Doing Nothing: Coming to the End of the Spiritual Search

by Steven Harrison

The author of Being One presents “a persuasive argument for stopping the perennial search for enlightenment” in this unique guide to finding inner peace (New Age Journal).Steve Harrison spent decades seeking out every mystic, seer, and magician he could find throughout the world. He studied the worlds philosophies and religions, and dedicated himself to various forms of austerity, isolation, and meditation before coming to a truly profound it was all useless. In Doing Nothing, Steve encourages spiritual seekers to find the truths of life through the simple act of stopping the search. As he puts it, “nothing is a surprisingly active place, but it is here that we discover who and what we are.”

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Philosophy, New Age

108 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Noah Hittner · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my three favorite books in the world; and one of very few that I've read more than once.

[Karen Perham-Lippman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It makes my mind hurt a little, I really like that.

"There is a state of bliss, a state of peace, a state of love that it hunts for, a state that will be different, better, more complete than the mind which is hunting. And yet, the field in which the mind hunts for this other, is the mind itself."

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used to be able to understand this kind of thinking, but I'm getting dumber instead of wiser with age. However, there were a few interesting chapters in the end regarding health, physics, quantum mechanics and consciousness, and I found this quote useful: "At the historic core of every religion is not ritual, but someone who broke through ritual to direct contact with the transcendental. They were not following religion. They were discovering and living it. Moses, Jesus, Buddha, La0-Tzu, Mohammed were not following anything but the expression of their direct contact with the actuality of life. But we follow them, not our own direct contact with life. In fact, we follow merely the ritual that represents these mythic figures and we follow the religious hierarchy that controls these rituals."

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, not great. The author continually hammers the same points about consciousness and life as if they're obvious, while using the same sentence structure in virtually every paragraph, which gets repetitive. And although some of the insights seem right and are useful, a lot of the book seems to miss the point that as humans, we're tethered to physical reality and we need to live in it. The repeated calls to just "do nothing" don't pay the bills, build our relationships, feed us, shelter us, etc. It's like he's saying that none of this really matters and we'll just "figure it out" with less, but....how?

The overall concepts that less is likely more in spirituality, we're often better off relaxing into what's already here versus pushing further, we need less ideology/organization from the outside and more personal experience all ring true. But there's still an almost dissociated disconnect from the tangible needs of life as a human.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no words for this amazing book. For the spiritual seeker who is done with seeking. This novel has personally helped me with many questions I've had recently, mainly those regarding the teaching of "do nothing."

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind blowing ideas written down in beautiful prose. Sometimes I wished it was explained a bit simpler. I will definitely have to read this again.

[Dick Vogel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, but difficult book. The last two chapters were the best.

[lyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

He had me at "do nothing."

"From a scientific standpoint, quantum physics will describe to us a body which is not in fact separate. In fact everything that we are is interchanging with our world around us. The subatomic level of our being is inseparable from the rest of the universe. The basic physical fact is that the universe is not separable and yet it is separated conceptually. Now, that conceptual separation has a function. But it's functional only if it's in the perspective of the totality."

"In the end it is not about doing, it is about being. If we're being and not doing, then we stand absolutely still, absolutely silent, because we're doing nothing. This doing nothing is our connection to the totality of life. It is the expression of our innate spirituality. It requires nothing of us, it wants nothing of us. It is inherently free."

"Why don't we save ourselves the hundred thousand lifetimes? Why don't we save ourselves the endless hours on the cushion? Why don't we save ourselves the practices, the mantra? Why don't we give it up now? Now, if we give up this search for enlightenment, this striving for the transcendental, we collapse into this moment. That's all we have left. We can't escape it. We are who we are. We are where we are. And finally, we can relax. This state of beingness--this state of being present now--whatever quality is arising--is the state which is described as enlightenment. We are already inherently in that state."

[Bryan Boring Van Unen · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book that criticizes religion and ideology, this book did an adequate job in describing many Buddhist ideas and ideas shared by many mystical traditions. However, I felt the author was all over the place, unable to succinctly explain himself; he instead continued to use vague quasi-new age vernacular that may have meant something, but lent little context to provide a good foundation to understand.
I like his idea of doing nothing, but it’s not unique and has been taught for thousands of years. It’s a worthy practice, but this book may not be the best to introduce oneself to it.
Another small nitpick: his sentences were so samey. They were all of similar length. Just like I’m writing here. It makes it hard to pay attention. He kept using the same words. It made it difficult to understand his point. It makes it very uninteresting. It’s easy to lose interest.

[Liam Taylor]

"When I look in to my own life, despite years & years of striving, meditation, effort, spiritual practices, great austerities. The fact is, that what I am, whatever that is, whatever this enquiry reveals it is, has always been precisely the same, and that the efforting that has been taking place, has been an effort from this psychological centre; the psychological centre trying to discover it's permanence. The effort has been irrelevant."

[Scott Langston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I understood some of this book. I think I have meant something, though I'm not quite sure what it is. I think I may have to read it again!

[Aziz · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like to break all your bind burdens on being self, try to read this book.

[Chris Belkas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teenage me thought this was the deepest possible book

[Vinayagamoorthy Kuppusamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too good.