Non-Resistance

Fragments from imaginary dialogues

“What is the difference between Tranquility, Serenity, Stillness and Inner Peace?”

“They all mean the exact same thing. A state of deep calm and relaxation. 

They are different in that they express it using different metaphoric models.

Think of the opposite of that state. (Inversion) We can metaphorically express it in many ways:

– Imbalance
– Storm
– Tension
– Turmoil
– Turbulence
– War
…

What’s important is the essence.”

“In my readings about achieving that state, I keep encountering three concepts: Acceptance, Letting Go, and Surrender. What is the difference between them? Do they also mean the same thing?”

“Again, let’s focus on the opposite.

Things are in a certain way.
You desire or expect things to be other than they are.
This creates tension. Or, using a different model, we might think of it as resistance.

It is this resistance that brings about imbalance. 
It is desire or expectation that brings about resistance.”

“What is the difference between desire and expectation?”

“When there’s a chain of occurrences, this forms a certain pattern. Through an inductive process, we tend to project such patterns into the future. 

This has occurred repeatedly, therefore it will continue to occur indefinitely.

Expectation is a predictive model – often misguided.

Back to Acceptance, Letting go and Surrender.

Regaining balance is a matter of
accepting what is,
accepting things as they are, without wishing they were different.

Expressed differently, it is a matter of
letting go of the desire / expectation for things to be other than they are.

The third uses the ‘war’ metaphoric system to express the state of imbalance. It is ‘Surrender’ that brings about ‘Peace’. This is the most ambiguous, the least clear in what the practice entails.

There’s a fundamental principle behind all these. I call it the principle of Non-Resistance.”

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