Commitment to Action vs Attachment to Outcome
The secret to a productive life free from suffering: commit to action, not to outcome.
Commit to Action
- If your purpose is more than sitting in awakened consciousness, you need to do things. Commit to actions that are in integrity with your life and aligned with your purpose. Use whatever process of analysis and intuition works for you. Once you choose, commit fully. Do everything it takes to complete that action with integrity.
No Attachment to Outcome
- Do not be attached to any particular outcome. You have no control over the effect of your action. Believing otherwise creates suffering.
- Suffering is proportional to the distance between the actual outcome and what you expected.
- The outcome is the result of a complex causal system. Your action is one input among millions. The system is too complex for the analytical mind to model - your intuitive mind does a better job (as long as it’s free from distortions). The entire universe is a causal input.
Experience Fully, and Let Go
- When the outcome isn’t what you expected, stay centered. Maintain equanimity. Rest in the knowledge that you did everything within your power.
- You will feel disappointment, anger, frustration. Process the emotions. Experience the sensations fully. Learn what you can. Analyze the data. Look at what you could have done differently. Then let go. It’s in the past. The quantum probabilities have collapsed. Focus on what action you’re taking next.
Imagine committing to intense action in alignment with your highest purpose while holding open, spacious freedom - knowing that no matter what happens, no big deal. That’s the practice.