Tao is the way of nature, and the way to be in accord with it is Wu Wei that is non-doing. This non-action, effortless effort, or actionless action goes past most western societies who are having a ‘doing’ mentality rather than a ‘being’ one.
Acting out of the result in mind is not being in accord with the way of nature, as we are already imposing something in our actions. The agenda is already there.
219
1.08K reads
CURATED FROM
IDEAS CURATED BY
The idea is part of this collection:
Learn more about personaldevelopment with this collection
Understanding the concept of the self
The importance of living in the present moment
The illusion of control
Related collections
Similar ideas to Alan Watts On The Way Of Nature: Wu Wei
Wu Wei from the Chinese concept "effortless action" or "doing nothing" and it is used to practice for the state of stoicism
Patience, acceptance, and adaptation
Doing nothing, non-action or not forcefully acting is one of Lao-Tzu’s well-known teachings. We mistakenly think this is akin to being lazy, and doing absolutely nothing. What Lao-Tzu means is that we should not do anything that is not in accordance with Tao. It means swimming with the ti...
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Personalized microlearning
—
100+ Learning Journeys
—
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates