Monday, January 15, 2007

Action v/s Activity

I am currently reading the book "Creativity- Unleashing the forces within" by Osho (Bhagavan Shree Rajaneesh) and he draws a very fine distinction between 'Action' and 'Activity'.

We all know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, what Osho says is that we should be performing 'actions' and not just engaging in 'activities'. He goes to say "Activity is your escape from yourself. In action you are.

Be aware. Feel the difference between action and activity. Activity is when the action has no relevance."

He also talks about the saying that 'an idle mind is devil's workshop' and that it is foolish to fill your life with 'activity' just so that you are not idle. Relaxation and meditation dictates that you engage in NO activity. Relaxation is the absence of activity and action.

It is an interesting exercise to look at ourselves and examine the percentage of our waking time we spend on 'activities' for the sake of being active, and the time we spend on taking 'action' and achieving something.