Inner Work

For the week of: February 3, 2003

Passivity

The Sufi Master asked, “What is meditation?”

The student replied, “Waiting for God.”

The Master said, “Can you meditate on God when you have not seen Him? You may wait for God to show Himself to you for 1000 years — with no result.”

Passivity of heart and soul shackles us. If we bide our time while life passes, we will grow old in years but not in wisdom. Spiritual practice demands even more of us han does the practice of a musical instrument or an art: a wholehearted commitment expressed in active, continual and intensive efforts of presence, of reaching beyond ourselves, of service and kindness. Despite the fact that we rarely achieve the gold standard of continuity and intensity in practice, we do not shrink from it, we keep it before us as our goal, we see ourselves in relation to it, and we work to approach it. We assess and adjust our inner work every day.

Notwithstanding the need for an active approach, the path also encompasses acceptance. We distinguish between passive and accepting, between laziness and openness, between apathy and the passion of hope and faith. Some times call us to receive and submit, while others call for passionate inner and outer activity. But the slothful passivity of putting off our inner work leads to more of the same.

For this week, notice the degree to which passivity dominates your inner life.

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