Just as Butcher Ding’s blade remains razor-sharp because it never touches a bone or ligament—moving only through the gaps in between—so does the wu-wei person move only through the open spaces in life, avoiding the difficulties that damage one’s spirit and wear out one’s body.

To attain Laozian wu-wei, you need to undo rather than do, gradually unwinding your mind and body, shedding book learning and artificial desires. The goal is to relax into a state of perfect nondoing (wu-wei) and unselfconsciousness,

wu-wei and de are fundamentally linked to Heaven. Wu-wei works because to be wu-wei means that you are following the Heavenly Way, and anyone following the Way gains the power of de. This connection has important implications for understanding the kind of spontaneity that the early Chinese valued so highly. Spontaneity in the West is typically

The neuroscientist Arne Dietrich has done interesting work on what he calls “transient hypofrontality,” the downregulation of the cognitive control regions in the prefrontal cortex that occurs during intense physical exercise. Vigorous physical activity puts enormous stress on the human body, and the body responds by temporarily shutting down parts

Crucially, wu-wei can occur in group activities only when we genuinely value the social relationships involved. We can effortlessly engage with others only when we care about, and feel relaxed with, the people we are with.

What wu-wei represents, on the other hand, is the state of being a perfected part of a greater whole that is also embraced by others. It is this holistic, social, and religious quality of wu-wei that makes it unique.

People who are in wu-wei have de, typically translated as “virtue,” “power,” or “charismatic power.” De is radiance that others can detect, and it serves as an outward signal that one is in wu-wei.

The ideal person in Western philosophy is not only disembodied but also radically alone.

One of the key features of the wu-wei state is a sense of being absorbed in some larger, valued whole—typically referred to as the Dao or “Way.”