Language might be our downfall. We say things like “love is a verb,” but this expression rests on the assumption that action is personal. Because a sentence contains a verb, it assumes that there is a subject conducting it.

The mind merely observes biological impulses, yet when we react to this impulse, we claim the action as our own. The irony is that we only claim the action after it’s done.

Action typically unfolds as the impulse to act, the act itself, and then ownership of the action.

Truth is absolute. This means that it’s truly black and white. It is either, or it isn’t.

Things can’t be absolutely true sometimes. There are no grey areas.

This means we can’t control our actions. If we did, we’d have control over all our actions, not just some.

You can’t control your breath. You breathe deeply when you are at rest, and your shallow breaths occur when there is panic. Knowing that you took in air is not a personal achievement.

If you were responsible for your heartbeat, you’d perish the moment you were distracted.

Even thoughts are not yours to think. They appear in the mind as birds in the sky. We only perceive thoughts.

If vital functions of the body are autonomous, the claim of agency to them is unreal.

The Need to Fix Things

The reason why we feel compelled to “do” or “fix” is a defense mechanism against uncertainty.

I’ve been in predicaments in which people aren’t certain if a goal is to be reached, so we are forced to do more because doing more brings comfort, even if it is merely activity, and does nothing to close the gap to the goal.

Doing something, anything, is an existential response to the belief that if we don’t do anything, we are nothing.

The arrogance lies in the belief that our actions are what keep the universe from collapsing.

It certainly was my arrogance. If I don’t do something, the project, the product, or the company will fail.

Vanity that suggests the universe needs my specific, localized interference to function correctly.

The truth is, your body is an instrument. It continues to act, but the actions aren’t yours.

Running Around Like a Headless Chicken

Look at your place of business and tell me that the person who does the most doesn’t also make the most noise.

The need to do things only creates noise that blocks out the silence of their own awareness. It’s the fear that, if they don’t act, they will not be valued and thus will not be seen.

Productivity continues to be a frantic set of activities that leads to “impact” and “results.” Once the results are in, we proceed to the next step without time to reflect.

We do this because productivity promises different props, such as achievement, to maintain our reality. Without productivity, many of us would fail to truly understand who we are.

Who are you without the constant email flow, the booked days of meetings, or the chores you’ve assigned yourself at home?

There is also a fear of stillness, even though rest is treated as a reward for hard work.

If we aren’t fixing ourselves or the world, we consider ourselves dead. We fix because we reject, and the arrogance of our work signals to the universe that we also judge the present moment as flawed.

There are no problems that we don’t create ourselves. We find security in the actions we take to solve the problems we created. The productive person would rather be busy and miserable than still and non-existent.

The Identification with Action

Nothing is wrong with the movement of the body or the planning of the mind. The error is in our identification. It’s the belief that we are the ones pulling all the levers that keeps the world spinning.

When we remove the arrogance in our actions, the actions don’t cease. We get the option to observe unattached movement.

The question then is what makes our actions arrogant? It’s the refusal to accept anything as perfect that leads an individual to believe they can and should dictate everything they see. The person is glued to their actions as a way to avoid expectations and to reject what is.

In the Bhagavad Gita, there’s a warning that I love. It says that you have the right to action, but never to the fruit. Arrogance is the belief that the fruit belongs to you.

This means that if the action succeeds, the person performing it believes they are entitled to pride. If it fails, the person is responsible for the guilt. Both are forms of arrogance because they assume the individual was the primary cause.

Attachments to our results also create a contract with the universe, under which we refuse to act unless a specific outcome is guaranteed. This turns our actions into transactions as we try to bargain with God, fate, or whatever label you prefer.

Which Will is the Right Will?

The arrogance arises from our belief in two wills: our free will and the will of the universe, as discussed in the context of determinism.

As an individual in an entire universal system, we’d look at the universe and say, nah, I’m going to do this instead.

It’s like being a wave in a river and deciding to go the opposite direction from the river. In doing so, you can see how your action against the grain of determinism creates resistance.

We expend energy only to try to prevent what is already happening or to force what is not happening. From the perspective of the universe, every movement is perfect exactly as it is. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t exist.

The Resolution to Arrogance

The resolution to arrogance is not paralysis or sloth, but the removal of our claim to all actions. The actions continue, but when we remove our identity, the actions lose their importance and vanity.

We have to understand that our body and mind are tools. Just like a flute doesn’t claim the music that passes through it, our mouths don’t claim ownership of what they speak. My hands don’t receive credit for the words that are being written.

When we stop trying to force action, true action occurs with spontaneity.

Arrogance is typically rooted in preferences. However, the truth is realizing that there is no choice. To one who sees clearly, there is only one obvious movement.

Our choice has little to do with what we like or dislike; rather, it aligns with the truth of the situation that dictates the response.

Whether the action is successful or not is irrelevant to the whole. If we remove our will, we know that the action was required by God, and the results are also God’s business.

With this new perspective, we are no longer “doing” the work; we are the work being done.

Questions and Responses