Laziness and Indulgence as a Spiritual Practice

When they say that Tantra is about embracing all parts of self, this is what that can practically look like in our practice. 

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LAZINESS AND INDULGENCE AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

The people who are most disciplined are often the ones who are also the most lazy.

Willpower and discipline are reactions to forces like laziness, addiction, and depression.

Someone with a lot of discipline is overcoming these forces. Otherwise, they would probably relax a little more.

And while discipline can accomplish enormous results, it has little to do with higher spiritual states like flow and effortlessness.

Discipline is pain.

It’s one part of the mind in conflict with all the other parts that are lazy and destructive.

If we truly want freedom, we must find a way to let go of these inner battles—and know that being free of division is possible.

Otherwise, we remain in an endless fight, craving cheat days, days off, and will inevitably be running into burnout and relapses into addiction, binging, depression, and laziness.

To move from discipline into freedom, we have to make friends with all parts of ourselves—especially the ones we fight to overcome.

We must work with laziness and indulgence as a spiritual practice.

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WORKING WITH DARKNESS AS SADHANA

This is advanced practice. To stay present in escapism, indulgence, binging, laziness, and so on.

The point isn’t to do anything different, like we maybe usually try with our effort, or fail at.

The point is to do exactly what you usually do to numb out or escape—but this time, staying fully present in the act.

No need to seek this out—simply wait for the next opportunity. It will most likely come soon.

A difficult moment or day where you naturally feel drawn to indulgent behavior, that is paired with self-judgment: eating the whole chocolate bar, online shopping, scrolling, or perhaps things that you think are much worse. Whatever it is.

When it happens, relax into the behavior, but keep presence, using simple tools you have for that: breath/body awareness, I am-ness, attentiveness, self-observation.

Stay in a state of presence as you engage in the very actions you’re least proud of and most want to change—without trying to change them.

The reason any pattern stays trapped is always a lack of awareness. Our zoning out is the problem.

Yet, with awareness, we begin to extract information from these experiences—not just intellectually, but experientially.

Presence will bring insight.

Without seeking immediate results, you might discover over time that the behavior wasn’t so bad after all—or that all judgment toward it begins to dissolve. With that, you may find your interest in it naturally evaporates.

Experiment with this practice. For some, it will be revolutionary to bring spiritual practice here, as many associate spiritual practice with purity. This is spiritual practice with impurity.

There’s no doubt that something in you will begin to alchemize and transform.

Anything met with true awareness for the first time begins to move. Because awareness brings intelligence.

And intelligence brings true transformation.

Everything else, is just a play of the ego.