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Make Me One With Everything

That's what the Zen master said to the hot dog dealer, right?




Hello cherished eRepubniks!

Thus far in the Roar of the Lion...

We looked at the Five Great Tribes of players. Then we had a go at the Four Glorious Facts of eRepublik and PQ's e-Exercise Plan for achieving bliss. Which in turn consists of Eight Marvelous Exercises for bringing an End to Wretchedness.

Did you forget all that all ready? No worries. The last two back issues are still as fresh and clean as a cool drink of spring water. No musty smell or anything.

I guess you could say this kind of stuff is my latest take on "the metagame".



Anyway. Let's continue along with another set of enumerated themes. To wit:


Two Profitable Ways to Sit Still and Do Nothing


First, let's talk about...

Doing Nothing vs. REALLY Doing Nothing






Sitting in front of your computer playing eRepublik is tantamount to doing nothing, right? At least in that "Son, don't you have a job to do?" kind of way.



Doing nothing is not easy. You never know when you're done.




Yeah, maybe we're not being particularly useful -- other than maybe to other eRepubniks -- when we're busy clicking and meta-gaming and shouting and so on.

When we're playing eRepublik, we're not working, or doing homework, or washing up the dishes, or taking the recycling out to the curb, or making our life-partner's life happier in some way, or participating in the social life of our flesh-and-blood family and friends.

Yep. We're pretty much sitting like a bump on a log. Pretending to be somebody we're not. In a world that doesn't exist. For rewards that are meaningless. Probably on a path towards developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Sigh.


Poor, useless me.


Still. "All work and no play...", yeah?

No worries. Playing eRep contains some joy. We can find some gladness playing it.

But, yup, it is doing nothing in the sense that it's not "real" work. We don't get paid to do it. It's not artwork. It doesn't do anything to make the rWorld a better place. It's just play. And play is fun. Or it can be. Especially if you do your Anti-e-Wretchedness Exercises regularly and adopt the attitude of a Great-Spirit Warrior.


And is that "doing nothing"? Well, yes, it is.

But who cares?

Today's talk revolves around the fact that even though playing eRepublik is doing nothing, it's not REALLY doing nothing. Because REALLY doing nothing is a whole lot more... if you are seeking out the Way of the e-Warrior.



By now you are probably wondering...

What the Hell is PQ Talking About This Time?

Fair enough.

As I mentioned, the topic is Two Profitable Ways to Sit Still and Do Nothing. Or as a great cook once put it, "Don't just do something -- sit there!"


The two "Do Nothing" exercises described below provide the means by which you can find the wherewithal to stay on the high road and practice the Eight Marvelous Anti-Wretchedness Excercises while engaged in playing eRepublik.

They are like strength-training for the mind.



So what are they? Well...









Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- A. Einstein


No! Ha-ha! The advice is not to sit around playing eRep naked. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it's not where I'm heading with this...




Sitting in front our computer "doing nothing" playing eRepublik is a great opportunity to "do nothing" in a more propitious way.

We have so many distractions.

It's not always easy to find the time to just "let it sit". But we've already set aside time to play eRepublik. So why not expand that "empty space" to include some "nothingness" that will actually benefit us and others, not only within the eWorld, but also once we stand up and walk away from the computer?


So here goes...





Doing Nothing Exercise #1: Emptying the Trash
or
Washing Away the Muck





Getting Starte😛 Relax

So... after (or even better, before) you are done twenty-three clicking, commenting on a few shouts, and checking your favorite forums: just sit there quietly.

Focus your attention on your breath or maybe on a point just above your computer monitor.

Whatever thoughts bubble up, just take note of them and then let them go, as if you were watching a movie. Refrain from getting into a conversation with yourself. Just be an observer of your own mental processes.

Once you've relaxed a bit, your mind will start to wander around trying to find something to fixate on. That's what it does. The mind is howler monkey. The point of this exercise to learn how to quiet the howling.




Relax your shoulders, your hands, your legs. Let all that pent-up energy from blasting away at the enemy just slide down onto to floor. Keep breathing. Keep returning your attention to breathing in, breathing out.



Just Watch the Movie

When a dog barks, or you hear a siren in the distance, or a bus drives by, just take note of it. Then let it go. Like you are in a dream.

If a beautiful ray of sunshine peeks through your window, or your dog farts, or you feel an itch, or you can smell something good cooking in the kitchen... Again, just take note of it. "Oh, a smell." Like that. Then return your attention to that spot above the monitor.

Once you've done this exercise a few times, you'll get better at reaching a calm, relaxed state of mind.



Seeing I to I

When you feel you've started to master that, then add a few more minutes to your secret "Do Nothing" time. Use those minutes to ponder the following question: "This life will end eventually. Who am I? What am I doing here?"

Maybe that sounds a little alarming, you know, focussing attention like that on the fact that your life is transitory. But it's OK. You are facing things as they really are. That's the point of this exercise: taking out the trash, letting go of make-believe and false impressions.

You'll come up with all sorts of answers. I am man or a boy, a woman or a girl. A student. My profession or job is this or that. Whatever. It doesn't matter really what the answer is, but whatever it is -- let's call it the XYZ -- start to take it apart by asking yourself the following questions...



Who Am I Now?


Quiz Time

Does my body make me an XYZ?

Then question each part of the body in the same way.

Do my feet make me an XYZ? Would I still be an XYZ without my feet?
Do my eyes make me an XYZ? Would I still be an XYZ without my eyes?
Does my nose make me an XYZ? Would I still be an XYZ without my nose?
And so on.


Next ask, do my emotions make me an XYZ?

Does love or hate make me an XYZ? Would I still be an XYZ without love and hate?
Does aversion or desire make me an XYZ? Would I still be an XYZ without aversion and desire?
etc..


Does my mind make me an XYZ?

Do my mental concepts make me an XYZ? Would I still be an XYZ without my mental concepts?
Does my language make me an XYZ? Would I still be an XYZ without this language?
And so on and so forth.



Going to Ground

Eventually the realization dawns that none of these things in and of themselves make me an XYZ.

In fact, not only am "I" not an XYZ in any unchanging, fundamental sense, but there is no permanent and immutable "I" at all. "I" am an abstraction of the unbroken landscape of being. "I" am an aggregation of ever-changing cells, nerves, emotions, mental constructions and social influences that themselves have all arisen through a variety of channels. And these are the same channels that have given rise to every other person who has ever lived on the earth.






Soaring

If you stick with the exercise, you may start to feel something like a free-fall sensation. Some people see a blue light or bubble.

These are distractions.

Just observe them like you observed everything else, as if you were dreaming them. This is a good time to find a syllable that you like. Just a sound that doesn't particularly mean anything is good. Like kaaaaaa, or the ever-popular ohhhmmmmm. Or if there is a word that has a special resonance for you, that's fine too.

Imagine that sound broadcasting loudly from your throat, surrounded by a blue light.

Once you enter that realm of emptiness, which at the same time is a feeling of immense openness and fullness, just ride along with the sound of that syllable until you are ready for a safe landing back into your everyday mind, body, heart and environment.









Doing Nothing Exercise #2: On the Road

Once you have gotten good at Exercise #1, then you are ready to use your free time in front of the computer to take "doing nothing" to the next level.

The basic set-up is the same as Exercise #1. In fact, it is Exercise #1: relax, calm your mind, let go of the illusions of ego, and step out onto the great universal ground of being: that "dreamscape" where "you" actually came from.



What is different in Exercise #2 is that we do a bit more serious mind-training by pondering a series of declarations whilst we are in that soaring state achieved by Exercise #1.


Remember





First, we remind ourselves where we've arrived and where we're going by contemplating this (or something similar):

"The supreme ultimate has no origin, no stopping-point, and no duration. It is an empty vessel that contains everything. What is present arises from dependence and coincidence, like an enchantment. May I come to embrace everything and work naturally for the welfare of limitless beings throughout time and space as long as this universe exists."




Hold On To Nothing

Next, we soar even higher by reminding ourselves that these declarations are, themselves, illusory. They are not immutable commandments, only additional mental constructions aimed at liberating the self from itself. This is a check against becoming obsessed with the exercise itself.

It helps us to stay focussed and not distracted by weird supernatural trips.





"Regard all teachings and all perceptions as dreams."


"Awareness is not born, nor does it die."


"The antidote and the pain are the same."


"Neither cling nor reject, but rest in pure awareness."



Plenty of mental exercise coaches much wiser than me have provided a shit-ton of commentary on those declarations. But it's probably best to leave it up to you to see where they take you.





Carry On

You may encounter a peak experience while during these exercises. It is something like the feeling you get when skiing or sky-diving, but with less adrenaline pumping. You are completely "there": your mind, your emotions and your body are "at one" with the activity.

You feel happy, even blissful. Maybe like you have reached "the other shore".




While it is possible to achieve a plateau experience -- where that peak level is maintained for an extended period of time -- that's not the point of these two "Do Nothing" exercises.


You will land back on this shore. And you should. You will return to your everyday reality -- or e-reality, as the case may be.

And that's fine.

The point is to carry some of that peak experience with you when you do so. For example, as you go about being an XYZ, or playing eRepublik, or whatever, remember that that too is a dream.





Further?

There's plenty more exercises you can do in order to maximize the profitability of the wonderful "do nothing" time you've carved out for yourself by playing eRepublik.

But I am already well into "tl;dr" territory and dangerously close to not even talking about eRepublik! So let's save those for another time, shall we?






I hope you enjoyed this edition of Roar of the Lion.


xoxoxoxoxo, PQ