Wu Wei is one of the central concepts to the Taoist philosophy. I refer to it frequently in my posts and many of the quotes utilized as post springboards employ the term as well. Since it can be employed ubiquitously on a blog of this nature, I thought I would spend some time over the next few days showcasing some of the ways wu wei has been defined or explained by myself and others.
Rather than offering one very, very long post filled with untold numbers of explanations, I'm going to have each person weigh in with one or more singular posts. This will allow us the opportunity to ponder or contemplate each offering by itself.
At the outset, I should note that wu wei is a concept that seeks to describe something that is beyond words. To truly understand it, each of us must experience it in our own lives. So, the various examples that you will read over the next few days will not provide you with a definitive definition. You won't come away from this experiment with a full understanding of what wu wei entails. The point of this effort SOLELY is to nudge you to discover what wu wei could mean in YOUR life.
In the end, as with all things Taoist, there is no orthodoxy. No one can tell you how you can flow like water and no one can explain to you how you can be an uncarved block. These metaphors are employed as a guide, the proverbial finger pointing at the moon.
At the conclusion of this brief series of posts, the paragraph you currently are reading will be replaced. In its place will be a list of all the posts contained in this thematic experiment.
[Note: If you have a paragraph or two you would like featured, you can add it to the mix in one of two ways: 1) As always, you can do it in the form of a comment on one or more of the posts to follow or 2) You can send it to me in an email and I will feature it as a post itself. It's up to you how you want to participate.]
Rather than offering one very, very long post filled with untold numbers of explanations, I'm going to have each person weigh in with one or more singular posts. This will allow us the opportunity to ponder or contemplate each offering by itself.
At the outset, I should note that wu wei is a concept that seeks to describe something that is beyond words. To truly understand it, each of us must experience it in our own lives. So, the various examples that you will read over the next few days will not provide you with a definitive definition. You won't come away from this experiment with a full understanding of what wu wei entails. The point of this effort SOLELY is to nudge you to discover what wu wei could mean in YOUR life.
In the end, as with all things Taoist, there is no orthodoxy. No one can tell you how you can flow like water and no one can explain to you how you can be an uncarved block. These metaphors are employed as a guide, the proverbial finger pointing at the moon.
At the conclusion of this brief series of posts, the paragraph you currently are reading will be replaced. In its place will be a list of all the posts contained in this thematic experiment.
[Note: If you have a paragraph or two you would like featured, you can add it to the mix in one of two ways: 1) As always, you can do it in the form of a comment on one or more of the posts to follow or 2) You can send it to me in an email and I will feature it as a post itself. It's up to you how you want to participate.]
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