Bhagavad Gita 3.5
न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् । कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ॥
na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt | kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ ||
Translation
For no one ever remains even for a moment without performing some action; for everyone is made to perform action, helplessly indeed, by the qualities born of nature.
Reflection
What have you been calling not-doing that was just a quieter kind of doing?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Three
Kṣaṇam api, even for a moment. Avaśaḥ, helpless. The verse names a fact most spiritual talk avoids: not acting is not on the menu. The gunas keep moving the body. Breathing is action. Sitting is action. Choosing not to choose is a choice. Aurobindo: the question is never whether to act, only what kind of action you have signed up for without noticing. The man who claims to have stopped has only stopped a particular kind of doing while continuing the rest. The line removes the seat the inactive person thought they had been sitting in.