This turn of phrase made me laugh out loud when I first heard it (from the mouth of missed-her-vocation-as-a-stand-up-comedian Christine Heath at the 3 Principles conference this year).
Because on one level it sounds so wrong and yet in the right context it’s bang on the money.
What does it mean?
Well, as an example, a while ago, I wrote another Sunday Spiritual Daily Reminder called ‘Why acceptance seems so hard’ where we looked at some of the ways that the mind tries to make sense of stuff it can’t possibly make sense of (but only because it’s something that’s got nothing to do with the mind).
Take the notion of ‘peace of mind’ for instance.
By definition, this is something that’s experienced when the mind’s not involved. ‘Trying’ to experience peace of mind therefore is an oxymoron.
You can’t consciously will away the thing that’s obstructing you, by using the thing itself!
😂
Ditto ‘trying’ to be more present. You already are present, so any ‘trying’ is just going to take you away from that.
In these contexts, ‘trying’ signifies the mind looking to take control of some process that it has no involvement in. It’s actually making matters worse, taking you further away from what you seek; hence ‘lying’.
Any time we catch ourselves ‘trying’ to do something—to be more present; manage our emotions; keep a level head; process our feelings; be more happy—we’re just using the wrong tool for the job, that’s all.
In the words of that famous fictional mystic, Yoda, replying to Luke Skywalker when he says he’ll try to use The Force to raise the sunken X-Wing out of the Dagobah swamp:
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Trying is lying.
😘
Giles
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Giles P Croft