NWBH: Not What but How
Synopsis:
This is an important principle that applies at all times in everything we do.
It's not WHAT you do, it's the way HOW you do it.
That's what gets results.
You can try hard
Don't mean a thing
Take it easy, greasy
Then your jive will swing
Vigorous energy and effort on its own, without getting the technique of "how" correct, will not yield successful results.
But if you get both the WHAT and the HOW correct, then "your jive will swing" means you will be pleased with the success and favorable side effects that results.
Tain't What You Do
(writers: Sy Oliver / James Young)
(If you're going to listen to this, the authoritative version is Jimmy Lunceford. Modern versions, have been simplified and corrupted)
When I was a kid about half past three
My ma said "Daughter, come here to me"
Said things may come, and things may go
But this is one thing you ought to know...
Oh 't ain't what you do it's the way that you do it
'T ain't what you do it's the way that you do it
'T ain't what you do it's the way that you do it
That's what gets results
'T ain't what you do it's the time that you do it
'T ain't what you do it's the time that you do it
'T ain't what you do it's the time that you do it
That's what gets results
You can try hard
Don't mean a thing
Take it easy, greasy
Then your jive will swing
Oh 't ain't what you do it's the place that you do it
'T ain't what you do it's the time that you do it
'T ain't what you do it's the way that you do it
That's what gets results
(end of song)
T'aint = It ain't.
ain't
/ānt/
INFORMAL
contraction
unpunctuated: aint
am not; are not; is not.
if it ain't broke, don't fix it
has not; have not.
they ain't got nothing to say
sutta references to NWBH
AN 3.16: walking, sitting, sleeping schedule
AN 8.63: jhana in all 4 postures
MN 18,19,20: use of skillful thinking and removal of wrong thinking
SN 47.8 sūda: 👩🍳 🍳
Want first jhāna? Then Details matter.
NWBH.
NWBH: Not WHAT but HOW
You can try hard
Don't mean a thing
Take it easy, greasy
Then your jive will swing
Viryia-sambojjhanga: Vigorous energy and right-effort (samma-vayamo) on its own, without getting the technique of "how" correct, will not yield successful results.
But if you get both the WHAT and the HOW correct, then "your jive will swing" means you will be pleased with the success and favorable side effects that results.
Samadhi is the HOW. You do it with undistractible-lucidity (samadhi), with remembering & lucid-discerning (S&S), with equanimous observation (upekkha-sambojjhanga). Samadhi is the secret sauce that makes everything taste orders of magnitude better. Until you learn the knack of samadhi, it in itself is a "WHAT" you're shooting for. But once you have it, then the "WHAT" is 'realizing nirvana." If you indulge in samadhi for pleasure, it's like sharpening a sword that's already sharp, instead of swinging it and using it to end defilements.
"Take it easy, greasy", means one must do passadhi-sambojjhanga correctly. Passaddhi = Pacification of body and mind. The same as the "relax" of taiji. Taiji students spend decades being told by their teacher to "relax, relax" all the time. They think, "why do they keep telling me that?Why won't they stop saying that?" It's because they're not doing it right, not relaxing all the way, not relaxing fully. There are still blind spots of physical and mental tension. So the students think they're relaxing, but they're not. So the teacher patiently keeps exhorting them. It ain't what you do, it's the way how you do it. NWBH.