Does Meditation Make you Lazy or Complacent?
Laziness and Godliness have one thing in common — in both, you sit back and do nothing. But we are neither God nor lazy. You and me, we are somewhere in between. We are hard working folks (or, may be not so hard working folks) going through our daily grind. We can’t afford to be lazy. We might have lazy days. But we are not lazy lazy.
If we be lazy, we will be devastated.
Are We Cut out to Play God?
For the most part of our working lives we can’t play God either. We have to work hard to earn.
Unlike God, we are not all powerful — almighty. We are not present everywhere at all the times. We cannot sit back and watch the play of the world like Him. We cannot snap our fingers and make things appear or disappear. We have to work.
It may seem that someone rich doesn’t have to do any work. But that is not true. Even rich folks have to work to keep their riches intact or grow their wealth. Rulers have to work. They can’t afford to be lazy.
Work is not a charitable activity for us. In order to move our lives forwards we have to keep on working. After all, we have to pay our bills.
The Apprehension about Meditation
Many people get scared of meditation for this reason.
They think meditation is the art of laying around in a corner. An excuse to shy away from work. And that if they meditated, it would either make them lazy or God. And both of these are not good propositions for a hard working soul.
So people dissuade themselves and others from meditating.
Is there any merit in these apprehensions?
I explored this pragmatically — does meditation make people lazy? Or complacent? Is there any reality in it?
I unearthed two main reasons, why anyone may think that meditation can make them lazy or complacent.
Reason 1: The Act of Meditation is No-Action
This is the first thing. The physical appearance.
Meditation is not like running. When you run nobody can say you are being lazy. You legs and hands can clearly be seen doing strenuous effortful movements. Your body is moving forward. There is a proof right in front of everyone that you are not being lazy. Unlike meditation, running is an obvious conspicuous activity.
In contrast, if someone looks at you meditating what will they see? You are sitting in a corner. In loose clothing. You are relaxed. Even your eyes are not moving. You seem to be lost. You are not even making any effort.
Meditation in its appearance looks like a lazy man’s chore.
Have you seen meditation stock photos? They show people meditating on top of a mountain or on a beach or a forest. It’s funny, because in daily life it doesn’t look that way at all.
If you are meditating everyday, you are mostly doing it on your bed, chair or floor. While other folks in the home are busy doing the daily chores. Most of the time there are noises around you, not of sweet birds chirping, but of utensils clinking, your spouse yelling or your kids shouting. Sometime the doorbell rings. Sometimes you hear the toilet flushed. Your fan makes noise. The A/C is not that quiet as they claimed it to be…
Outside your house normal folks, they are working. Some one is mending their garden, someone is driving their car. Kids are playing. Everybody is busy doing their normal things what normal people do.
But you? You are sitting in a corner quietly. Doing what? Meditation.
Shouldn’t you have been doing your daily chore or working outside like other hardworking citizens?
It’s awkward.
Reason 2: Meditation can make you complacent.
This is the second apprehension I found which has many apprehensions combined in one.
Some people think that meditation will delude them into believing that everything around them is ok, when in reality it is not. As a result they will become complacent.
When life is tough or you are under pressure, the obvious reaction is to sweat it out. What if you meditated? You will feel relaxed and then you might say -“Oh everything is ok. There is no need to panic. Nothing really matters. Let’s just relax.”
What if such an attitude gets in your head? What if meditation pushes a hard working person like you into a ditch of stupidity? This is the fear.
Or, you may think otherwise — that by meditating you will drown into an illusion of power. You will feel like you are God or an angel or a prophet. You will start preaching philosophies of life rather than solving real problems. You will act as if you could cure the blind and lepers — a self deception indeed. Essentially you will be deluded into believing something about yourself which you really are not.
So what is it then, does meditation make you lazy and complacent? Is there any truth in these fears?
Here is the reality.
Exploring Laziness first
If you ask me, laziness is easy to discard.
If you have done a little bit of meditation, you will know what I am talking about.
Laziness is a dull mental energy.
Some folks are chronically lazy. They can’t put themselves into any long stretched meaningful effort. They tend to work in short spurts. And even in that, they get tired easily.
Their body has all the capacity to get up and work. But they have a mental block.
There is this cloud of lethargy that forms in their head, heart & body that makes them run away from action. Their heart sinks hearing that they have to do some work. They feel a reverse rush in their heart as if telling them to stop working. A dullness dawns in the head.
Even if they end up working, their action is not so focused. It is like a drunken man trying to put a thread through a needle.
This is what I refer to as a dull mental energy. A reaction of lethargy in mind.
The cause of laziness or a dull energy can be a medical condition too. If there are any deficiencies in your body, you can feel very lethargic. Then, you should get a medical check up done.
Have you ever felt lack of vitamin D in your body during long rainy seasons? How you feel dull? That is deficiency led lethargy. (Take supplements in this case. It is as simple as that.)
And sometimes you just need rest. You are tired. In this case just rest. But do you notice if it were not for your mental energy slowing down, you wouldn’t be able t rest. The other end is where people are so anxious, their mental energy is so chaotic that they can’t sleep.
So the real question behind “will meditation make you lazy”, is will meditation create that dull mental energy in you? Making you a habitual dull person?
The answer is no. It will not.
One thing about meditation is that it transforms your mental energy. It transforms the dull mental energy into a balanced active mental energy. And an overly active jarring mental energy (anxiety, worry, etc) also into a balanced active mental energy (calmness & focus).
This balanced and active mental energy helps you focus. It makes you feel agile. It makes you sharp. Nourishes intelligence. Helps you work skillfully.
PS: Note when I say mental energy, what I mean is your mental reaction that develops in you. How do you feel? Do you feel energetic? Do you feel lethargic? Or, lost? What kind of disposition do you get into?
So, don’t conclude that because meditation involves sitting idly, it means you are being lazy.
A hard working person will actually gain from meditation in two ways.
Firstly your anxiety will go away. Secondly if there is any tendency to become lazy, that will also disappear.
So by all means throw this apprehension out of the window that meditation will make you lazy.
Will meditation make you complacent?
Calming of mind does not mean denial of a situation.
People are in denial of situation even when they are anxious. Rather anxiety is a sign that you are denying the inevitability of the situation.
So meditation, when it calm’s your mind, doesn’t make you blind to the dangers in front of you.
There is another mechanism at play.
Certain situations need more maturity to handle them. Sometimes anxious and aggressive attitude can be counter productive. You need patience. If you don’t see that, and you get anxious, you loose out. It is only when your anxiety has subsided through meditation, that you are able to assess that you need patience. You get a clear perspective.
See, you can’t force patience upon yourself when you are anxious. But if you meditate, anxiety settles and you can apply patience.
Someone else might wrongly think you are being complacent. But you are just being patient, more strategic.
Works for you.
A Finer Perspective
Sometimes, it is not the big changes that are needed to improve a situation. Just a small fix can get the job done.
But this kind of diagnosis of a situation needs keenness of mind. It needs extra energy, a very focused attentive mind. It is not easy.
Meditation can help develop this kind of keenness.
See, meditation helps you transform dissipated emotions into focused attention. It kind of helps you build a lens of awareness so that you can target your attention and efforts precisely.
This might not happened immediately. It can take some time. With regular practice of meditation it is possible. So it doesn’t mean that if you are meditating you are being complacent. You could be developing keenness.
The illusion of power vs confidence
Meditation makes you feel more confident about yourself — about who you are. Not if you are an angel, a prophet or a messiah. Or, if you have exemplary skills. But by just being who you are.
Will you call this kind of confidence an illusion of power?
No. Instead this is healthy. To feel comfortable about yourself. As a human being you should be confident about who you are.
For pragmatic folks, having that confidence can be a doorway to fulfillment and happiness. It can give them an anchor to keep their busy minds sane & healthy.
Where Do We Go From Here?
I would say be rest assured that meditation will not make you lazy or complacent.
So what should you do next?
Try out meditations. See how it turns out for you.
Or, stay committed with your practice, if you were having any doubts. Grow in meditation. It will dissolve many limitations for you. It will make you emotionally & intellectually rich and stable.
Why be lazy and complacent about such a great opportunity?
