Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy derived from Lao-Tzu’s writings. As per Taoism, the need to achieve, attain, acquire, and accomplish is rooted in human culture that stress has become the most significant pandemic of modern life. From a young age, humans are conditioned to feel a sense of lack and limitation. The feeling of whatever you have is not enough to close the gap between what you think you are and what you believe you should be.
As per Taoism, action or karma is unavoidable in life, and it is impossible for you to” do nothing.” For example, even to survive, you have to eat, drink, sleep, move, and take care of your body. Even for leading a simple life, you need to make some effort to make a basic income. Taoism experts mention you can live in the world with freedom and ease without being overcome by anxiety, headache, and stress.
The Action of No Action
The concept of Wei Wu Wei means “Action of No Action.” Wei Wu refers to the cultivation of a state where our actions are effortlessly aligned to the elemental cycles of the natural world. It means “going with the flow” that is characterized by awareness and ease. Wu Wei stresses responding perfectly to the situations that arise. Your response to the events and situations in your life should be effortless (not even trying) without clinging to an individual ego. The person who lets go of the ego through the influence of Buddha-nature is considered to be behaving in a Taoist manner.
Highest Form of Virtue
The practice of Wei Wu Wei is considered to be the highest form of virtue as you reach spontaneously to every event in life without bringing your ego to influence your actions. The basic idea of Taoism is to bring harmony between the elements inside and outside your body. When you embrace the concept of Wei Wu in your daily living, your actions offer the highest benefits to all those you contact. At this point, you beyond all secular moral or formal religious concepts you have learned throughout life. When you embody the principle of Wu Wei and the concept of Thought of UN Thought, you realize your place in the cosmos and the web and your relation as inter-being with all other things that are part of this cosmos. The concept of Wu Wei teaches you how your thoughts, words, and actions are spontaneously virtuous and do no harm.
Overcoming the Mind’s Need to Control
Most of the stress in a human’s mind comes from your mind’s need/desire to control the elements. For example, if you do a certain kind of favor for someone, you want the recipient to act in a specific way to satisfy your ego. Many the minds’ need to control elements can be counterintuitive and threatening in some cases.
Human minds like to think it is in control of situations and are hesitant to let go of that illusion. Your mind will fight tooth and nail to stay “in control” whenever you try not to. Hence, it is unlikely you will master Wu Wei easily or with one attempt. You should embody the principle of Wu Wei as an experiment and continue practicing. It is only with practice you can master this great art.
Taoism expert’s mention even the great thinkers and philosophers of the world who believed in the virtues of Wu Wei took years to cultivate and master this art. Many times they observed or witnessed their minds start to contract and reassert control on the elements. Experts mention yoga and meditation are groundwork that lays the foundation for practicing Wu Wei. The critical objective of yoga and meditation is to relax your mind as much as possible.
Practicing Wu Wei in Stressful Situations
You need to practice Wu Wei when things are not going smoothly in your life. You are wired to think and believe that you should respond to stressful situations with stress for an effective and appropriate response. It is very far away from the trust as stress helps nothing.
Stress only distorts and clouds your thinking. In simple words, you cannot think clearly, and you cannot view the situations with the objective and respond inappropriately. The truth is stressful situations never pull you in. It is your mind’s projections that are the culprit. As per Wu Wei’s principles, the best solution is to align with the creative and intelligent forces of life and stay grounded in the simplicity of the present moment.
To sum up, the concept of Wu Wei is simple, let it happen, let it go, keep it simple, be kind and enjoy your life. When you live life by these principles, you will see stress vanishing away from your life and happiness pouring in.
