Wu wei, Flow & Effortless Action

Just as water follows gravity and, if trapped, rises to find a new outlet, so wu-wei is the principle that gravity is energy, and the Taoist finds in gravity a constant stream which may be used in the same way as the wind or a current. Falling with gravity constitutes the immense energy of the earth spinning in its orbit around the sun.

MAGISTER LIU

Soft and Gentle

Prevail.

Water wends its way

Gently

Round every obstacle,

Avoids Heights,

Sinks to Depths,

Bends with curves,

Fills and pours,

Fits into Square and Circle,

Into Small and Great,

Into springs and rivers,

Smoothing the Surface of things,

Accepting all manner of Filth,

Containing gold,

Extinguishing fire,

Bringing Life

To plants and trees,

S

According to this theory, the earliest humans lived in harmony with the natural world, but a certain type of uniquely human cognition arose that caused a separation from nature. This form of mental activity permitted language, goal orientation and planning, thus creating the foundations of culture that led eventually to civilization, along with

Wu-wei, therefore, is different from the Western Romantic notion of simply ‘letting yourself go’ and acting spontaneously on your emotions. Rather, it’s the result of the disciplined cultivation of the connections between the ‘I’ and the ‘self ’, so that your entire organism is harmonizing both within and with the environment.

Wu-wei is thus the life-style of one who follows the Tao, and must be understood primarily as a form of intelligence—that is, of knowing the principles, structures, and trends of human and natural affairs so well that one uses the least amount of energy in dealing with them. But this intelligence is, as we have seen, not simply intellectual; it is

Wu-wei is to roll with experiences and feelings as they come and go, like a ball in a mountain stream, though actually there is no ball apart from the convolutions and wiggles of the stream itself.