I genuinely believe that doing nothing is the key to world peace and happiness.

If someone were to ask me:
“What should we do about making the world better and attaining worldwide peace?”
I would answer “Nothing, nothing all.”

Presidents, politicians, and organizations get so worked up about attaining world peace that they end up making lots of war and destruction.

The more people do stuff to fix things the more problems arise. And then when people try to fix the new problems even more problems appear. In the end everything is even more miserable then before.

The more things you do, the more frustrated, angry, or disappointed you feel. And the more you do, the more people criticize you.
After a while this ends up in fights and disputes, and so on and nobody is happy.

That’s why I believe people need to do a lot more of nothing. If people did more nothing, then everybody would be more relaxed and happier and perhaps there would be slightly less bad things in the world.

Doing nothing can be quite difficult, especially for people who do a lot.
For that reason I will give some instructions on how to do nothing.
You will find out that not only is it easy to do. It also makes you happier and relaxed.

First of I want you to know that doing nothing does not accomplish anything and you will also not attain anything.

While doing nothing has no goal, it does have results, which is relaxation and feeling rested.
However the goal and the result should not be confused.
Doing nothing does not have the goal or mission of being relaxed. Being relaxed is just the side effect of doing nothing.
But if you try to relax you wont be doing nothing. People do a whole lot of something to relax like watching TV, massages, video games, sleeping, browsing the web, baths, and so on.
However doing all of those things is not the same as doing nothing.

I should also mention that doing nothing is not the same as meditation. Usually people spend a lot of doing meditation instead of nothing and sometimes end up more frustrated and tired than relaxed.

It may seem obvious, but you don’t need anything to do nothing. So remove all those gadgets, screens, music, and any other distractions as they are not needed.

Don’t try to make anything happen
Try not to figure anything out. Don’t analyse.
Rest and relax

While you could possibly do nothing anywhere, the best places to do nothing is in the midst of nature. In a forest, in a field of grass, on a mountain, on the beach, or even on a boat in the middle of the sea.

The worst places to do nothing is in places where people are doing a lot.
It seems that doing nothing while others are busy offends a lot of people and may earn you a scolding and a bad reputation.
In such cases its better to either avoid the whole situation or to do anything, even if it is a bad thing.
In some circles you are better of doing bad things then doing nothing at all.
According to some not doing anything is the worst of sins.

Now finally here are actual instructions on how to do nothing.

Sitting or lying down seem to be the best positions for doing nothing. You can also stand up, but if you do nothing for long enough while standing you eventually end up sitting or laying down anyway.
The most important part is to be completely comfortable.

To get into doing nothing…

Do not empty your thoughts.
Do not try to sit still and do not try to move.

Just experience.

There is nothing more to it than that. There is nothing else to do.

Once you have gotten into doing nothing, you do not want to improve upon doing nothing.
This may seem silly, but a lot of people fail at this.
They think that you can make the experience of doing nothing better.
People try to form and invent strategies and contrive a lot of plans to get better at doing nothing.

You can not.

Doing nothing is not a skill or art that you can practice. It is not a competition. And you can not be better at doing nothing than other people. So dont even try.
You do not have to attain anything while doing nothing.

Just rest and relax.

Embrace the freshness of the present moment.

The past is completely rotten. It is spoiled. Every previous past moment is stale, it has no flavor.
Don’t well on the past for it is not worth it, but if you do dwell on the past then know that you are dwelling on the past in the present moment so its still the present.
It is impossible to go back in time.

The future has not happened and it is a complete fiction. The future is totally meaningless and non-existent.
Don’t well on the future for it is baseless, but if you do dwell on the future then know that you are dwelling on the future in the present moment so its still the present.
It is impossible to go to the future.

The meaning of the freshness of the present is that the present is completely new and unique. No two different moments are exactly the same and every moment is unique.
Because there are an infinite moments in your life, you will always have new and unique moments available to you right here, right now.

Finally people tend to fall into the trap of meditation while doing nothing, especially when doing nothing for long periods of time.
Meditation is not the same as doing nothing.

People tend to analyse their experience. Soon their mental activity increases and they are full of doing something, busying about with lots of thought.

Do nothing. Focus on nothing.
Let whatever arise, arise on its own.
Let whatever disappear, disappear on its own.
Whatever is, just is.
Spontaneity can be found in doing nothing.

If you liked reading this blog you might also like my other blog “How To Gaze”. Gazing is slightly different from doing nothing, but it also helps with feeling relaxed and rested.