up:: Concepts MOC tags::#concept
Wu wei
“The art of sailing, rather than the art of rowing.” - Alan Watts
Definition: a concept literally meaning “inexertion”, “inaction”, or “effortless action”. Alan Watts called wu wei “not forcing”.
This reminds me of Flow, the wonderful concept by Mihaly C. It’s similar to Flow in that action becomes effortless, but it’s different in that…hmm, I see a venn diagram and there is much more overlapping than is not. I would say that Flow may inherently have more intention behind it, but the funny thing is that those intentions melt away once the state of Flow is achieved.
I’ve experienced Wu wei in my life when I’ve chosen not to immediately act on something. (ADD EXAMPLE LATER) In that way, it would seem there are some overlaps between Wu wei and Stoicism. EXPLORE LATER
Wu-wei is good because, if I were to view it through a Western lens, it has positive implications for stress management. Attempting to practice Wu-wei (as far as one can practice it without deliberately practicing it!), will help a person focus less on their “Circle of Concern” and more on their “Circle of Influence”. Basically, practicing wu-wei can help us stop worrying about the things we can’t control.
Wiki
Wu wei (Chinese: 無為; pinyin: wúwéi) is an ancient Chinese concept literally meaning “inexertion”, “inaction”, or “effortless action”. Wu wei emerged in the Spring and Autumn period, and from Confucianism, to become an important concept in Chinese statecraft and Taoism, and was most commonly used to refer to an ideal form of government, including the behavior of the emperor. Describing a state of unconflicting personal harmony, free-flowing spontaneity and savoir-faire, it generally also more properly denotes a state of spirit or mind, and in Confucianism accords with conventional morality. Sinologist Jean François Billeter describes it as a “state of perfect knowledge of the reality of the situation, perfect efficaciousness and the realization of a perfect economy of energy”, which in practice Edward Slingerland qualifies as a “set of (‘transformed’) dispositions (including physical bearing)… conforming with the normative order”.