Why do we make effort? Is it not, put simply, in order to achieve a result, to become something, to reach a goal? If we do not make an effort, we think we shall stagnate. Does not effort mean a struggle to change ‘what is’ into ‘what is not’, or into what it should be or should become? That is we are constantly struggling to avoid facing ‘what is’, or we are trying to get away from it or to transform or modify ‘what is’. A man who is truly content is the man who understands ‘what is’, gives the right significance to ‘what is’. That is true contentment; it is not concerned with having few or many possessions but with the understanding of the whole significance of ‘what is’; and that can only come when you recognize ‘what is’, when you are aware of it, not when you are trying to modify it or change it.

Does happiness come through effort? Have you ever tried to be happy. It is impossible, is it not? You struggle to be happy and there is no happiness, is there? Joy does not come through suppression, through control or indulgence. You may indulge, but there is bitterness at the end. You may suppress or control, but there is always strife in the hidden. All out life is a series of suppressions, a series of controls, a series of regretful indulgences. We strive, struggle, make effort in the hope of finding happiness, finding something which will give us a feeling of peace, a sense of love.

Effort is a distraction from ‘what is’. The moment I accept ‘what is’, there is no struggle. Any form of struggle or strife is an indication of distraction; and distraction which is effort, must exist so long as psycologically I wish to transform ‘what is’ into something it is not.

First we must be free to see that joy and happiness do not come through effort. Is creation through effort, or is there creation only with the cessation of effort? When do you wite, paint or sing? When do you create? Surely when there is no effort, when you are completely open, when on all levels you are in complete communication, completely integrated. Then there is joy and then you begin to sing or write a poem or paint or fashion something. The moment of creation is not born of struggle