user14104: In  Vipassana meditation ,it is emphasized that one should not force the mind to concentrate on certain object or force anything to happen in particular.Its kind of letting things unfold and just watching them as they unfold .But for an untrained mind isn't watching by itself a kind of doing and if it shouldn't be a doing and is the natural state of restful alertness ,how can it be initiated without the mind feeling forced to do it.If one is driven by conditioning in a non doing state. 
Ardency as I understand is an important aspect of the practice ,but doing it on the razor's edge of not falling into forcing the mind,is tricky.What is the best way to initiate it so it becomes right mindfulness?.

user-1: Case 19 Nansen's "Ordinary Mind Is the Way"                          十九　平常是道
南泉、因趙州問、如何是道。
Jõshû asked Nansen, "What is the Way?"
泉云、平常心是道。
"Ordinary mind is the Way," Nansen replied.
州云、還可趣向否。
"Shall I try to seek after it?" Jõshû asked.
泉云、擬向即乖。
"If you try for it, you will become separated from it," responded Nansen.
州云、不擬爭知是道。
"How can I know the Way unless I try for it?" persisted Jõshû.
泉云、道不屬知、不屬不知。
Nansen said, "The Way is not a matter of knowing or not knowing.
知是妄覺、不知是無記。
Knowing is delusion; not knowing is confusion.
若眞達不擬之道、猶如太虚廓然洞豁。
When you have really reached the true Way beyond doubt, you will find it as vast and boundless as outer space.
豈可強是非也。
How can it be talked about on the level of right and wrong?"
州於言下頓悟。
With these words, Jõshû came to a sudden realization.
Mumon's Comment
無門曰、南泉被趙州發問、直得瓦解氷消、分疎不下。
Nansen dissolved and melted away before Jõshû's question, and could not offer a plausible explanation.
趙州縱饒悟去、更參三十年始得。
Even though Jõshû comes to a realization, he must delve into it for another thirty years before he can fully understand it.
Mumon's Verse 頌曰
春有百花秋有月    The spring flowers, the autumn moon;
夏有涼風冬有雪    Summer breezes, winter snow.
若無閑事挂心頭    If useless things do not clutter your mind,
更是人間好時節    You have the best days of your life.
                                *          *          * 

Letting go is ultimately a volitional act, but unlike other acts of volition, it does not give rise to subsequent mental formations.  Seeking and trying are dead ends.  A good way to put this kind of perception into practice is to avoid the tendency to see meditation as a kind of special state.  Any attempts to conjure something "extraordinary" or "concentrated" or even "bare" or "relaxed" is just another act of willful imposition.  Just let your mind be ordinary.  To paraphrase Suzuki, mindfulness is nothing special.  

user13709: MN1 The Root of All Things addresses watching for the untrained ordinary person as:

They perceive the seen as the seen. But then they identify with the seen … Why is that? Because they haven’t completely understood it, I say.

In contrast, for the trained mind SN35.96 we have:

...in the seen will be merely the seen;...

The simplicity of "merely the seen" is itself non-doing. Ordinarily we identify with thoughts, latch onto them with greed, aversion or delusion. That latching onto thoughts is the doing to be relinquished. Yet we perceive the latching onto thoughts as "not-doing", hence the seeming paradox. 
As we practice, we start noticing the doing, the grasping. And with a measure of watchful restraint we counteract the tendency towards "doing". From AN3.60:

When there is sense restraint, one who has sense restraint has fulfilled a vital condition for ethical conduct.
  When there is ethical conduct, one who has fulfilled ethical conduct has fulfilled a vital condition for right immersion.

Find the razor's edge between doing and not-doing. Explore that.

14104: <p>In  Vipassana meditation ,it is emphasized that one should not force the mind to concentrate on certain object or force anything to happen in particular.Its kind of letting things unfold and just watching them as they unfold .But for an untrained mind isn't watching by itself a kind of doing and if it shouldn't be a doing and is the natural state of restful alertness ,how can it be initiated without the mind feeling forced to do it.If one is driven by conditioning in a non doing state. </p>

<p>Ardency as I understand is an important aspect of the practice ,but doing it on the razor's edge of not falling into forcing the mind,is tricky.What is the best way to initiate it so it becomes right mindfulness?.</p>
 -1: <p>Case 19 Nansen's "Ordinary Mind Is the Way"                          十九　平常是道</p>

<p>南泉、因趙州問、如何是道。
Jõshû asked Nansen, "What is the Way?"</p>

<p>泉云、平常心是道。
"Ordinary mind is the Way," Nansen replied.</p>

<p>州云、還可趣向否。
"Shall I try to seek after it?" Jõshû asked.</p>

<p>泉云、擬向即乖。
"If you try for it, you will become separated from it," responded Nansen.</p>

<p>州云、不擬爭知是道。
"How can I know the Way unless I try for it?" persisted Jõshû.</p>

<p>泉云、道不屬知、不屬不知。
Nansen said, "The Way is not a matter of knowing or not knowing.</p>

<p>知是妄覺、不知是無記。
Knowing is delusion; not knowing is confusion.</p>

<p>若眞達不擬之道、猶如太虚廓然洞豁。
When you have really reached the true Way beyond doubt, you will find it as vast and boundless as outer space.</p>

<p>豈可強是非也。
How can it be talked about on the level of right and wrong?"</p>

<p>州於言下頓悟。
With these words, Jõshû came to a sudden realization.</p>

<p>Mumon's Comment</p>

<p>無門曰、南泉被趙州發問、直得瓦解氷消、分疎不下。
Nansen dissolved and melted away before Jõshû's question, and could not offer a plausible explanation.</p>

<p>趙州縱饒悟去、更參三十年始得。
Even though Jõshû comes to a realization, he must delve into it for another thirty years before he can fully understand it.</p>

<p>Mumon's Verse 頌曰</p>

<p>春有百花秋有月    The spring flowers, the autumn moon;</p>

<p>夏有涼風冬有雪    Summer breezes, winter snow.</p>

<p>若無閑事挂心頭    If useless things do not clutter your mind,</p>

<p>更是人間好時節    You have the best days of your life.</p>

<pre><code>                                *          *          * 
</code></pre>

<p>Letting go is ultimately a volitional act, but unlike other acts of volition, it does not give rise to subsequent mental formations.  Seeking and trying are dead ends.  A good way to put this kind of perception into practice is to avoid the tendency to see meditation as a kind of special state.  Any attempts to conjure something "extraordinary" or "concentrated" or even "bare" or "relaxed" is just another act of willful imposition.  Just let your mind be ordinary.  To paraphrase Suzuki, mindfulness is nothing special.  </p>
 13709: <p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn1/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN1 The Root of All Things</a> addresses watching for the untrained ordinary person as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>They perceive the seen as the seen. But then they identify with the seen … Why is that? Because they haven’t completely understood it, I say.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In contrast, for the trained mind <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn35.95/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN35.96</a> we have:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>...in the seen will be merely the seen;...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The simplicity of "merely the seen" is itself non-doing. Ordinarily we identify with thoughts, latch onto them with greed, aversion or delusion. That latching onto thoughts is the doing to be relinquished. Yet we perceive the latching onto thoughts as "not-doing", hence the seeming paradox. </p>

<p>As we practice, we start noticing the doing, the grasping. And with a measure of watchful restraint we counteract the tendency towards "doing". From <a href="http://suttacentral.net/an6.50/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN3.60</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>When there is sense restraint, one who has sense restraint has fulfilled a vital condition for ethical conduct.
  When there is ethical conduct, one who has fulfilled ethical conduct has fulfilled a vital condition for right immersion.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Find the razor's edge between doing and not-doing. Explore that.</p>
