the shamanistic principle of 'not doing'.

According to the shaman, don Juan, the fundamental principle of shamanism is 'not doing'. This makes it very similar, in my mind to Zen. One overcomes the common urge to 'do' and instead simply observes reality for what it is. Even this practice makes one aware of the kinds of information that one tends to habitually screen out. Zen gives one an understanding of how the mind works -- ie, it is like a stomach. It routinely excludes certain types of information, and leaps forth more expectantly to attach itself to other types of data.

But 'not doing' seems to take this Zen principle further, for one cannot simply 'not do' things, but must select one's moments for 'not doing', precisely so as to drive a wedge between the reality that is and its general trajectory. One thus opens a space within the deterministic properties of reality, to facilitate an altogether different kind of reality.

'Not doing' is a practice that requires prior shamanistic conditioning. It's about on the same level of avoiding responding to a feint in boxing: You learn how not to react, and in doing so, you win an advantage -- or at least avoid getting hit for the time being. But your 'not doing' must be chosen in exactly the right moment. Choose the wrong time not to do, and you could end up in an even worse condition than you started with.

Practically, 'not doing' involves inviting a better solution to arrive. One best exercises one's discrimination, in this invitation to the universe to provide a better answer than those that would make one into another effect in a chain of events. There is an internal logic to not doing, and when to practice it: One doesn't 'not do' a counterpunch, for instance, if the moment is right. But by 'not doing' in the times when it is right to 'not do', one can effectively undo potential whole chains of negative reactions, so that neutrality appears where hostility had been.

Despite the merely apparent softness of this approach, 'not doing' as a principle does not turn a shaman into pacifist. One creates the neutral space: a garden for creativity. It's a prize that one has won, a spoil of war. A shaman always is at war. According to don Juan, a shaman is a warrior.