“Only to the white man was nature a ‘wilderness,’ and only to him was the land ‘infested’ with ‘wild’ animals and ‘savage’ people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery.” Chief Luther Standing Bear
Effort happens when the mind fights with itself, when two inimical desires feud with one another, e.g. “Do it!” “Don’t want to!” No natural process involves a descent into civil war. Politicians like to say they’re working hard. A damaged planet pleads: Stop that!
The first thing we teach our children is the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. Haven’t we learned anything? This is what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden.
We are encouraged to follow our passion, but this betrays a misunderstanding of what passions are. The word derives from the Latin for suffer. A Sufi teaching says there are nine of them, each one disguised as a virtue.
Every conflict has common cause: resistance. No resistance, no conflict.
Therefore, resist nothing.
Non-resistance is not something we achieve. It’s our essence, our natural state. That’s the whole point of the story of the Garden of Eden.
Men's Work 