Daily Reflection
When everyone in the world sees beauty,
Then ugly exists.
When everyone sees good,
Then bad exists.
Therefore:
What is and what is not create each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Tall and short shape each other.
High and low rest on each other.
Voice and tone blend with each other.
First and last follow each other.
So, the sage acts by doing nothing,
Teaches without speaking,
Attends all things without making claim on them,
Works for them without making them dependent,
Demands no honor for his deed.
Because [the sage] demands no honor,
[The Sage] will never be dishonored.
—Tao Te Ching, Ch 21
The Tao seems like the perfect place to go after a day discussing La Dolce Vita.
This ancient wisdom text harbors one of the most interesting keys to happiness I’ve ever come across—Wu Wei.
Wu Wei is the practice, discipline, and philosophy of “non-doing.” It is rooted in the notion that in doing, we create, discriminate, and thereby make room for the emergence of that wish we do not want.
The hero of the Tao, the Sage, realizes that sometimes the greatest action is withholding, the most strategic decision is stillness, and the most needed posture is one of patience.
Wu Wei is discussed elsewhere in the Tao Te Ching through an analogy involving a butcher.
This butcher never has to sharpen their butcher’s knife, because they have mastered an art (a Tai Chi) which allows them to effortlessly cut the meat at just the right location to ensure a seamless process. Because the butcher encounters no resistance, they must never sharpen the knife.
I’ve heard a teacher say Wu Wei is sailing with the wind of life, instead of rowing against its current.
It’s skillful living, it’s mindful, and it only moves or acts when it’s in the flow of what is. It’s an intentionality that is only possible in letting go at the deepest levels. And in this way, we do not discriminate or force, rather we co-create with life itself.
I’ll leave us with this paradox today, and wish you well in accepting that which we cannot control and flowing with the current of life as we find it.
Until tomorrow,
Matt
https://www.taoistic.com/taothemes/wuwei-nonaction.htm