And that "something out there, if only I could get hold of it" is realized to be right here, as a vast embrace, constantly supporting you in an ocean of presence.

* * *

And so it is with grace. The more you struggle, strive, fight, reach, grasp, or force your mind, the further away you push the very peace you are seeking. And the moment you stop, soften the mind, relax your body, cease striving, give up the struggle, the peace you are seeking is directly experienced to be here as a spacious presence of effortless being.

The very nature of grace is effortless ease. It is already whole, complete, free, vast, and open. It intrinsically knows how to care for every aspect of our lives. It knows the right action in each moment, and it is always in flow. Like a river flowing over water-smoothed rocks, it has a natural ease. Grace is simultaneously supremely restful and scintillatingly alive: it loves to give birth to creation. Yet no one is doing the doing, or "flowing the flow." Grace just is. There is no "somebody" who controls, manages, and directs its natural momentum. With effortless ease, it simply flows through life.

As children, so often we heard, "Try to do your best." And our focus went to the trying. We struggled, we strived, we fought. Had we instead been told, "Relax little one — you are already whole and perfect, and there is a huge potential that is longing to create through you — just...