Responses to Panikkar II

Scott Bradley

We are considering the validity of Raimon Panikkar's statement regarding wu wei within the context of Daoist thought: "Nevertheless, it is not mere passivity, not quietism, because it is part of Man's dignity of being commissioned to bring the universe to perfection."

However, this consideration is complicated by my visceral antipathy for the sentiments of this statement, and from the Daoist perspective, this is a great deal more important than the 'right and wrong' of a point of view. Zhuangzi suggests we transcend such pettiness, that we break from the belief that 'truth' is contained in ideas. But alas, this idea can just as easily become petty and sectarian, or rather, one can make it so. I can make it so. And since negativity and a certain incipient fundamentalist belief in 'truth' are among my many vices, I feel the need to pause and reconcile myself to the validity of Panikkar's point of view. (If these acknowledged vices seem the opposite of my stated philosophy, then you understand how that philosophy is a remedial response to my reality.) So, yes, Panikkar's philosophy is affirmable — even though, for me, some of its most important foundational beliefs are groundless and belong to a tradition very different from and contradictory to those of philosophical Daoism.

Panikkar's statement is thus an opportunity to both explore how we can both embrace that with which we disagree and learn more about our own perspective in seeing what it is not.

In the case of the former, it might be helpful to share why it is that I am reading Panikkar at all. I presently live in a community, here on the ranch and more widely, in which Panikkar was and is a tremendous inspiring figure both as a person and a thinker. Inspiring to what? Many things, but perhaps most importantly, to a program of bringing personal spiritual liberation to women incarcerated for life in California's prisons. In view of this real-world involvement, philosophical differences seem moot. If his teachings have inspired this, what other validation could they possibly require? I too would truly like to find my own inspiration in Panikkar, but though I have tried, I cannot.

Having now made my disclaimers and confessed my sins, in the next post I will examine his statement.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

Response to Panikkar I

Scott Bradley

Raimon Panikkar (A Dwelling Place for Wisdom) makes the following statement in the context of a consideration of wu wei: "Nevertheless, it is not mere passivity, not quietism, because it is part of Man's dignity of being commissioned to bring the universe to perfection." (p.62) What's wrong with this statement?

Everything. And nothing. In truth, there is nothing 'wrong' with this statement unless it is intended as a faithful representation of what wu wei actually means in the context of Daoism. Panikkar was a great religious syncretist; his scholarship, particularly in his remarkable knowledge of the Indic, Buddhist, and Christian traditions and the original languages in which they were first formulated, is sweeping. The difficulty with syncretism, however, is that in borrowing the thoughts of others in order to create one's own grand synthesis one must necessarily rend the original contextual garment of the traditions from which it borrows. Christianity as theology, for instance, does not lend itself to incorporation into a wider, more inclusive point of view. This is because Christianity is 'historically true': This man here is god incarnate. ("I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father except by me." Whether or not Jesus actually said this is debatable; whether or not it is a cornerstone of Christian theology is not.) We are certainly free to pick and choose as we wish and to even declare Christianity (or any other religious philosophy) to be something other than what it has traditionally been, but honesty would seem to require that we acknowledge that we have rent the original fabric in having done so.

It might be argued that every bit of philosophizing (or theologizing) is necessarily syncretic in that it is always a new, personal response, and thus interpretation, of what has gone before. In this regard, I am most certainly a syncretist; I wouldn't have it any other way. I often speak of "philosophical Daoism" as if it were some pre-existent, fixed philosophy and not simply what I make it to be. It is not. I'm making it up as I go along. It's mine. In sharing it with you, besides articulating it for myself, I simply offer more grist for your own syncretic mill.

There are two considerations that have prompted this post. The first has to do with philosophical content: Does the statement quoted above correctly reflect the Daoist understanding of wu wei and the Daoist perspective generally? Secondly, why does it bug me that it does not? From a Daoist perspective, it is the latter that is the most fertile ground for investigation.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

Letting Things Happen

Scott Bradley

Wu-wei, non-doing, is not a concept easily understood. This should not surprise us, given that it is not a concept at all, but a way of being in the world.

If we can understand how that we might be fully engaged in the world, completely involved in the work of change, for instance, and yet able to serenely accept whatever transpires, we begin to understand what is wu-wei.

Letting things happen happens as things happen; it has nothing to do with passivity. We can try and make things happen in a certain way, but however they happen in the end, they do not disturb our serenity; we let them happen.

Wu-wei has nothing to do with activity or non-activity; it has to do with our relation to what happens, whether actively pursued or not, whether the outcome is as we had hoped or not. Success or failure can be real in terms of our activity, but need not ever be real in terms of our serenity. We walk two roads.

Perhaps Dylan had a sense of this when he wrote: "There is no success like failure, and failure is no success at all." At the deepest level, there is really neither success nor failure, for though we rightfully work for one outcome in preference to another, whatever the outcome, we dwell beyond what happens.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

Wu uuuu wwei heeeey

Ta-Wan

Although we can only focus on one thing at a time, multitasking is far more natural to us than constant focus. Meditation exposes our inner lack of control and inability to hold focus on one thing at a time and, when it comes to historical accounts of a person able to dedicate a lot of constant thought to one issue, then they are far and few those who display this ability. This is a strange statement. We can only focus on one thing at a time, but we all know from common experience that our focus constantly shifts from one thing to the next. It is certainly

Sorry, I lost my train of thought then and had a swig of coffee.

It is certain that evolution would favour those who shifted attention frequently as one who was stuck in one thought could well find themselves starving or under attack. It is not obvious why evolution would not have encouraged the ability to focus on more than one thing at once. Yet do we actually operate this way? Is it one thing or nothing? Apparently not.

Have you been stuck on a problem then either forgotten about it or had a good sleep and awoke with the answer? This is a common experience and research into it has shown that our subconscious is always at work on multiple tasks and, in fact, when people feel they are being Wu Wei and just getting things done by not really trying, when they master a particular act so much that even the complexities of say drawing happen just as breathing, it is the subconscious at work. It is known by all in that state that if they become too conscious of the event, then they'll flop.

Is the feeling of being conscious of only one thing at a time perhaps a flaw in our thinking? Could it be that if we operated entirely from our subconscious and never have conscious attention enter the picture that life really would flow with the Tao in perfect Wu Wei?

I think this may be true.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

Finding a Wei Around - 8

Allowing things to unfold in a natural way seems so unnatural for most of us. In western society, we're taught from birth to take the bull by the horns, that decisiveness and aggressiveness will win the day. Conversely, we're taught that passivity and reflection will land us at the bottom of the societal heap and may well lead to victimization. So, we go charging off into the world in the vain attempt to try to mold it to our will.

Unfortunately, the more we try to force things to unfold into the shape we want, the more unhappy and stressed out we become. This causes us to try to force things even harder, yet the outcome tends to remain the same. Our lives become treadmills that we can't seem to slow down or jump off of.

What I find most interesting is that the result of the effort to force things doesn't seem to change our reaction. Whether these efforts are successful or not, we feel the same amount of discontent and imbalance.

If our efforts are successful, we're filled with anxiety and tension because we're ever mindful that things can change in an instant. So, we stress about keeping the status quo where we want it to stay. On the other hand, if our efforts are unsuccessful, we're filled with anxiety and tension because of our personal failure or people are out to get us or the stars are aligned against us.

It is ONLY when we quit trying to force our will that we are set free. We allow ourselves the freedom to flow which ever way the water moves us.
~ written by moi in Real Life Tao: The Wu Wei Way ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around - 7

Acquiring the knack of acting spontaneously can be considered like acquiring more specific sorts of knack, such as playing of the piano. Once one has finished one's training in piano-playing, one will be able to cast one's eye over a page of music and spontaneously play the music, unaware, for the most part, of which particular notes one is actually playing, and which fingers are actually playing them.

But to start with, when one is a new student, playing the piano is a tortuous procedure in which one is keenly aware of the notes, and of the fingers. Learning the piano is essentially progressing through those exercises which make conscious activity into spontaneous unconscious activity.
~ from Learning the Tao: Chuang Tzu as Teacher by Keith Seddon ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around - 6

The principle is illustrated by the parable of the pine and the willow in heavy snow. The pine branch, being rigid, cracks under the weight; but the willow branch yields to the weight, and the snow drops off. Note, however, that the willow is not limp but springy. Wu-wei is thus the life-style of one follows Tao, and must be understood primarily as a form of intelligence -- that is, of knowing the principles, structures, and trends of human and natural affairs so well that one uses the least amount of energy in dealing with them.
~ Alan Watts in Tao: The Watercourse Way ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around - 5

The principle of wu-wei contains certain implications. Foremost among these is the need to consciously experience ourselves as part of the unity of life that is the Tao. Lao Tzu writes that we must be quiet and watchful, learning to listen to both our own inner voices and to the voices of our environment in a non-interfering, receptive manner. In this way we also learn to rely on more than just our intellect and logical mind to gather and assess information. We develop and trust our intuition as our direct connection to the Tao. We heed the intelligence of our whole body, not only our brain. And we learn through our own experience. All of this allows us to respond readily to the needs of the environment, which of course includes ourselves. And just as the Tao functions in a manner to promote harmony and balance, our own actions, performed in the spirit of wu-wei, produce the same result.
~ Ted Kardash on Jade Dragon ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around - 4

Wu Wei is often the Taoist concept that people have most trouble grasping. This is not really all that surprising since it seems to do away with the rigid notion of causality that the Western world-view is based upon. Typically, in order to get something done, it is considered that you must work at it. The more work and effort that is put in, the quicker it will happen.

However, this is not the Wu Wei approach. This is not 'doing without doing' it is simply 'doing'. To use Wu Wei is to have a kind of Taoist patience - it is to allow things to unfold in their own way, in their own time. This does not imply a complete lack of energy expenditure - just a recognition of the flow and cycles of the world around us. Acting at the appropriate time with the appropriate amount of force is the key.
~ from Taoism & The Taoist Arts ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around - 3

Sometimes the most powerful thing a leader can do is nothing. Wu wei -- inaction -- can be an important tool too. Michael Herzog, the chair of the English department at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, told me how important he's found what he calls "a period of judicious waiting on some issues. There are times when I shouldn't make a decision yet because I really cannot make it." A Tao leader doesn't let impatience overrule judgment. He or she knows when to take action and when to wait. We need to wait when the picture isn't clear, when we need more information, more data, more input from our team.
~ from The Tao of Personal Leadership by Diane Dreher ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around - 2

When you work with Wu Wei, you put the round peg in the round hole and the square peg in the square hole. No stress, no struggle. Egotistical Desire tries to force the round peg into the square hole and the square peg into the round hole. Cleverness tries to devise craftier ways of making pegs fit where they don't belong. Knowledge tries to figure out why round pegs fit round holes, but not square holes. Wu Wei doesn't try. It doesn't think about it. It just does it. And when it does, it doesn't appear to do much of anything. But Things Get Done.
~ from The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around - 1

True martial arts masters understand wu wei as "spontaneous action" or "effortless flow". You might know that Bruce Lee founded Jeet Kune Do, a style that, like the man himself, was imbued with an emphasis on speed and power. But you probably didn't know that he also founded Wu Wei Gung Fu, a fighting art that expressed his ultimate philosophy: "Learn technique. Practice technique. Forget technique." At the highest level of this discipline (as well as other martial arts), the warrior becomes one with the flow of reality around him. In that state of oneness, he is able to act without the necessity of volition. To the bystanders, he doesn't seem to do much, and yet he delivers the exact minimum of impact at the exact right time to accomplish what needs to be done and not one iota more.
~ from Derek Lin from True Tao ~

Go here to read the intro to this thematic series of posts.

Finding a Wei Around

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.]